New collection of RoSPA vintage safety posters now available to own

Iconic safety posters dating from the 1950s to the 1970s have been released from the archive of the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA) to go on public sale.

The 10 images covering leisure, road and occupational safety, feature the artwork of famous artists Leonard Cusden, Bruce Angrave, Gus and others, and are available to purchase from RoSPA’s print-on-demand service www.rospaprints.com.

Among the 10 new images to be added to the collection is Gus’ 1966 warning against piling goods in an unsafe way. His “Good stacks don’t fall down” poster is a reminder that poorly stacked goods can result in injuries in warehouses and on the docks. Leonard Cusden’s “Fire raiser! Stamp him out” poster from 1969 raises awareness of the fire risk smoking presented in the workplace.

In addition, 12 images featuring RoSPA’s retired road safety squirrel Tufty Fluffytail have also been released, including the 1960s Happy Christmas Tufty artwork.

All of the images are available in a variety of forms, from prints and canvases to mugs, fridge magnets, greetings cards and postcards. Visitors to the website can preview their chosen items and add messages inside greetings cards – a perfect idea for birthdays, office gifts and Christmas stocking fillers.

The newly released items come from a long-forgotten collection of more than 700 historical safety posters and Tufty artwork, which RoSPA staff found while clearing out an old warehouse in 2011. The entire RoSPA Collection – as the archive has become known – features items dating from the 1930s to the 1970s.

Forty images went on public display and were released for sale last year, with the new release of images taking the total number available to 62.

RoSPA, a charity that has been at the heart of accident prevention in the UK and around the world for more than 97 years, has produced a video about the discovery of the posters and artwork. See www.rospa.com/vintageposters/ for details.

Tom Mullarkey, RoSPA chief executive, said: “When we first discovered our forgotten archive, we were astonished at the wide variety of styles used by the different artists and the high calibre of their work. We also saw that their messages remained valid, despite the passing of time.

“We are immensely proud of this aspect of our charity’s history, with artistic talent promoted over many decades and a continuous effort to improve the quality of everyday life.

“We are delighted to make some of our images available to the public and we hope people will enjoy them and be inspired by them, as we are. To all those with an interest in or working in the field of accident prevention, we hope the posters provide a reminder that you are part of something that has a tremendous legacy and that this will encourage you to press on to save lives and reduce injuries both now and in the future.”

Visit www.rospaprints.com to see the full collection of artwork available to the public.