The Story Behind the Keep Calm Slogan with Weekend Linky ~ Amanda's Books and More

Friday, February 27, 2015

The Story Behind the Keep Calm Slogan with Weekend Linky

Welcome to my weekend blog hop -

Make My Saturday Sweet #119!

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The original 1939 Keep Calm
and Carry On poster
Source: Wikipedia

I think we've all seen the Keep Calm and Carry On slogan and variations of it. I never knew that there was a story behind the original saying until my husband stumbled upon it earlier this week. I found the story so interesting that I thought to share it with you today. I went to Wikipedia to get the scoop. You can find the full story here.

Keep Calm and Carry On

Keep Calm and Carry On was a motivational poster produced by the British government in 1939 in preparation for the Second World War. ...The poster was hardly ever publicly displayed and was little known until a copy was rediscovered in 2000. 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.

It was thought that only two original copies survived until a collection of 20 was brought in to the Antiques Roadshow in 2012 by the daughter of an ex-Royal Observer Corps member.

Design and Production

The Keep Calm and Carry On poster was designed by the Ministry of Information during the period 27 June – 6 July 1939. It was produced as part of a series of three "Home Publicity" posters (the others read "Your Courage, Your Cheerfulness, Your Resolution Will Bring Us Victory" and "Freedom Is in Peril. Defend It With All Your Might"). Each poster showed the slogan under a representation of a "Tudor Crown" (a symbol of the state). They were intended to 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, which was widely expected within hours of an outbreak of war.

Almost 2,500,000 copies of Keep Calm and Carry On were printed between 23 August 1939 and 3 September 1939 but the poster was not sanctioned for immediate public display. Copies of Keep Calm and Carry On were retained until April 1940, but stocks were then pulped as part of the wider Paper Salvage campaign. An October 1940 edition of the Yorkshire Post and Leeds Mercury records the poster being hung in a shop in Leeds.

Rediscovery and Commercialization

In 2000, Stuart Manley, co-owner with his wife Mary of Barter Books Ltd. in Alnwick, Northumberland, was sorting through a box of used books bought at auction when he uncovered one of the original "Keep Calm and Carry On" posters. The couple framed it and hung it up by the cash register; it attracted so much interest that Manley began to produce and sell copies. Other companies followed suit, and the design rapidly began to be used as the theme for a wide range of products.

Here are a few variations of the original slogan

Source: Quotes Tags

It's my birthday on Tuesday,

so I thought to include that one.

Source Unknown

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Make My Saturday Sweet is a weekend blog hop for all family friendly blogs. You are welcome to link your favorite post from the past week(s) and to visit the last link before yours and leave a sweet comment. It's a really easy and fun way to make new friends and to catch up on old acquaintances.

Now on to my blog hop...