“For many the wartime slogans, such as Dig for Victory, Careless Talk Costs Lives, and Coughs and Sneezes Spread Diseases, have never been forgotten. Such slogans have been passed on as a part of our common heritage,” says Dr Rebecca Lewis, a historian who has made a study of the subject. “Posters that were not published or were withdrawn also make for interesting study, particularly for reasons as to why they were rejected,” she adds. “However, there do not seem to be many examples of these, although whether this is because records of unsuccessful designs were not kept or because there were not many was not established.”

PhD Findings
My PhD ‘The Planning, Design and Reception of British Home Front Propaganda Posters of the Second World Warâ was awarded (without corrections) in June 2004 by what is now the University of Winchester.
A section from pages 104-5 of my thesis (copy held in the Imperial War Museum, and in the RKE Centre at the University of Winchester):
The poster with a proclamation from the King was to be âplastered everywhere in order to drive the contents into everyoneâs headâ.[1] By August 1939 war was regarded as inevitable, and by 9 August the finished drawings were submitted to Macadam for final approval. Any adaptations to proportions would then be made and the posters printed.[2] By 23 August the proportions to be printed were decided. The percentages were: âFreedom is in Perilâ (for remote areas), 12% (figure 22); âKeep Calm and Carry onâ, 65%; and âYour Courage, etc.â, 23% (figure 1).[3] The Treasury had approved costs for a single poster, three designs were produced, exceeding estimates by under £50. âOur Fighting Men Depend on Youâ? for factories, works, docks and harbours, was also printed, for which no allowance had originally been made.[4] By September, âYour Courageâ and âFreedom is in Perilâ were already being posted throughout the country. âKeep Calm and Carry onâ was printed and held in reserve for when the necessity arose, for example, a severe air-raid, although it was never actually displayed. Soon after war was declared, the small poster âDonât Help the Enemy, Careless Talk may give away vital secretsâ (figure 62) was approved by the War Office and was ready to put into production. 58,000 copies had already been distributed by September 17, and 75,000 copies were to be despatched daily from September 26.[5] By the end of September 1939, roughs for further designs had been prepared and approved, including messages from the King and the Queen, designs specifically for factories and docks, and designs specifically for each branch of the armed services: reassurance, not recruiting, posters.[6]
[1] PRO INF 1/10, âFunctions and Organisation of the Ministry. Memorandum by E.B. Morganâ, early 1939.
[2] PRO INF 1/266, âMemo from Vaughan to Macadamâ, August 9 1939.
[3] PRO INF 1/226, âLetter from Macadam to W.G.V. Vaughanâ, August 23 1939. In the same folder, âDemand for Printing Slip for HMSOâ, August 31 1939, and âPoster Campaign: Distributionâ, November 1 1940, give details of the exact quantities ordered on August 31 1939, in a variety of sizes and in both broadside and upright versions, and where distributed. PRO INF 1/302, âSummary of Activities of Home Publicity Divisionâ, September 28 1939 notes that all sizes were included, from 20ft. by 10ft. down to 15â? x 10â?.
[4] PRO INF 1/226, âLetter from I.S.Macadam, MOI to E.Rowe-Dutton, Treasuryâ, September 4 1939.
[5] PRO INF 1/6, âFirst Report on the Activities of the Ministry of Information from September 3 to September 17 1939â, September 1939.
[6] PRO INF 1/302, âSummary of Activities of Home Publicity Divisionâ, September 28 1939.
I have lots more I could say, and hope to be back with some more considered comments, summarising elements of my PhD, before I get round to the book!
Some Links:
- Stories
Simon Edge, ‘Sign of the Timesâ, Daily Express, 19th March 2009 (not online) - Jon Henley, ‘What Crisis?â, The Guardian, 18th March 2009
- Jess Cartner-Morley, ‘Women of Britain - your designers need you!â, 28th February 2009
- ‘Keep Calm and Put Your Poster Upâ, Guardian Picture Gallery (not the subverted design!)
- Jane Fryer, ‘Exquisitely understated, utterly inspiring, the wartime poster striking a chord in our credit-crunch timesâ, Daily Mail, 19th March 2009
- Stuart Hughes, ”The greatest motivational poster ever?â, BBC News, 4 February 2009
- ‘Bookseller discovers rare wartime Keep Calm and Carry On posterâ, Telegraph, 23 February 2009
- Iâm trying to identify a story I saw the other week, regarding temporarily taking on less hours to secure a job, as this poster was on the pictured employees desk…
- Products
- Barter Books: the ‘Keep Calmâ range (Maryâs blog entry on the success of their find, the history (taken from my site))
- The competition, obliquely referred to by Barter Books.
- Retro to Go: Keep Calm
- Keep Calm: Rugs
Thought you might like to know that we have just sent you thesis into BL for digitizing….someone has requested a look. Thought it was interesting when I saw this mentioned on the portal and saw your name. I just packaged them up this morning! (I obviously work for the Library….)
Thanks Dawn, thatâs brilliant to know, as I know we were in the early numbers of those who the British Library didnât bother automatically collecting! This may inspire me to truly get going on writing my book… maybe the title will change now!
Dead proud of you hun. You deserve this. Youâve worked really hard for it. x