You Have a House, Your Friends Have a House, You May Lose Yours, But They'll Put You Up for a Time: Fix Things Up Now

Four stacked panels show a red house, a blue house, the red house as a bombed ruin, and the blue house again, each with a banner line. The ruined house is the fear cue, and the closing text turns it into an instruction to arrange lodging with friends in advance and notes a temporary lodging allowance.

Propaganda techniques used in this poster

Fear appeal

Date: 1939
Period: Second World War
Made by: Ministry of Health (printed for H.M. Stationery Office by Lowe & Brydone Printers Ltd, London N.W.10)
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
Theme: Home front
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)
Ministry of Health / H.M. Stationery Office / Lowe & Brydone Printers Ltd, c. 1939-1945. National Archives and Records Administration, Foreign Posters (44-PF-175).

Text on the object

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

YOU HAVE A HOUSE
YOUR FRIENDS HAVE A HOUSE
YOU MAY LOSE YOURS
BUT THEY'LL PUT YOU UP FOR A TIME

Arrange now with friends or relatives
in another part of the town to go to
them if you are bombed out—and for them
to come to you if they are bombed out.
Your friends can apply for a temporary
lodging allowance if they put you up.

FIX THINGS UP NOW

ISSUED BY THE MINISTRY OF HEALTH

PRINTED FOR H.M. STATIONERY OFFICE BY LOWE & BRYDONE PRINTERS LTD, LONDON, N.W.10.  51- 2131