The music and lyrics for “Beware Little Children” were written by Charles P. Hughes and published in a pamphlet by F. J. Kroulik in 1925. The pamphlet sought to educate children on safety behaviors around cars and included safety rules as well as a coloring page. One suggestion was for children to have their "teacher form an 'A B C' Club, which means 'Always Be Careful,' and sing the Safety Song at home and in school.

With the popularity of the automobile came a rise in the number of people killed and injured in car accidents. At the time, "most safety advocates—like most Americans—assumed that careless people were the cause of wrecks, [and] early safety efforts focused on educating drivers and pedestrians, rather than designing and producing safer automobiles and highways."

Caption information source: https://amhistory.si.edu/onthemove/collection/object_494.html