Forensic Research Archive of Manipulation and Exploitation
Holidays - Passenger to Stay at Home, 1939 UK poster: A luggage label reading 'Passenger to stay at home' hangs from a case

Holidays - Passenger to Stay at Home

A luggage label reading 'Passenger to stay at home' hangs from a case whose sides spell 'HOLIDAYS', above the name Railway Executive Committee. The tell, a mild case of card-stacking, is that the instruction is given with no reason, such as the rail capacity needed for war traffic, so the viewer is left with the directive alone.

Propaganda techniques used in this poster

Card stacking
Date
1939
Period
Second World War
Made by
Railway Executive Committee; artist Reginald Mayes
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 work published 1939-1945, 50 years expired; hosted by owner decision)
Railway Executive Committee; artist Reginald Mayes. National Archives and Records Administration, 44-PF-332.

Text on the object

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

REGINALD MAYES
PASSENGER TO
stay at
home
HOLIDAYS
RAILWAY EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE
562

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