Personal Cleanliness
A split figure shows a soldier half in uniform and boots on a black ground and half as a bare yellow figure under a shower on green, beneath the headline 'Personal Cleanliness'. The footer, 'You owe it to yourself, your comrades, your efficiency', ties the individual's hygiene to the group's standing (identity fusion, a loose fit).
Propaganda techniques used in this poster
- Date
- 1939
- Period
- Second World War
- Made by
- Abram Games (artist; signed 'A. Games R.E.'), War Office poster printed for H.M. Stationery Office by Lowe & Brydone Printers Ltd, London
- Region
- Western and Central Europe
- Country
- United Kingdom
- Medium
- Poster
- Issuer type
- State
- Regime
- Churchill Government
- Leader
- Winston Churchill
- Audience
- Own forces
- Purpose
- Mobilize or secure compliance
- 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)
UK government poster printed for H.M. Stationery Office; Abram Games (artist; signed 'A. Games R.E.'), War Office poster printed for H.M. Stationery Office by Lowe & Brydone Printers Ltd, London. Via US National Archives (NAID 44266602, 44-PF-208c).
Text on the object
PERSONAL CLEANLINESS YOU OWE IT TO YOURSELF · YOUR COMRADES · YOUR EFFICIENCY A. GAMES R.E. PRINTED FOR H.M. STATIONERY OFFICE BY LOWE & BRYDONE PRINTERS LTD., LONDON, N.W.10. 51-1502. P.R.2 No.45.
