You remember what Mother said: safety first. That way, you can keep yourself from being electrocuted by tiny dragons or suffocated by an exhaust ghost. Or at least that’s what these vintage Dutch workplace safety posters, spotted over at 50 Watts, suggest. The posters, which represent over 50 years of finger-wagging, are mostly terrifying, but each is also pretty gorgeous in its own way — much better than the inspirational or warning posters floating around offices today. A sad kitten and some Helvetica just don’t cut it. Check out some amazing vintage safety posters after the jump, and head on over to 50 Watts or Memory of the Netherlands for more.
1925-1926, illus. Willem Papenhuyzen
1950, poster by N. Olthuis
1925-1949, poster by Evert Möllenkamp
1927-1928, poster by Albert Hahn
1939, poster by E. Lukàcs
1940, poster by Drik de Leeuw
1942, poster by Hans Bolleman
c. 1950–1959, designer unknown
1952-1953, poster by Dick Harders
1959-1964, designer unknown
1972, designer unknown
1967, designer unknown