Handle carefully, beware sharp edges on castings
Factory safety poster: two bare hands reach toward the serrated edge of a metal casting under the headline 'Handle carefully' and the warning 'Beware sharp edges on castings'. The technique is fear-appeal in a restrained form: the hands near the edge imply a cut, with no injury shown.
Propaganda techniques used in this poster
- Date
- 1944
- Period
- Second World War
- Made by
- U.S. Department of Labor, Division of Labor Standards
- Region
- North America
- Country
- United States
- Medium
- Poster
- Issuer type
- State
- Regime
- Roosevelt Administration
- Leader
- Franklin D. Roosevelt
- Audience
- Domestic public
- Purpose
- Warn or inform
- Themes
- Labor, Home front
- 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)
U.S. Department of Labor. National Archives and Records Administration, RG 44, 44-PA-931 (NAID 514437).
Text on the object
HANDLE CAREFULLY BEWARE SHARP EDGES ON CASTINGS Reproduced by the United States Department of Labor, Division of Labor Standards, Washington, D. C. By Permission of the Ministry of Labour and National Service, London [imprint: U. S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE : 1944-O-596233] [handwritten: 44-PA-931-A]
