Sugar Means Ships

Ernest Fuhr

An American informational poster from World War I regarding the need to reduce sugar consumption in order to support the war effort. Text reads: "The consumption of sugar sweetened drinks must be reduced. For your beverages 400 lbs. of sugar were imported in ships last year. Every ship is needed to carry soldiers and supplies NOW."

World War I tested the United State's ability to participate in large-scale overseas wars. Nearly every available merchant ship was tranferred to military service. Sugar was one of the industries that America largely outsourced, and when wartime took up the majority of ships and railroads, sugar was quickly viewed as an unnecessary luxury; in 1918, it would be rationed. During this and other war efforts, the United States Food Administration commissioned several such posters encouraging the populace to refrain from frivolous indulgence, partially to redirect funds to the war effort.