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Use a bad handle - get a bad hand

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 screwdriver and a bandaged hand. The hand is stylised and grey in colour. Towards the top of the image, printed in black letters, in part over the handle of the screwdriver, is the slogan, ‘Use a bad handle’, and at the bottom of the image, over the arm, 'get a bad hand’. The artist has signed himself, 'Eckersley' along the lower edge of the arm. The poster is tall and narrow.

Object details

Categories
Prints
Propaganda
Health
Posters
Object type
Poster
TitleUse a bad handle - get a bad hand (generic title)
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 screwdriver and a bandaged hand. The hand is stylised and grey in colour. Towards the top of the image, printed in black letters, in part over the handle of the screwdriver, is the slogan, ‘Use a bad handle’, and at the bottom of the image, over the arm, 'get a bad hand’. The artist has signed himself, 'Eckersley' along the lower edge of the arm. The poster is tall and narrow.
Dimensions
  • Height: 76.4cm
  • Width: 25.4cm
Marks and inscriptions
  • 'USE A BAD HANDLE' (Printed in black towards the top of, and partially covering the image)
  • 'GET A BAD HAND' (Printed in black, towards the bottom, and partially over, the image)
  • 'ML/83' (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, at the bottom of the image, along the edge of the arm)
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
Industry
Hands
Screwdrivers
Bandages
Other number
LS.1992 - Leslie Schreyer Loan Number
Collection
Prints, Drawings & Paintings Collection
Accession number
E.1876-2004

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Record createdMay 3, 2006
Record URL
https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O123604/use-a-bad-handle--poster-eckersley-tom-obe/
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