Failure here may mean death below Safety first. – Vintage Poster
(Originally scanned by the Library of Congress. Each image is professionally and digitally cleaned of artifacts such as color bars and extra borders prior to printing.)
Description
This rare vintage poster captures Failure here may mean death below Safety first. in remarkable detail. It comes from the collections of the Library of Congress, scanned from the original and carefully restored.
The framed print arrives ready to hang; the unframed option suits custom framing. A fine choice for anyone who loves history, and a gift that gets noticed. Free shipping in the lower 48 states. Snapshots of the Past has been bringing history to the wall since 2001, for tens of thousands of customers worldwide.
Failure here may mean death below Safety first.
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Girders and a long drop define this poster more than any other detail, and its blunt title, "Failure here may mean death below," states the warning outright. Made in 1936 under the Work Projects Administration, it uses color woodcut, a method that suited the Federal Art Project's posters because bold, flat shapes could be read quickly from across a room or a job site. Safety campaigns were common through the 1930s, when steel-framed buildings were rising in American cities and steelworkers faced serious risks. The record also lists the Federal Music Project as sponsor, a reminder that WPA units often shared staff and resources across the arts programs.
| Created / published | 1936 |
|---|---|
| Medium | 1 print (poster) : woodcut color. |
| Notes | Date stamped on verso: Mar 27 1937. Work Projects Administration Poster Collection (Library of Congress). · Federal Music Project (U.S.) sponsor. |
| Subjects | Safety--1930-1940. Girders--1930-1940. |
| Source | Library of Congress, Work Projects Administration Poster Collection |
| Original scan | 1,140 × 1,536 px · prints to 4 × 5 in at 300 dpi |
| Reference | 628_Failure_here_may_mean_d_1936 |
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