Keep Calm and Carry On

About

“Keep Calm and Carry On” is a well-known public safety poster issued by the British government during World War II. On the web, the poster has inspired a series of image macros centered around the phrasal template “Keep Calm and X.”

Origin

The “Keep Calm and Carry On” poster was first commissioned in 1939 by England’s temporary Ministry of Information^[1]. Similar to the previous two posters issued by the government, “Freedom Is In Peril. Defend It With All Your Might” (400,000 printed) and “Your Courage, Your Cheerfulness, Your Resolution Will Bring Us Victory” (800,000 printed), “Keep Calm and Carry On” was intended to be distributed in public places to strengthen morale in the event of wartime emergency, which was considered inevitable at the time.

Her Majesty’s Stationery Office (HMSO)^[2] was charged with printing the posters, costing approximately £20,600 for printing and storage of 5,000,000 copies, with an additional fee of £225 for the artists who designed them; the designer of the poster remains unknown. These were kept in storage in case of a dire attack on the country, while the other two designs were circulated that September. Since there was not a large-scale attack or occupation, the design was never used. Most of the “Keep Calm and Carry On” posters were destroyed or lost in time, with the exception of 7: 6 found in 2009 that are in storage at the Imperial War Museum, and 1 that resides in a British book shop.

Rediscovery

The poster was rediscovered in 2000, Stuart Manley, owner of Barter Books^[3] in Alnwick, England. Manley and his wife found the poster folded at the bottom of a box of old books they purchased at an auction. They framed it, putting it up in their shop where it became popular with their customers. In 2001, they began printing and selling facsimiles of the original poster. According to Mary Manley^[3], by March 2009, they had sold over 40,000 copies.

Spread

In 1997, Dr. Rebecca Lewis published the first part of her research on WWII posters, including this series. Both of her undergraduate dissertation from 1997 and her Ph.D. thesis from 2004 are available on World War II Posters website. Dr. Lewis has been also keeping track of “Keep Calm and Carry On” mentions on her blog^[5] since April 2009.

The website KeepCalmAndCarryOn.com^[6] was registered in February 2007, which sells a variety of related merchandises featuring the slogan from T-shirts and bags to deck chairs and chocolate bars.

In early 2009, the poster saw its biggest resurgence following the spread of a global economic crisis; The Guardian^[7] and The Independent^[8] both published articles about the popularity of the poster.

In July 2009, New York Times Magazine^[9] published an article on the commodity factor of the poster, focusing on the popularity of derivatives of the original slogan as well.

Derivatives

In November 2008, T-shirt company Threadless^[10] published a spoof design with an upside-down crown and the slogan “Now Panic and Freak Out.” In April 2009, the Keep Calm-o-matic^[11] image generator was created, allowing users to make their own posters as well as hosting a gallery of images made with the site.

In Novermber 2009, The Welsh rock band Stereophonics released their seventh album Keep Calm and Carry On^[12], which was named after the poster. In May 2010, A French website Geekiz^[13] posted a compilation article showcasing 85 variations of the poster. In June 2010, British loyalty card Nectar launched the ad campaign “Keep Calm and Carry One”^[14] to get people to sign up for their service.

Notable Examples

External References

^[1] Wikipedia – Ministry of Information

^[2] Wikipedia – Her Majesty’s Stationery Office

^[3] Barter Books – Keep Calm and Carry On

^[4] World War 2 Poster – Undergraduate Dissertation (1997)

^[5] World War 2 Poster – PhD Thesis Design

^[6] KeepCalmandCarryOn.com – Keep Calm and Carry On

^[7] The Guardian – Keep Calm and Carry On Poster

^[8] Independent – First person: “I am the Keep Calm and Carry On man”

^[9] New York Times Magazine – Remixed Messages

^[10] Threadless – Now Panic and Freak Out T-Shirt

^[11] Image Generator – Keep Calm-o-matic

^[12] Wikipedia – Keep Calm and Carry On (Album)

^[13] Geekiz – 85 Affiches Keep Calm and Carry On

^[14] The Guardian – Nectar Loyalty Card Advert: Keep Calm and Carry One