Don't be a dope! Pile materiel neatly and not too high
Safety cartoon for Army personnel: crates are stacked crookedly and a soldier balances a huge box on top while a sergeant with a clipboard and others cover their eyes. A verse says the stacks are so out of plumb that a nudge brings them 'crashing down on some poor passer-by'. The slogan 'Don't be a dope!' is name-calling aimed at the careless stacker.
Propaganda techniques used in this poster
- Date
- 1944
- Period
- Second World War
- Made by
- War Department Safety Council; artist CWO Will Eisner, Ordnance
- 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)
War Department Safety Council. National Archives and Records Administration, RG 44, 44-PA-1143UU (NAID 514724).
Text on the object
The Tower of Pisa would shy At the stacks that Joe Dope piles up high: They're so far out of plumb, Just a nudge and they come Crashing down on some poor passer-by! [seal:] U.S. ARMY SAFETY PROGRAM; IN THE HOME, IN THE PLANT, ON THE HIGHWAY; [illegible] WAR DEPARTMENT SAFETY COUNCIL [signature: CWO Will Eisner, ORDNANCE] Don't be a dope! PILE MATERIEL NEATLY & NOT TOO HIGH [imprint:] U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE : 1944 O-606762
