Keep Calm and Carry On
Stuart Manley and his wife. Mary, run a second hand bookshop called Barter Books in Alnwick. Northumberland. In 2000, they bought a box of old books. When Stuart got them back to the shop, he discovered a poster at the bottom of the box. The poster read "Keep Calm and Carry On". Neither Stuart nor Mary knew anything about the history of the poster, but they liked it so much that they decided to hang the poster in their bookshop.
At the start of World War Ⅱ the British government designed three posters and the Keep Calm poster was one of them. Two of the three posters were released (展示) in public in order to encourage the British people. Although nearly 2. 5 million copies of the Keep Calm poster had been printed, the British government decided not to release them. In 1940. most of the copies were recycled into other paper products, Only a few were left.
The poster started its second life when Manley's poster began attracting the attention of customers in his shop. He printed copies of the poster to sell. Soon other companies began to sell products with the slogan (标语). It appeared on everything from mugs to shopping bags.
The reasons for the popularity of this rediscovered poster aren't hard to understand. Shortly after the poster made its appearance in 2000, a worldwide economic (经济的) downturn began. People were in need of something to raise their spirits. The saying "Keep Calm and Carry On" seems to be the perfect slogan to bring courage and hope to people. Besides the encouraging message, the simple design of the poster helped lead to its popularity.
Today the now—famous wartime slogan has been rewritten in many fun ways. Some people have created phrases like "Keep Calm and Dance On", "Keep Calm and Call Mom" or "Keep Calm and Eat a Cupcake", The slogan has become part of popular culture. The explanations of the slogan are often lighthearted, but it is important to remember its purpose when it was first designed.
