Keep Calm and Carry On was one of a set of three motivational posters produced by the Ministry of Information of the UK Government in 1939 in preparation for World War II. The poster was intended to raise the morale of the British public, threatened with widely predicted mass air attacks on major cities. And indeed, for eight straight months starting in September 1940, German planes bombed British cities in a relentless campaign known as the Blitz (from the German word Blitzkrieg, meaning “the lightning war”).
The other two posters were not nearly as catchy. They read: “Your Courage, Your Cheerfulness, Your Resolution Will Bring Us Victory" and "Freedom Is in Peril / Defend It With All Your Might". Even so, they were the two that were widely distributed.
Although 2.45 million copies of Keep Calm and Carry On poster in a variety of sizes were printed, it was held back with the intention that it would be distributed to strengthen morale in the event of a wartime disaster, such as mass bombing of major cities using high explosives and poison gas.
Copies of Keep Calm and Carry On were retained until April 1940, but stocks were then pulped as part of a wider Paper Salvage campaign. Also, public reaction to the first two posters was overwhelmingly negative, as people felt that they were being patronised. There was also criticism of the campaign’s cost and impact. So, the incentive to roll out with Keep Calm and Carry On was not there. Pity, as it was surely the strongest of the three.
The slogan is evocative of the Victorian belief in British stoicism – the "stiff upper lip", self-discipline, fortitude, and remaining calm in adversity; and the straightforward, hand drawn type with the elegant Tudor crown symbol, makes it equal parts nostalgic and modern.
Some copies of Keep Calm and Carry On appear to have been displayed during the war, but such instances were rare and unauthorised, e.g. a large version displayed in a pub appears in a 1941 photograph by Cecil Beaton.
The poster was little known and mostly forgotten until a copy was rediscovered in 2000 at Barter Books by store owner Stuart Manley. It was at the bottom of a box of used books he bought at an auction. He liked it so much that he hung it in his store. Everyone who saw it wanted a copy, so he made some and sold them. It was soon featured in magazine articles and other companies started making products bearing the statement. The rest is history, and the design has been applied to a broad range of products by large number of private enterprises and parodied by countless versions that mimic the distinctive graphic layout. Carry On and Keep Memeing!
It was thought that only two original copies of the poster had survived until a collection of approximately 15 was brought in to the Antiques Roadshow in 2012 by the daughter of an ex Royal Observer Corps member.
Keep Calm and Carry On in its original form has come to be seen as not only as a distillation of a crucial moment in British history, but also as an inspiring message from the past to the present for use in times of crisis.
Story Idea: Bonnie Siegler
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References
wikipedia.org/wiki/Keep_Calm_and_Carry_On
theguardian.com/artanddesign/2020/apr/20/how-we-made-keep-calm-and-carry-on-poster
dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2105518/Keep-calm-carry-Only-surviving-stash-original-iconic-poster-appears-Antiques-Roadshow
creativereview.co.uk/keep-calm-and-carry-on/
allthatsinteresting.com/the-blitz
Images
1. Keep Calm and Carry On
2. Londoners in the subway system, waiting out another bombing
3. The other two posters. Daggy relatives.
4. Posters up during the Blitz
5. Rare shot of Keep Calm and Carry On poster displayed in pub circa 1941. Photo: Cecil Beaton.
6. Stuart Manley of Barter Books with poster. Credit: The Telegraph, 16 March 2009.
7. Trove of posters revealed in Antiques Roadshow, 2012
8. Selection of Keep Calm parodies
9. REMO version: Gift Giving Makes You Happy, November 2011
