---
title: In the Blackout be Sure the Bus or Tram has Stopped
url: https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/uk-in-the-blackout-be-sure-the-bus-or-tram-has-stopped-1939/
description: A stylised illustration shows a shoe stepping from a vehicle platform into black shadow, under the headline 'In the Blackout' and the instruction to be
section: Collection
---

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3. In the Blackout be Sure the Bus or Tram has Stopped

[![In the Blackout be Sure the Bus or Tram has Stopped, 1939 UK poster: A stylised illustration shows a shoe stepping](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/uk-in-the-blackout-be-sure-the-bus-or-tram-has-stopped-1939.jpg)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/uk-in-the-blackout-be-sure-the-bus-or-tram-has-stopped-1939.jpg)

# In the Blackout be Sure the Bus or Tram has Stopped

A stylised illustration shows a shoe stepping from a vehicle platform into black shadow, under the headline 'In the Blackout' and the instruction to be sure the bus or tram has stopped. The tell is the staged image of a misstep in the dark, which conveys a risk of injury so that the reader follows the safety instruction.

## 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

```
IN THE BLACKOUT

Be sure the bus
or tram has stopped

[signature:] ZERO
[imprint:] 948.1795.1500.   The Baynard Press.
```

[← In Port After Successful Patrol Duties](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/uk-in-port-after-successful-patrol-duties-1939/) [In the Blackout - Before You Alight Make Sure the Train is in the Station - Look for Platform →](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/uk-in-the-blackout-before-you-alight-make-sure-the-train-is-in-the-station-1939/)

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- [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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