Your iron ... new ones are scarce
Care sheet for a household iron, No. 8 in the 'Make your Equipment last' series. A drawing shows a woman running toward a ringing telephone while an iron left plugged in smokes on the board; photographs show unplugging at the wall and ironing. The tell is the warning (fire, damage, 'new ones are scarce') attached to household habits.
Propaganda techniques used in this poster
- Date
- 1943
- Period
- Second World War
- Made by
- U.S. Department of Agriculture, Bureau of Human Nutrition and Home Economics
- Region
- North America
- Country
- United States
- Medium
- Poster
- Issuer type
- State
- Regime
- Roosevelt Administration
- Leader
- Franklin D. Roosevelt
- Audience
- Domestic public
- Purpose
- Mobilize or secure compliance
- Themes
- Home front, Economy and finance
- Event
- World War II
- Regime
- Roosevelt administration
- Leader
- Franklin D. Roosevelt
- 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 Posters, retrieved October 4, 2026
- Rights
- Public domain (U.S. government work)
U.S. Department of Agriculture, Bureau of Human Nutrition and Home Economics. National Archives and Records Administration, RG 44, 44-PA-1136G (NAID 514670).
Text on the object
Your IRON ... new ones are scarce • Set the iron down firmly. A fall may damage mechanism... break handle ....nick surface [drawing: a woman rushes toward a ringing telephone; a plugged-in iron smokes on the ironing board; telephone sound marks "R-R-R"] • Get the disconnecting habit - to prevent fire ....avoid damage to iron from overheating ....save current • Always disconnect or connect at wall outlet First Protect cord and plugs x Don't let cord touch hot iron x Don't drag it across the board x Don't yank cord from socket x Don't drop plugs For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U. S. Government Printing Office, Washington, D. C. [imprint:] U. S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE : 1943—O—520004 "Make your Equipment last"... No. 8 For further details see Folder AWI- 11 BUREAU OF HUMAN NUTRITION AND HOME ECONOMICS U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
