Content note: Cartoon of dead and mangled soldiers hanging in a tree after a mortar explosion. This object is shown as it was published. Why
Don't be a dope! Handle equipment right
Ordnance Department cartoon poster for servicemen: two soldiers hang from a tree branch beside a wrecked mortar, with a verse on a wooden board blaming 'Joe Dope' for leaving dirt in the barrel. The slogan 'Don't be a dope!' is name-calling aimed at the careless soldier, and the scene is a fear-appeal showing his comrades killed.
Propaganda techniques used in this poster
- Date
- 1942
- Period
- Second World War
- Made by
- Ordnance Department, U.S. Army; artist Will Eisner
- Region
- North America
- Country
- United States
- Medium
- Poster
- Issuer type
- Military
- Regime
- Roosevelt Administration
- Leader
- Franklin D. Roosevelt
- Audience
- Own forces
- Purpose
- Warn or inform
- Theme
- War and the military
- Event
- World War II
- Regime
- Roosevelt administration
- Leader
- Franklin D. Roosevelt
- Source
- Identified Openly sourced: the speaker is who they say they are
- Source
- U.S. National Archives and Records Administration, Record Group 44, World War II Posters, retrieved October 4, 2026
- Rights
- Public domain (U.S. government work)
Ordnance Department, U.S. Army. National Archives and Records Administration, RG 44, 44-PA-1143QQ (NAID 514716).
Text on the object
In helping assemble a mortar Joe Dope just forgot that he oughta Free the barrel of dirt So the dumb little squirt And his buddies are scrambled up, sorta! Don't be a dope! HANDLE EQUIPMENT RIGHT [signature: PVT. Will Eisner] [imprint:] U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE : 1942-O-481418 [imprint:] ORDNANCE DEPARTMENT, U.S. ARMY
