I wondered about keeping this quiet, as I would LOVE to own my own original poster, but it’s in the Daily Mail, and I was contacted by BBC South-East Today on Tuesday as they were covering a story on it (I missed out on contributing as I was organising a training session all day). If you want to find out more about the sale, visit the website of the auctioneers. Timing is interesting, that as Keep Calm and Carry On has become HUGE, that there’s one in this collection… I’m always too sceptical though!
Richard Slocombe, of the Imperial War Museums says “We’ve all heard about the ubiquity of Keep Calm and Carry On. But ironically that poster was never actually published. Mainly because its two sister posters – Freedom Is In Peril and Your Courage Will Bring Us Victory were seen as being patronising and condescending.” That was a suggestion I have made, but there’s no evidence as to WHY Keep Calm and Carry On was never actually used!