His Careless Talk Costs Lives series of posters are amongst the most famous of the propaganda campaigns of the Second World War. He worked unpaid for the Ministry of Information during the war, producing cartoons with a short word of advise. Picture editor of Punch from 1937-1949, then editor until 1953, he noted that the best sort of advertising would make people smile. They hung it up in their shop and started producing reproductions, and the poster has become an internationally recognised image, reproduced on mugs, t-shirts, and adapted into such uplifting slogans as “Keep Calm and Drink Tea”.Ī much more successful series of propaganda was created by ‘Fougasse’ – Cyril Bird. However, in 2000, the owner of Barter Books in Alnwick discovered a copy of the poster in the bottom of a box of books. Owing to the shortage of raw materials, the paper was recycled and there the story should have ended. As the invasion never happened, Hitler’s armies being otherwise occupied elsewhere in the world, and the Spitfire achieving victory in the Battle of Britain, the Keep Calm posters were never used. In the event the poster campaign was not a great success, with the people regarding it as an instruction from the powers-that-be that it was the people, not the leaders, who were going to be the ones doing the hard work. The fourth poster – “Keep Calm and Carry On” – was distributed, but was to be held back and only used in the event of invasion. I noticed that there was a huge surge in interest in a classic British World War 2 poster that simply said Keep Calm and Carry On. Bearing a crown at the top these posters were clearly intended to be a message from the King: “Your Courage, Your Cheerfulness, Your Resolution, Will Bring Us Victory” was displayed widely, with hundreds of thousands being printed similarly “Freedom is in Peril Defend it with all Your Might” and “Don’t help the enemy! Careless Talk May Give Away Vital Secrets”. In 1939, with invasion an ever-present threat, HM Government commissioned four posters with snippets designed to encourage the population. The story of the poster is well known these days, but bears repeating. As they were never used, the survivors are incredibly rare. The quality of the poster is not something that could be replicated at home, the only thing I’m regretting is not getting it framed by this company. Arrived very quickly, very good quality, super happy highly recommend this company. Once it became obvious that they were not going to invade, these posters were sent back for recycling. Keep calm and carry on buying from here they are brilliant. ‘Your Courage, Your Cheerfulness, Your Resolution Will Bring Us Victory’ (23 of the 3. An instantly-recognisable brand today, this poster was reserved for use in the event of the German invasion. I first mentioned the ‘Keep Calm and Carry On’ poster in my undergraduate dissertation in 1997, and again in my PhD thesis in 2004, really as a footnote in discussions about two other posters that were designed for the outbreak of the Second World War in 1939.
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