Forensic Research Archive of Manipulation and Exploitation
Every Rivet a Bullet - Speed the Ships, 1939 UK poster: A shipyard worker in a flat cap drives a rivet with a pneumatic gun

Every Rivet a Bullet - Speed the Ships

A shipyard worker in a flat cap drives a rivet with a pneumatic gun, with cranes and scaffolding behind him. The headline calls each rivet 'a bullet', so the weight of weapons is carried over onto riveting, which is the transfer tell.

Propaganda techniques used in this poster

Transfer
Date
1939
Period
Second World War
Made by
His Majesty's Stationery Office, printed by J. Weiner Ltd, London
Region
Western and Central Europe
Country
United Kingdom
Medium
Poster
Issuer type
State
Regime
Churchill Government
Leader
Winston Churchill
Audience
Domestic public
Purpose
Mobilize or secure compliance
Themes
Home front, Labor, War and the military
Event
World War II
Regime
Churchill wartime government
Leader
Winston Churchill
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 Foreign Posters, retrieved October 3, 2026
Rights
Public domain (UK Crown copyright, 50 years from publication, expired before 1996; no URAA restoration)
His Majesty's Stationery Office, printed by J. Weiner Ltd, London. National Archives and Records Administration, WWII Foreign Posters (NAID 44266442, 44-PF-164a).

Text on the object

Original (English) · read from the image, not independently checked

EVERY RIVET
A BULLET

SPEED THE SHIPS

Printed for H.M. Stationery Office by J. Weiner Ltd., London, W.C.1.

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