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Asking for trouble

Poster
ca.1940s (made)
Artist/Maker
Loxley Bros. Ltd. (printers)
Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (publishers)
Ministry of Labour and National Service (issued by)
Eckersley, Tom (OBE) (designer)
Place of origin
London (published)

Poster encouraging safety at work depicting a foot stepping onto the broken rung of a ladder. Below the ladder is the poster's slogan in large black letters, 'Asking for trouble'. The artist has signed himself, 'Eckersley' along the lower left outer edge of the ladder.

Object details

Categories
Prints
Propaganda
Health
Posters
Object type
Poster
TitleAsking for trouble (assigned by artist)
Materials and techniques
Colour lithograph
Lithographic Ink
Paper
Lithography
Brief description
Safety at work poster produced by RoSPA, designed by Tom Eckersley, and printed by Loxley Bros. Ltd, United Kingdom, 1940s
Physical description
Poster encouraging safety at work depicting a foot stepping onto the broken rung of a ladder. Below the ladder is the poster's slogan in large black letters, 'Asking for trouble'. The artist has signed himself, 'Eckersley' along the lower left outer edge of the ladder.
Dimensions
  • Height: 76cm
  • Width: 50.6cm
Marks and inscriptions
  • 'ASKING FOR TROUBLE' (Printed in black below the image)
  • 'MLJ/152' (The issue number is printed in the lower left-hand corner, next to the Society's symbol, a cog and a triangle.)
  • 'Issued by the Ministry of Labour and National Service and produced by the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents, Terminal House, 52 Grosvenor Gardens, London S.W.1 / Printed by LOXLEY BROS. LTD.' (Printing and publishing information, printed at the bottom of the poster.)
  • 'ECKERSLEY' (Artist's signature, along the lower left outer edge of the ladder)
Credit line
Gift of the American Friends of the V&A; Gift to the American Friends by Leslie, Judith and Gabri Schreyer and Alice Schreyer Batko
Subjects depicted
Health
Safety
Prevention
Accident
Ladders
Shoes
Other number
LS.1983 - Leslie Schreyer Loan Number
Collection
Prints, Drawings & Paintings Collection
Accession number
E.257-2004

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Record createdApril 24, 2006
Record URL
https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O123285/asking-for-trouble-poster-eckersley-tom-obe/
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