Readers with good memories may recall a blog some time back describing a treasure trove of old ‘accident prevention’ posters that were discovered by RoSPA in England. Now a story has appeared in the Washington Times about a similar discovery from the former Soviet Union. Apparently these bizarre posters intended to frighten viewers have been digitized and are becoming collector’s items. I encourage readers of this blog to visit the website to see them mainly  because they are wonderful examples of pop art from a period between the 1920s and 1930s. They also serve as a reminder of an approach to injury prevention that has never seemed to work well. Even though most of the posters related to work-place injuries, the writer claims never to have seen any of them while working at three different jobs in Russia.  He also asserts that general message the posters intended to convey was that “terrible things will happen to you if we (the state) don’t take care of you and watch over your every step.” His views seem to me to be entirely anti-government, no doubt influenced by his Russian background. Nonetheless, the original posters (not those he has added) are worth a look.  Here is the link:

http://communities.washingtontimes.com/neighborhood/peoples-communities-cube/2012/dec/20/gore-galore-vintage-soviet-accident-prevention-pos/#.UN89J0J5Ki0.email