Poster, with illustration of three geese, encouraging the public to have their chests x-rayed by the visiting mass miniature radiography service, UK, 1940s.

The highly infectious tuberculosis (TB) could be detected using mass miniature radiography, a technique used widely in the UK during the 1940s. This poster advertised mobile screening programmes that could rapidly x-ray the chests of large numbers of people in a community. Early diagnosis lowered the risk of infection to others, such as co-workers or family menbers, and also meant a higher chance of recovery. The poster is possibly aimed at parents because it features a cartoon image of a mother goose with her brood. The headline reads, ‘Confidence in your future, have your chest x-rayed.’ Mass miniature radiography only became possible with pre-war technological developments. These included extremely small, fast camera lenses that were applied to X-ray work. Mobile X-ray services played a large and very successful role in public health campaigns against tuberculosis in the 1940s and 1950s. They were phased out in the UK in the 1960s, but are still used in other parts of the world.