Forensic Research Archive of Manipulation and Exploitation
Smaller Parcels Quicker Service!, 1939 UK poster: A smiling woman in railway uniform runs with four parcels

Smaller Parcels Quicker Service!

A smiling woman in railway uniform runs with four parcels, with a 'Passenger Train' truck behind her and the slogan 'Smaller Parcels Quicker Service!' above the Railway Executive Committee name. The only tell is the slogan's comparative claim ('quicker'), which gives no figures; the poster is an instruction to send smaller parcels, not an appeal built on fear or enemy imagery.

Propaganda techniques used in this poster

Glittering generalities
Date
1939
Period
Second World War
Made by
Railway Executive Committee; artist Bert Thomas; printed by Haycock Press, London
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
Held by NARA, Unrestricted; UK wartime publication, hosted by owner decision
Railway Executive Committee; artist Bert Thomas; Haycock Press, National Archives and Records Administration, 44-PF-391.

Text on the object

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

SMALLER PARCELS QUICKER SERVICE!

PASSENGER TRAIN

BERT THOMAS

RAILWAY EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE

[imprint:] 561 / HAYCOCK PRESS, LONDON.

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