The caissons go rolling along, except for Joe Dope's little throng
Ordnance vehicle-care cartoon: tanks and trucks roll past while three soldiers heave at a stalled jeep-type truck and an officer glowers over its windscreen, under a verse about a flat battery that 'they left out of the song'. The label 'dim-witted clown' is name-calling aimed at the careless soldier, with the slogan 'Don't be a dope!' beneath.
Propaganda techniques used in this poster
- Date
- 1941
- Period
- Second World War
- Made by
- Ordnance Department, U.S. Army; artist Will Eisner
- 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)
Ordnance Department, U.S. Army. National Archives and Records Administration, RG 44, 44-PA-1143EE (NAID 514696).
Text on the object
The caissons go rolling along.. Except for Joe Dope's little throng.. The dim-witted clown Let the battery run down (A point they left out of the song!) Don't be a dope! HANDLE EQUIPMENT RIGHT! [signature: Will Eisner, ORDNANCE] [imprint:] ORDNANCE DEPARTMENT, U. S. ARMY PREVENTIVE MAINTENANCE PROGRAM
