The Story Of How That 'Keep Calm And Carry On' Poster Came To Be

If you’ve spent any time on the internet at all, you’ve seen the words “Keep Calm and Carry On” combined with a little crown to form a logo that you’d likely see on a poster or a t-shirt. It’s sort of everywhere. Especially when something bad happens. I’ve seen people even use it as their Twitter avatar and/or their Facebook profile pic. Naturally, this being the internet, there are countless variations of it floating around as well. “Now Panic and Freak Out” is a popular one.

But did you ever stop to wonder where this all originated? I sure have! As it turns out, “Keep Calm and Carry On” was originally a British propaganda poster printed during World War II that was never released to the general public for whatever reason. But then, in 2000, a bookstore owner in the U.K. discovered one stuffed away in an old box — it was then framed and hung in the store. People liked it, so the store started printing replicas. A genuine phenomenon was born — and a poster printed over 70 years ago is now an iconic image in the 21st century. Imagine that! The delightful video below explains it all. Enjoy…

(HT: Kottke)

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