Double-sided safety at work poster produced by RoSPA, designed by J. M. Branson (recto) and Tom Eckersley (verso), and printed by Loxley Bros. Ltd, United Kingdom, 1940s

Double-sided safety at work poster produced by RoSPA.
Recto: 'High heels mean accidents!', safety poster depicting two pairs of feet, one wearing high heels, the other flat shoes. The feet wearing white high heel court shoes are pictured at the top; the heel on the left shoe has become wedged between some floorboards. The flat shoes are pictured at the bottom of the poster, and are tied with red laces. The poster is printed in a simple colour scheme of buff, red and black on white. At the top of the poster, above the images in capitalised, black, letters are the words 'High heels'. Immediately below this, on the right hand side of the poster in smaller red letters is the word 'Mean'. Between the two images illustrating high- and low-heeled shoes, is the word 'Accidents!', in large red capital letters. At the bottom of the poster, in the same arrangement as the words at the top, are the words, 'Stand firm' in black, and 'At your work', in red. The poster is signed 'JMBranson' in the lower image.

Verso: This poster depicts a stylised cuboid-shaped oil drum, coloured red, black and green. The drum has the word 'Oil' incorporated onto its side. The top of the drum has part of a handle, and a circular lid. The lid has not been closed properly, allowing some of the green-coloured oil to spill and run over the side of the container, collecting in a puddle at the bottom. Beginning in this puddle, is the poster's slogan in large black letters, 'Wipe it up', and below this in slightly smaller red letters, 'Before it throws you down'. The artist has signed himself, 'Eckersley' along the top of the image.

Gift of the American Friends of the V&A; Gift to the American Friends by Leslie, Judith and Gabri Schreyer and Alice Schreyer Batko

During the war years, RoSPA's posters were commissioned by the Ministry of Labour, and were supplied to factories as part of the war effort to support Government policy. They were usually produced as part of a wider campaign, often with accompanying information booklets. Propaganda had to be produced within wartime budgets, and here is an example of a poster that has been printed on both sides for two different campaigns by two different designers. One side is aimed at women, encouraging them to wear sensible shoes at the factory, while the other emphasises the need for a clean and safe workplace. This approach meant that two posters could be produced using fewer resources, and that the poster could be reused for another safety campaign, as appropriate.

E.247-2004