Telegraph Less - Telephone Less
A text-only poster in italic and roman type on a blue ground says the telegraph and telephone services depend on their operators and that 'Man-power, the nation's most vital asset, is in short supply'. The large red and black 'Telegraph LESS / Telephone LESS' lines make the request, and the phrase 'the nation's most vital asset' is the elevated virtue-style wording that carries the appeal.
Propaganda techniques used in this poster
- Date
- 1939
- Period
- Second World War
- Made by
- General Post Office, printed for His Majesty's Stationery Office by Multi Machine Plates Ltd, 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, Labor
- 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)
General Post Office; printed for HMSO by Multi Machine Plates Ltd. UK government poster, c. 1939-1945. US National Archives (NAID 44267127, 44-PF-415).
Text on the object
The telegraph and telephone services depend upon the men & women who operate them · Man-power, the nation's most vital asset, is in short supply · Telegraph LESS Telephone LESS PRINTED FOR H.M. STATIONERY OFFICE BY MULTI MACHINE PLATES LTD. LONDON E.C.4. 51-3603 PRD 301
