Forensic Research Archive of Manipulation and Exploitation
The Battle for Fuel - Turn the Gas Down, 1939 UK poster: A black pointing hand carrying the words 'Turn the gas down'

The Battle for Fuel - Turn the Gas Down

A black pointing hand carrying the words 'Turn the gas down' descends on a kettle over a gas ring, against red brushstrokes, under the headline 'The Battle for Fuel'. The military metaphor 'battle' is carried over to household cooking (transfer); the closing line gives a figure, 7 fuel units a year wasted by half an hour of needless burning, with no source stated.

Propaganda techniques used in this poster

Transfer
Date
1939
Period
Second World War
Made by
Her Majesty's Stationery Office (HMSO) fuel-saving campaign; printed by Multi Machine Plates, Ltd.
Region
Western and Central Europe
Country
United Kingdom
Medium
Poster
Issuer type
State
Regime
Churchill Government
Leader
Winston Churchill
Audience
Domestic public
Purpose
Mobilize or secure compliance
Themes
Home front, Economy and finance
Event
World War II
Regime
Churchill wartime government
Leader
Winston Churchill
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 Foreign Posters, retrieved October 3, 2026
Rights
Public domain (UK Crown copyright, 50 years from publication, expired before 1996; no URAA restoration)
HMSO / Multi Machine Plates Ltd., c. 1939-1945. U.S. National Archives, NAID 44267161 (44-PF-430).

Text on the object

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

THE BATTLE FOR FUEL

Turn
the gas
down

A GAS RING TURNED ON NEEDLESSLY FOR HALF AN
HOUR EVERY DAY WASTES 7 FUEL UNITS A YEAR

PRINTED FOR H.M. STATIONERY OFFICE BY MULTI MACHINE PLATES LTD. LONDON E.C.4. 51-2708

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