--- title: 'Save Lives, Save Food, Save Property: Prevent Dust Explosions' url: https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/save-lives-save-food-save-property-prevent-dust-explosions-1917/ description: Three photographs of wrecked and burning grain mills sit beneath the claim that six recent dust explosions killed 39 people. section: Collection --- 1. [Home](https://propagandaarchive.org/) 2. [Collection](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/) 3. Save Lives, Save Food, Save Property: Prevent Dust Explosions [![Save Lives, Save Food, Save Property: Prevent Dust Explosions, 1917 US poster: Three photographs of wrecked and burning grain](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/save-lives-save-food-save-property-prevent-dust-explosions-1917.jpg)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/save-lives-save-food-save-property-prevent-dust-explosions-1917.jpg) # Save Lives, Save Food, Save Property: Prevent Dust Explosions Three photographs of wrecked and burning grain mills sit beneath the claim that six recent dust explosions killed 39 people, injured 60 and destroyed 2,500,000 bushels of grain and $8,000,000 of property. Four numbered safety rules follow. The tell is the pairing of casualty and loss figures with the wartime food argument ('enough grain to feed a large army for a year') to turn an industrial safety notice into a conservation appeal. ## Propaganda techniques used in this poster [Fear appeal](https://propagandaarchive.org/techniques/fear-appeal/) [Card stacking](https://propagandaarchive.org/techniques/card-stacking/) ## Text on the object Original (English) · read from the image, not independently checked ``` United States Department of Agriculture United States Food Administration SAVE LIVES SAVE FOOD-SAVE PROPERTY PREVENT DUST EXPLOSIONS Six Recent Dust Explosions and Fires in Mills and Elevators Killed 39 Persons and Injured 60. They Destroyed 2,500,000 Bushels of Grain, and Property Worth $8,000,000 Keep Your Mill and Elevator Free from Dust and Dirt Dust-free Mills and Elevators are Explo- sion-proof. Elevator explosions and fires sometimes destroy enough grain to feed a large army for a year A flour-dust explosion wrecked this mill This large cereal plant was completely destroyed by fire following a dust explosion PROTECT YOUR MILL AND ELEVATOR A little care may avert a disastrous explosion. Observe the following rules: 1. Do not smoke or carry matches in or near the buildings. Smoking and lighted matches cause explosions and fires. 2. Do not use open flames, torches, candles, lanterns and unprotected electric light bulbs in a dusty atmosphere or when examining bins and elevator legs. 3. Do not let dust accumulate on beams, machines, pulleys or floors. Dust-free Mills and Elevators are explosion-proof. 4. Examine elevators and conveyors often. Elevator choke-ups often cause explosions and fires. Report immediately any slight rubbing, slipping, or other trouble. For further information regarding grain dust explosions write to the U. S. Department of Agriculture, Bureau of Chemistry, Washington, D. C. This Company and its Employees are Co-operating in the Control of Dust Explosions and Fires ``` [← Save Fuel in Dairy Plants: Nearly One-Half the Coal Can Be Saved](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/save-fuel-in-dairy-plants-1917/) [Save: 1 Wheat, 2 Meat, 3 Fats, 4 Sugar, and Serve the Cause of Freedom →](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/save-wheat-meat-fats-sugar-and-serve-the-cause-of-freedom-1917/) ## More propaganda examples that use the same techniques - [Miniature of Pope Urban II at the Council of Clermont, Les Passages d'outremer (BnF Fr. 5594, fol. 19r)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/passages-doutremer-council-of-clermont-colombe-1474/) (France · 1474 · Testimonial, Fear appeal). Content note: Medieval religious imagery and a French text describing alleged killings and captivity of eastern Christians, as used to argue for the First Crusade; the text is shown as written. - [Anacoana fut pendue sans raison (engraving in Le miroir de la cruelle et horrible tyrannie espagnole)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/anacoana-hanged-miroir-tyrannie-espagnole-1620/) (Dutch Republic · 1620 · Fear appeal, Name-calling). Content note: Engraving of a hanged, bare-breasted Taino woman, burning huts and people being killed by Spanish soldiers. - [Der Warner (broadsheet lampoon on the Jesuits after Breitenfeld and Rain)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/der-warner-anti-jesuit-broadsheet-1632/) (Holy Roman Empire · 1632 · Scapegoating, Fear appeal) - [Sans-Culottes, feeding Europe with the Bread of Liberty (James Gillray)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/sans-culottes-bread-of-liberty-gillray-1793/) (Kingdom of Great Britain · Jan 12, 1793 · Fear appeal, Name-calling) - [Proclamation de Sonthonax en créole, Cap-Français (Proclamation of Commissioner Sonthonax in Creole)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/sonthonax-proclamation-creole-1793/) (France · Aug 29, 1793 · Fear appeal, Scapegoating). Content note: Colonial-era proclamation on slavery and emancipation in Saint-Domingue; speaks of slaves, whips and 'Nègues' in period terms. - [Gazette of the United States, "The Jeffersoniad" no. VIII, 14 August 1800](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/gazette-us-jeffersoniad-1800/) (United States · Aug 14, 1800 · Name-calling, Fear appeal) - [Tyrants Prostrate, Liberty Triumphant (pro-Polk cartoon on Dorr), 1844](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/tyrants-prostrate-liberty-triumphant-polk-1844/) (United States · 1844 · Name-calling, Fear appeal). Content note: Speech balloons contain anti-Catholic and nativist wording ('the ruins of Popery') in the mouths of the Whig figures, written by a Democratic cartoonist and shown unaltered. - [Brolej Žemajčiaj! (Brothers Samogitians!): hand-painted broken-cross poster](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/brolej-zemajciaj-broken-cross-1862/) (Russian Empire · 1862 · Fear appeal, Transfer)