Forensic Research Archive of Manipulation and Exploitation
The Battle for Fuel - Use Up Coal Dust, 1939 UK poster: A giant black pointing hand carries the words 'Use up coal dust'

The Battle for Fuel - Use Up Coal Dust

A giant black pointing hand carries the words 'Use up coal dust' toward a boiler furnace drawn in red. The lines below say coal 'is needed to make ships, guns and planes'. The tell is the military framing 'battle' laid over household boiler use, and the pointing hand that addresses the viewer directly.

Propaganda techniques used in this poster

Transfer
Date
1939
Period
Second World War
Made by
British government (printed for H.M. Stationery Office by Multi Machine Plates Ltd., London); issuing ministry not named
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)
Printed for H.M. Stationery Office by Multi Machine Plates Ltd., c. 1939-1945. US National Archives, World War II Foreign Posters (NAID 44267165).

Text on the object

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

THE BATTLE FOR FUEL
Use up
coal
dust
DON'T LEAVE YOUR BOILER DAMPER OUT! COAL
IS NEEDED TO MAKE SHIPS, GUNS AND PLANES
PRINTED FOR H.M. STATIONERY OFFICE BY MULTI MACHINE PLATES LTD. LONDON E.C.4. 51-2708

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