The London Auction, a sale celebrating the capital features categories to include paintings, photographs, military, posters, books, The Swinging Sixties, photography, memorabilia, London transport, royalty, collectables, architecture and more. Introducing the iconic Keep Calm and Carry On poster from the 1940s.
This example, that comes for sale from a collector, is in the larger ‘double-crown’ format measuring 75 x 50cm. Only a handful of original examples have appeared for sale. It has been re-issued by a number of private companies and has been used as the decorative theme for huge quantities of merchandise.
In fact, the poster was little known until a copy was rediscovered in 2000 with others coming to light since. This print of Keep Calm and Carry On is a high quality re-print of the British poster designed but never used during World War 2. As the so-called ‘Phoney War’ period between September 1939 to May 1940 proved largely uneventful for the Home Front, the poster was never used.Īs many as 2 million copies were originally printed in 11 different sizes but only a tiny fraction appear to have survived. While two other similar ‘Home Publicity’ posters Freedom is in Peril Defend It With All Your Might and Your Courage, Your Cheerfulness, Your Resolution Will Bring Us Victory were displayed in public places Keep Calm was held back in anticipation of an invasion by the enemy or a severe air raid. The simple white on red letterpress poster, designed by the Ministry of Information in July 1939 and printed by HMSO in September 1939, has become one of the most famous propaganda icons of the Second World War although it was never authorised for use at the time. The rare Second World War poster with a ‘stiff upper lip’ slogan well-suited to 2020 is expected to bring between £7,000-10,000.Ī rare original WW2 poster red background with white lettering and crown, printed by HMSO, September 1939, 74.8 x 50.5cm A small number also remain in the National Archives and the Imperial War Museum in London, and a further 15 were discovered in the BBC’s Antiques Roadshow to have been given to Moragh Turnbull, from Cupar, Fife, by her father William, who served as a member of the Royal Observer Corps.īy 2015 the popularity of this theme seemed to be on the wane.An original poster with the apposite message Keep Calm And Carry On comes for sale on December 15 as part of our The London Auction. However, nearly 60 years later, a bookseller from Barter Books stumbled across a copy hidden amongst a pile of dusty old books bought from an auction. It is believed that most of the Keep Calm posters were destroyed and reduced to a pulp at the end of the war in 1945. Other companies followed suit, and the design rapidly began to be used as the theme for a wide range of products. The couple framed it and hung it up by the cash register and it attracted so much interest that Manley began to produce and sell copies. 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. In 2000, Stuart Manley, co-owner with his wife Mary of Barter Books Ltd. Over 2,500,000 copies were printed, although the poster was distributed only in limited numbers, and never saw public display. It was intended to be distributed in order to strengthen morale in the event of a wartime disaster and in particular German Invasion. The poster was initially produced by the Ministry of Information, at the beginning of the Second World War. The poster was intended to raise the morale of the British public, threatened with widely predicted mass air attacks on major cities. A range of items proclaiming the Second World War Slogan “KEEP CALM, CARRY ON”, straight and humorous 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.
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