[JenBurdoo] Not for Consumption

[JenBurdoo]

During World War One, the British Stationery Office discovered quite an unusual obstacle to printing propaganda leaflets. What was it?

[Doriana]

Was the obstacle related to being able to print leaflets at all? to the number of leaflets that could be printed? to whether they could be printed in colour?

Is a shortage of anything relevant? If so, paper? ink? machinery? manpower?

Relevant that this happened during wartime?

[JenBurdoo]

Was the obstacle related to being able to print leaflets at all? to the number of leaflets that could be printed? to whether they could be printed in colour? No to all.

Is a shortage of anything relevant? No. If so, paper? ink? machinery? manpower?

Relevant that this happened during wartime? I don't believe so, but can't find confirmation. Assume yes.

[AlbatrossLover]

Did the obstacle have something to do with distributing the leaflets that had already been printed? With the content/message of the leaflets?

Is the title relevant? Was the public told not to eat something at one point? Is some sort of trade restriction/embargo relevant?

[JenBurdoo]

Did the obstacle have something to do with distributing the leaflets that had already been printed? No. With the content/message of the leaflets? Yes.

Is the title relevant? No. Was the public told not to eat something at one point? No. Is some sort of trade restriction/embargo relevant? For a sufficiently vague value of "restriction," yes.

[Doriana]

Was the obstacle that certain words could not be used? If so, is the origin of the words relevant?

[JenBurdoo]

Was the obstacle that certain words could not be used? If so, is the origin of the words relevant? Yes to both.

[trebor]

Is a particular enemy relevant? Slang terms for enemy forces relevant? Did they find that some word or phrase they wanted to use had its origins in the language of the enemy? Meant something else in another language? Could be misconstrued?

[JenBurdoo]

Is a particular enemy relevant? Yes. Slang terms for enemy forces relevant? No. Did they find that some word or phrase they wanted to use had its origins in the language of the enemy? Yes. Meant something else in another language? No. Could be misconstrued? No.

[Doriana]

The enemy = the German Empire? Austro-Hungarian Empire? Ottoman Empire?
Was the word/phrase of German origin? Turkish?

[JenBurdoo]

The enemy = the German Empire? This. Austro-Hungarian Empire? Ottoman Empire?
Was the word/phrase of German origin? This, and FA. Turkish?

[trebor]

Is the FA that the bit in question was a word? That it was a phrase? That the word/phrase was in German? Was it in another language? Whose speakers had fallen under the realm of the German Empire? If so, another European language? African? Asian?

[Doriana]

Is the FA that there’s more than one relevant word/phrase?

[Sundowner]

Was the leaflet to be printed in German? to be distributed in Germany?
Is the title of this puzzle relevant? do the relevant word(s)/phrase(s) relate to food?
Was the leaflet to mention the shortage of food in Germany during WW I?

[JenBurdoo]

Is the FA that the bit in question was a word? That it was a phrase? Yes to both. That the word/phrase was in German? No. Was it in another language? No. Whose speakers had fallen under the realm of the German Empire? If so, another European language? African? Asian?

Is the FA that there’s more than one relevant word/phrase? It's that there's NOT more than one relevant word/phrase.

Was the leaflet to be printed in German? Yes. to be distributed in Germany? Irr.
Is the title of this puzzle relevant? Mildly. do the relevant word(s)/phrase(s) relate to food? Irr.
Was the leaflet to mention the shortage of food in Germany during WW I? Irr.

[Doriana]

So, the entire leaflet was to be printed in German, correct?

Were they not allowed to use German at all?
Did the content of the leaflet have to be approved by someone, but the person in charge didn't speak German?

[JenBurdoo]

So, the entire leaflet was to be printed in German, correct? Yes.

Were they not allowed to use German at all? Incorrect, but...
Did the content of the leaflet have to be approved by someone, but the person in charge didn't speak German? Incorrect.

[Hobbsicle]

We’re they told to avoid certain German words when printing in English? And when printing in German, those words are more common and difficult to avoid?

[JenBurdoo]

We’re they told to avoid certain German words when printing in English? And when printing in German, those words are more common and difficult to avoid? No to both.

[AlbatrossLover]

Were they unable to print certain characters that were necessary to spell German words?

[GalFisk]

Ümläüts relevant? The character ß?

[JenBurdoo]

Were they unable to print certain characters that were necessary to spell German words? No.

Ümläüts relevant? The character ß? And no.

Modification of previous answer due to FA's:

Were they not allowed to use German at all? Correctish. Explore!

[Sundowner]

Were they allowed to use German only under certain circumstances? with a special permission?
Were similar rules in place for other languages as well (except English)? for languages of enemy countries?
Was it required that a native German speaker proofreads the text? in order to avoid grammatical errors?

[JenBurdoo]

Were they allowed to use German only under certain circumstances? with a special permission? They would have required this.
Were similar rules in place for other languages as well (except English)? for languages of enemy countries? Doubtful, but assume so if you wish.
Was it required that a native German speaker proofreads the text? in order to avoid grammatical errors? No to both.

[trebor]

Does it matter specifically what the pamphlets were going to say? Where they were going to be distributed? How? Relevant whether they were going to mention anyone by name?

Would they have required permission from someone within the British military? British government? From publishers? A German entity? Some sort of international governing body? (Was there a League of Nations-style thing before the League of Nations?) Were they reprinting a quote and needing permission from the original speaker/author/copyright holder?

[Mimino]

Did they want to print the leaflet in Fraktur typeface? Which they did not have available?

[JenBurdoo]

Does it matter specifically what the pamphlets were going to say? No. Where they were going to be distributed? To an extent; assume France, Belgium and Germany. How? No. Relevant whether they were going to mention anyone by name? No.

Would they have required permission from someone within the British military? British government? From publishers? A German entity? Some sort of international governing body? (Was there a League of Nations-style thing before the League of Nations?) Were they reprinting a quote and needing permission from the original speaker/author/copyright holder? No to all.

Did they want to print the leaflet in Fraktur typeface? Which they did not have available? The typeface used is irrelevant.

[Sundowner]

So they wanted to print a leaflet in German, but were not allowed (or able) to do so. Did I get it right?
Were there legal obstacles? or practical?
Was there some obscure law from previous centuries that required the HMSO to use only English in their publications? or indirectly had this effect?
Relevant which company would actually print the leaflets? Did they plan to print them in Germany?
Was it the first time this situation came up?
Were they able to resolve the problem? (at least during WWII they printed many leaflets in German)

[JenBurdoo]

So they wanted to print a leaflet in German, but were not allowed (or able) to do so. Did I get it right? Correct.
Were there legal obstacles? This. or practical? Leading to a practical obstacle, but one that could be overcome.
Was there some obscure law from previous centuries that required the HMSO to use only English in their publications? or indirectly had this effect? No to both, but you have the right idea.
Relevant which company would actually print the leaflets? Yes, a general class of such companies. Did they plan to print them in Germany? No.
Was it the first time this situation came up? Yes.
Were they able to resolve the problem? Yes. (at least during WWII they printed many leaflets in German) The circumstances were significantly different during WWII.

[GalFisk]

Typesetting relevant? The people working at the printing company relevant? Did the law stop people from doing something? Affect design, function or availability of equipment? Prioritize English-language print jobs over German-language ones?

[JenBurdoo]

Typesetting relevant? No. The people working at the printing company relevant? Yes. Did the law stop people from doing something? Yes. Affect design, function or availability of equipment? No. Prioritize English-language print jobs over German-language ones? In a sense...

[Mimino]

Were the printing companies simply not allowed to print anything in German? or was there a legal obstacle that indirectly would make it difficult to print in German? was it still possible to print in German but at risk of a lower quality?
Were these companies only allowed to hire British nationals? Which, at that time, had only limited knowledge of German?

[JenBurdoo]

Were the printing companies simply not allowed to print anything in German? Correct. or was there a legal obstacle that indirectly would make it difficult to print in German? was it still possible to print in German but at risk of a lower quality?
Were these companies only allowed to hire British nationals? Which, at that time, had only limited knowledge of German? No to both.

SPOILER:

Since it was closer to the front, the Stationery Office printed most of its material in France, outsourcing it to French printing shops. But French printers were barred by French law from printing anything in German, so propaganda in German had to be printed in Britain instead, at greater expense and a longer turnaround time.