CONTENT WARNING
Materials in the Library of Virginia’s collections contain historical terms, phrases, and images that are offensive to modern readers. These include demeaning and dehumanizing references to race, ethnicity, and nationality; enslaved or free status; physical and mental ability; and gender and sexual orientation.
Context
“Safety is better than compensation” it a sentiment which echoes—both explicitly and implicitly—through the wording of these safety posters (see link below to view additional images). In these posters, cartoon workers are eaten by machines and lose body parts, all to the “music” of morbid puns and innocuous slogans (“You can’t be silly safely!”. The posters are reminiscent in style and sentiment to Heinrich Hoffmann’s 1844 children’s book, Struwwelpeter, in which violent punishments are merrily delivered to disobedient or imprudent children.
A notable softening of the posters’ visual style corresponds to a transition from artist Dick Poythress to Boyd Leffler of Salem, Virginia. As they progress through time they begin to suggest a subtle “holistic” interest in the lives of state employees. They conflate the professional and the personal, caution against overwork at home, emphasize the need for weekend rest and recreation, and even veer into sentimental and emotional territory quite out of character with the posters’ early comic approach.
Read more and view more posters
Citation: Collection of Virginia Department of Labor and Industry Safety Posters , Prints and Photographs Collection, Special Collections, Library of Virginia.
A notable softening of the posters’ visual style corresponds to a transition from artist Dick Poythress to Boyd Leffler of Salem, Virginia. As they progress through time they begin to suggest a subtle “holistic” interest in the lives of state employees. They conflate the professional and the personal, caution against overwork at home, emphasize the need for weekend rest and recreation, and even veer into sentimental and emotional territory quite out of character with the posters’ early comic approach.
Read more and view more posters
Citation: Collection of Virginia Department of Labor and Industry Safety Posters , Prints and Photographs Collection, Special Collections, Library of Virginia.
Standards
VS.1, VS.9, USII.1, USII.8, VUS.1, VUS.13
Suggested Questions
Preview Activity
Look at It: Look at the poster, what is happening in the image?
Post Activities
Think About It: Given the increasing attention on promoting positive workplace messages, would this poster and others like it, be successful campaigns today? Explain.
Artistic Exploration: Create a school safety poster in the style seen in this item.