---
title: The Worker Who Left the Lights On! Don't Be Fuel-ish
url: https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/uk-worker-who-left-lights-on-dont-be-fuel-ish-1942/
description: A cartoon by H. M. Bateman shows three scowling women in factory overalls pointing at lit ceiling lamps while a small, stooped colleague cowers.
section: Collection
---

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3. The Worker Who Left the Lights On! Don't Be Fuel-ish

[![The Worker Who Left the Lights On! Don't Be Fuel-ish, 1942 UK poster: A cartoon by H. M. Bateman shows three scowling women](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/uk-worker-who-left-lights-on-dont-be-fuel-ish-1942.jpg)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/uk-worker-who-left-lights-on-dont-be-fuel-ish-1942.jpg)

# The Worker Who Left the Lights On! Don't Be Fuel-ish

A cartoon by H. M. Bateman shows three scowling women in factory overalls pointing at lit ceiling lamps while a small, stooped colleague cowers. The group disapproval of one 'worker' is the bandwagon tell, set among ordinary factory hands, and the pun 'Fuel-ish' ties wasted electricity to weapons for victory.

## Propaganda techniques used in this poster

[Bandwagon](https://propagandaarchive.org/techniques/bandwagon/) [Plain folks](https://propagandaarchive.org/techniques/plain-folks/)

## Text on the object

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

```
THE WORKER WHO LEFT THE LIGHTS ON!

DON'T BE FUEL-ISH

WASTED ELECTRICITY MEANS LESS FUEL
TO MAKE THE WEAPONS WE NEED FOR VICTORY

H.M. BATEMAN
Printed for H.M. Stationery Office by J. Weiner Ltd., London, W.C.1. 51-3174
ISSUED BY THE MINISTRY OF FUEL & POWER
```

[← Notice: Waste Paper and Cardboard Must Not Be Destroyed, Thrown Away or Mixed With Refuse](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/uk-waste-paper-cardboard-notice-1942/) [You are in the Battle for Fuel: Are you keeping inside your Target? →](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/uk-you-are-in-the-battle-for-fuel-target-1942/)

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- [Consult of the doctors on the grave illness of the Grand Sultan (Consult vande medicijnen inde swaere siekte vanden grooten Sultaen)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/consult-of-the-doctors-sick-sultan-antwerp-1683/) (Spanish Netherlands · 1683 · Transfer, Bandwagon)
- ["Jackson ticket" with Hickory tree motto, Baltimore (1828)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/jackson-ticket-hickory-tree-1828/) (United States · 1828 · Bandwagon, Transfer)
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- [Democratic ticket, "Going the whole hog" (Ohio electors for Van Buren and Johnson), 1836](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/democratic-ticket-whole-hog-van-buren-1836/) (United States · 1836 · Bandwagon)
- ["Political race course - Union Track - fall races 1836"](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/political-race-course-union-track-harrison-1836/) (United States · 1836 · Bandwagon, Name-calling). Content note: Partisan caricature of named politicians that uses the epithet 'Black Dan' for Daniel Webster and regional stereotypes in the speech balloons.
- ["Grand match between the Kinderhook poney and the Ohio ploughman", April 1836](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/grand-match-kinderhook-poney-ohio-ploughman-harrison-1836/) (United States · Apr 1836 · Transfer, Bandwagon)
- ['The People's Line -- Take care of the Locomotive', Whig woodcut, 1840](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/peoples-line-take-care-of-the-locomotive-1840/) (United States · 1840 · Bandwagon)
- ['The Fox Chace', Whig cartoon of Van Buren hunted by cider-barrel hounds, 1840](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/the-fox-chace-van-buren-harrison-childs-1840/) (United States · 1840 · Name-calling, Bandwagon)
