Forensic Research Archive of Manipulation and Exploitation
Rags Make Machine Wipers, 1939 UK poster: A photograph shows a woman in overalls wiping a large riveted machine with a rag

Rags Make Machine Wipers

A photograph shows a woman in overalls wiping a large riveted machine with a rag, beside a simple blue-and-red tank graphic. The headline 'Rags make machine wipers' links a household salvage request to war production; the tank symbol carries the transfer of the war-industry's importance onto ordinary scrap cloth.

Propaganda techniques used in this poster

Transfer
Date
1939
Period
Second World War
Made by
His Majesty's Stationery Office (HMSO), London, for the British government salvage campaign; printed by Hubners Ltd
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 Crown copyright, 50 years from publication, expired before 1996; no URAA restoration)
His Majesty's Stationery Office, London, c. 1939-1945; printed by Hubners Ltd. National Archives and Records Administration, NAID 44266975 (44-PF-361).

Text on the object

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

RAGS
MAKE
MACHINE WIPERS

Printed for H.M. Stationery Office by HUBNERS LTD., 51-2487.

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