Keep Calm and Carry On

"Keep Calm" redirects here. For the novel, see Keep Calm (novel).
This article is about the poster. For the Stereophonics album, see Keep Calm and Carry On (album). For the TV series episode, see Keep Calm and Carry On (Supernatural).

Original 1939 poster

Keep Calm and Carry On was a motivational poster produced by the Government of the United Kingdom 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.[1][2] Although 2.45 million copies were printed, and the Blitz did in fact take place, the poster was only rarely publicly displayed and was little known until a copy was rediscovered in 2000 at Barter Books, a bookshop in Alnwick.[3] It has since been re-issued by a number of private companies, and has been used as the decorative theme for a range of products.[4]

Evocative of the Victorian belief in British stoicism – the "stiff upper lip", self-discipline, fortitude, and remaining calm in adversity – the poster has become recognised around the world.[5] It was thought that only two original copies 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.[6] A few further examples have come to light since.[7]

  1. ^ Slocombe, Richard (2010). British Posters of the Second World War. London: Imperial War Museum. p. 6. ISBN 9781904897927.
  2. ^ Lewis, Rebecca (5 April 2009). "1939: The Three Posters (PhD Extract)". Keep Calm and Carry on and other Second World War Posters: British Home Front Propaganda Posters of the Second World War. Archived from the original on 2 April 2015. Retrieved 4 February 2013.
  3. ^ Jack, Malcolm (20 April 2020). "How we made the Keep Calm and Carry On poster". The Guardian. Retrieved 1 April 2022.
  4. ^ Hughes, Stuart (4 February 2009). "The Greatest Motivational Poster Ever?". BBC News. Archived from the original on 12 September 2017. Retrieved 18 March 2009.
  5. ^ "Keep calm and carry on ... bidding for rare poster". The Guardian. 2 October 2016. Archived from the original on 4 November 2016. Retrieved 2 November 2016.
  6. ^ "Original collection of 'Keep Calm And Carry On' posters could be worth £15,000". The Telegraph. 23 February 2012.
  7. ^ Lewis 2017, p. 63.