Is There Anything 'Up the Spout'? Look First, Prevent Accidents
Two panels, red above and blue below, each show a bullet with a watching eye, one before a rifle breech and one before a curved magazine, captioned as questions about a loaded chamber and a magazine. The staring eye and the implied accident make the warning a personal threat (fear-appeal) with the instruction 'Look first' as the remedy.
Propaganda techniques used in this poster
- Date
- 1939
- Period
- Second World War
- Made by
- His Majesty's Stationery Office (HMSO); artist Abram Games; printed by T. G. Porter (Printers) Ltd, Leeds
- 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, Security and surveillance
- 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)
His Majesty's Stationery Office; artist Abram Games; printed by T. G. Porter (Printers) Ltd, Leeds. U.S. National Archives (RG 44).
Text on the object
A. GAMES is there anything 'up the spout'? WHEN HANDLING ARMS LOOK FIRST - PREVENT ACCIDENTS is that magazine really empty? PRINTED FOR H.M. STATIONERY OFFICE BY T.G. PORTER (Printers) LTD. LEEDS. 51-4957 P.R. No 63.
