Horse-play WITH WEAPONS MAY END LIKE THIS...
A dark spiral tunnel frames a small red soldier with a rifle and two pointing hands with red discs, above a prone figure with a red ring around his head. The headline warns that careless play with weapons 'may end like this'; the fear appeal is the fallen body and the red target ring, which show the consequence of an accident.
Propaganda techniques used in this poster
- Date
- 1939
- Period
- Second World War
- Made by
- Printed for H.M. Stationery Office by Walsall Lithographic Co., Ltd.; artist Abram Games
- Region
- Western and Central Europe
- Country
- United Kingdom
- Medium
- Poster
- Issuer type
- State
- Regime
- Churchill Government
- Leader
- Winston Churchill
- Audience
- Own forces
- Purpose
- Warn or inform
- Themes
- War and the military, Health
- Event
- World War II
- 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)
Abram Games for H.M. Stationery Office, printed by Walsall Lithographic Co., Ltd., 1939-1945 (undated). U.S. National Archives, Record Group 44.
Text on the object
Horse-play WITH WEAPONS MAY END LIKE THIS... A. GAMES PRINTED FOR H.M. STATIONERY OFFICE BY WALSALL LITHOGRAPHIC CO., LTD. 51-4958
