---
title: Joe Dope should get thrown in the can for his work as an Ordnance man
url: https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/joe-dope-right-tool-gun-in-the-pan-1943/
description: 'Ordnance Department cartoon poster for servicemen: a bomber gunner is thrown backward as a gun backplate smashes into him.'
section: Collection
---

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3. Joe Dope should get thrown in the can for his work as an Ordnance man

**Content note:** Cartoon of a gunner mangled by a recoiling gun part, with blood-red shading; enemy pilots are drawn grinning. This object is shown as it was published. [Why](https://propagandaarchive.org/about/#as-it-was)

[![Joe Dope should get thrown in the can for his work as an Ordnance man, 1943 US poster: Ordnance Department cartoon poster](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/joe-dope-right-tool-gun-in-the-pan-1943.jpg)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/joe-dope-right-tool-gun-in-the-pan-1943.jpg)

# Joe Dope should get thrown in the can for his work as an Ordnance man

Ordnance Department cartoon poster for servicemen: a bomber gunner is thrown backward as a gun backplate smashes into him, while smiling enemy fighter pilots close in. A small panel shows a mechanic with a screwdriver and a note on filing it to size. The verse calls 'Joe Dope' a 'dumb little fool', name-calling backed by a graphic fear-appeal.

## Propaganda techniques used in this poster

[Name-calling](https://propagandaarchive.org/techniques/name-calling/) [Fear appeal](https://propagandaarchive.org/techniques/fear-appeal/)

## Text on the object

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

```
Joe Dope should get thrown in the can
For his work as an Ordnance man;
The dumb little fool
Didn't use the right tool*-
So his pal gets the gun in the pan!
* Grind or file screwdriver to right size
...take it easy on the oil filler screws...
burring the heads causes oil to leak out
and backplate smashes back at gunner.
[signature: W.O. Will Eisner ORDNANCE]
ORDNANCE DEPARTMENT, U.S. ARMY
[imprint:] U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE : 1943-O-518000
```

[← Don't be a dope: Order equipment right!](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/joe-dope-order-equipment-right-1943/) [Joe Dope says, Why bother to clean up a small spot of spilled gasolene? →](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/joe-dope-spilled-gasoline-1943/)

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- [Behistun (Bisotun) rock relief and trilingual inscription of Darius I: the king, two attendants and the bound rebel leaders beneath the winged figure of Ahuramazda](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/behistun-relief-darius-and-rebels-521bce/) (Achaemenid Empire · 0000 · Card stacking, Name-calling, Testimonial). Content note: Shows bound captives before the king, and the inscription records the mutilation and public execution of rebel leaders, as the king's own account.
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- [The Bloody Massacre perpetrated in King Street Boston on March 5th 1770 by a party of the 29th Regt.](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/revere-bloody-massacre-king-street-1770/) (Province of Massachusetts Bay · Mar 1770 · Name-calling, Card stacking). Content note: Hand-coloured engraving of bloodied dead and wounded colonists after soldiers fired on a crowd.
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