Interesting Fact of the Day

You've probably seen the poster "Keep Calm and Carry On" before -- or one of its many spin-offs ("Keep Calm and Fly On," "Keep Calm and Love Turquoise," "Keep Calm and Return Fire," etc. etc.!)

It may annoy you -- or you may think its kindof neat. :)

Well -- did you know that it wasn't started as some trite phrase?

The now-famous “Keep Calm and Carry On” poster was actually was one of a three-poster series created in Britain in 1939. The posters were created to encourage civilian morale when the feared mass bombings of English cities began.The crown was the Tudor crown of England.

A civil servant named A.P. Waterfield came up with the slogan “Your Courage,” which he described as:

“a rallying war-cry that will bring out the best in everyone of us and put us in an offensive mood at once.”

Held in storage until actual major bombing began, the posters were then never widely used, and were forgotten (what a shame!) until 2000, when antique dealers in Northumberland discovered and displayed an old “Keep Calm” poster. It attracted some much favorable interest that they began to produce and sell copies -- and it spread virally! :)

Here are the three original posters:

 Whether you like the phrase or not, it has an interesting story, doesn’t it? :)