Keep Calm and Carry On
Millions of copies of the “Keep Calm and Carry On” poster were printed on the eve of World War II, but never displayed. Now the message has taken on a new lease of life in our troubled peacetime.
The simple five-word message is the very model of British restraint and stiff upper lip. Keep calm and carry on.
[...]
The message was all but forgotten until 2000, when a copy was discovered in a box of books bought at auction by Stuart Manley, a bookseller from Northumberland.
“I didn’t know anything about it but I showed it to my wife. We both liked it so we decided to frame it and put it in the shop,” explains Mr Manley.
“Lots of people saw it and wanted to buy it. We refused all offers but eventually we decided we should get copies made for sale.”
Sales remained modest until 2005, when it was featured as a Christmas gift idea in a national newspaper supplement.
“All hell broke loose,” says Mr Manley.
“Our website broke down under the strain, the phone never stopped ringing and virtually every member of staff had to be diverted into packing posters.”
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