boblipton
That's the leading message of this safety film issued in 1941 -- one wonders why, the following year, we did not assault the Axis with frayed electric cords which, this movie informs us, are more dangerous than jumping out of an airplane.Of course, for decades, safety films showed us how prone to disaster the most innocent activity was and every driver's education course in high school included at least one movie with a body count and lots of ketchup. This is, one surmises, because our grandparents were idiots.Of course, to the modern eye, the risks that this movie claims as ordinary strike us as foolish: electric irons with cords frayed to the bare wire, people drying their chiffon dresses in front of open gas heaters, home dry cleaning in open basins of gasoline while mommy smokes -- all to an overwrought score which would inform anyone that horrible death is just a-waiting.And it all takes place at home. Better stop at the bar for a few drinks before driving there.
