---
title: How not to win the war!
url: https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/how-not-to-win-the-war-safety-1941/
description: 'Army safety poster: a crowded cartoon camp scene of helmeted soldiers in unsafe acts (loose planks, ladders, a spinning shovel.'
section: Collection
---

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3. How not to win the war!

[![How not to win the war!, 1941 US poster: Army safety poster](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/how-not-to-win-the-war-safety-1941.jpg)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/how-not-to-win-the-war-safety-1941.jpg)

# How not to win the war!

Army safety poster: a crowded cartoon camp scene of helmeted soldiers in unsafe acts (loose planks, ladders, a spinning shovel, a runaway cart) under the heading 'How NOT to win the war!' A caption challenges the reader to find 30 hazards. The technique is faint here; the cartoon everyman soldier, 'Pvt. Droop', is a plain-folks device and the game format is the persuasion.

## Propaganda techniques used in this poster

[Plain folks](https://propagandaarchive.org/techniques/plain-folks/)

## Text on the object

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

```
1
HOW NOT TO WIN THE WAR!
There are 30 potential head-crackers, bone crushers, and flesh gougers in this scene. If you can find all 30 (and if you avoid 'em), you're a whiz-bang soldier and ought to get another stripe. If you find 20 of them you're doin' O.K. If you can't find even 10 unsafe acts - you're a Pvt. Droop and we'll be seein' you in the hospital soon!   The Top Kick has a list of the boners.
NAILS
LEAVE
WAR DEPARTMENT SAFETY COUNCIL
WD Safety Poster No. 1 (Poster No. 2 on reverse side)
[imprint: illegible]
[bleed-through from reverse side, partly legible: SPEAKING OF FIRES . . .]
```

[← How about it, do we back him up or leave him behind the 8-ball?](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/how-about-it-behind-the-8-ball-putnam-county/) [How Steel Is Made →](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/how-steel-is-made-1941/)

## More propaganda examples that use the same techniques

- [Trois Tetes sous l'meme bonnet (three heads under the same cap)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/trois-tetes-sous-le-meme-bonnet-1789/) (France · 1789 · Plain folks, Glittering generalities)
- ['This log cabin was the first building erected on the North Bend', Whig print by T. Sinclair, 1840](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/harrison-north-bend-log-cabin-sinclair-1840/) (United States · 1840 · Plain folks, Transfer)
- [Treeing Coons (pro-Polk cartoon), 1844](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/treeing-coons-polk-1844/) (United States · 1844 · Name-calling, Plain folks)
- [Zachary Taylor, People's Candidate for President (Currier banner), 1848](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/taylor-fillmore-peoples-candidate-1848/) (United States · 1848 · Plain folks, Glittering generalities)
- ['Little Mac.' (from the Democratic presidential campaign songster)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/little-mac-song-sheet-feeks-1864/) (United States · 1864 · Bandwagon, Plain folks)
- [The peoples' choice, H. Greeley G. Brown](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/peoples-choice-greeley-brown-1872/) (United States · 1872 · Bandwagon, Plain folks)
- [The working-man's banner. For President, Ulysses S. Grant, 'The Galena Tanner.' For Vice-President, Henry Wilson, 'The Natick Shoemaker.'](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/working-mans-banner-grant-1872/) (United States · 1872 · Plain folks, Transfer)
- [The Chappaqua farmer](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/chappaqua-farmer-1872/) (United States · Jul 1872 · Plain folks, Glittering generalities)