---
title: Heat Plays Havoc With Shoe Leather
url: https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/uk-heat-plays-havoc-with-shoe-leather-1939/
description: A drawing of shoes crossed out with red and black Xs beside a stove, under the headline 'Heat plays havoc with shoe leather'.
section: Collection
---

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3. Heat Plays Havoc With Shoe Leather

[![Heat Plays Havoc With Shoe Leather, 1939 UK poster: A drawing of shoes crossed out with red and black Xs beside a stove](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/uk-heat-plays-havoc-with-shoe-leather-1939.jpg)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/uk-heat-plays-havoc-with-shoe-leather-1939.jpg)

# Heat Plays Havoc With Shoe Leather

A drawing of shoes crossed out with red and black Xs beside a stove, under the headline 'Heat plays havoc with shoe leather', above photographs and a list of shoe-care rules. This is an instructional poster; the only persuasive device is the staged damage in the headline and crossed-out shoes, set against a single prescribed remedy (dry shoes away from heat, polish well in), which is the mild fear-appeal pattern.

## Propaganda techniques used in this poster

[Fear appeal](https://propagandaarchive.org/techniques/fear-appeal/)

## Text on the object

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

```
Heat plays HAVOC with shoe leather

Wipe wet shoes and lay them on their sides to dry in an airy place AWAY FROM DIRECT HEAT
CLEAN REGULARLY
RUB POLISH WELL IN
to prevent cracking

Always remove mud from heavy work boots and dubbin both soles and uppers.

Rundown heels throw shoes out of balance. Have them mended in time. Take the advice of your repairer. Never let wooden soled shoes wear down to the wood.

Wear shoes on alternate days—this rests the leather.
Keep shoes on shoe trees—but never put trees in wet shoes or they will stretch—stuff them with paper instead.
Keep goloshes and rubber boots in a cool dark place.
Remember sunlight, grease, soap and petrol all help to perish rubber.
New or newly repaired shoes should be worn first on a dry day.

[imprint:] ISSUED BY THE BOARD OF TRADE   B.O.T. 1008
PRINTED FOR H.M. STATIONERY OFFICE BY W. R. ROYLE & SON, LTD., 51-3771
```

[← He Talked - They Died](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/uk-he-talked-they-died-games-1939/) [Help Britain Finish the Job! \[4\] (battleship) →](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/uk-help-britain-finish-the-job-battleship-1939/)

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- [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.
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