EDWARD MCKNIGHT KAUFFER (1890-1954) WATCH OUT FOR FIRE. 1943. 44x31 inches, 112x78 1/2 cm. U.S. Government Printing Office, [Washington, D.C.]. Condition B+: repaired tears in margins and image; restoration along sharp vertical and horizontal folds. A poster for the Civil Aeronautics Administration, published in conjunction with the Commerce Department, exhorting safety in the air and on airfields. Unlike most war posters which would have been mass-distributed, this one was most likely limited to air fields, explaining why it is so infrequently seen. A sophisticated image, it relays its message in an immediate and easily understood manner; A large hand held up in the universally recognizable "stop" gesture, and three planes flying into clear skies away from bright flames that engulf half of the hand. The dynamic text adds to both the urgency and strength of the message. Kauffer 134.
