The origin of the famous "Keep calm and Carry on"

Over recent years, in gift shops and online retailers, there has been an explosion in one theme: ‘Keep Calm and Carry On’. Originally a poster from Britain during the Second World War, you can now buy the simple but reassuring message on almost anything, ready for display in your house or office. There’s just one small problem: the poster wasn’t used during the war, and hardly anyone ever saw it. Thanks to doctoral research from Dr.Rebecca Lewis, we now know the story.

The Unused Poster

In 1939, it became apparent to many people in Britain that a war on the continent was inevitable. Hitler had broken promise after promise, and there seemed little chance he wouldn’t take a decision which provoked war. To this end, Britain’s Ministry of Information decided that one thing which might suffer during the war, especially during the aerial bombardment many had calculated would cause massive losses, was the civilian morale. To this end it was decided – although not without objections – to create five million morale boosting posters which could be quickly pasted up.

Designs were created, and three soon went into action.

The first pair bore the following messages: ‘Freedom is in Peril: Defend it with all Your Might’, and ‘Your Courage, Your Cheerfulness, Your Resolution will bring us Victory’. These were handed out while a third, the now iconic ‘Keep Calm and Carry On’ was held back to be used when the German bombing campaign really bit. Other, more specific, posters were also created, such as one explaining ‘Our Fighting Men Depend on You’, aimed at docks and factories.

But the first period of the war passed without this bombing, and so Keep Calm, all two and a half million copies, remained in storage.

Over recent years, in gift shops and online retailers, there has been an explosion in one theme: ‘Keep Calm and Carry On’. Originally a poster from Britain during the Second World War, you can now buy the simple but reassuring message on almost anything, ready for display in your house or office. There’s just one small problem: the poster wasn’t used during the war, and hardly anyone ever saw it. Thanks to doctoral research from Dr.Rebecca Lewis, we now know the origin.