When we worked in Los Angeles last year, on one of our many walks through the city with Phil’s son Casey and his partner Carly, we found a cool poster for sale at a store, and bought it to send to our students while we were away. The message seemed quite appropriate, not only because we were far from our own lab at the time, but also because research can have many downs and not too many ups… 😉
Carly just sent me a link with the story behind our poster. It’s amazing that it struck a nerve for us; we had no idea of its historical relevance. Now we are overjoyed with the purchase, and we will cherish the message forever. A simple message for life. Keep calm, and carry on!
Thank you, Carly!
Bewitching Kitchen 
hello, from Adelaide, South Australia… we have a calendar for 2012 that has 12 such posters, and “keep calm and carry on “was January. The calendar is Poster ArtCalendar 2012t..Imperial war museum. (proceeds go towards supporting the work of the imperial war museum..) Fancy seeing this on your blog today and seeing the video. The calendar is published by Flame Tree…(www.flametreepublishing.com). I bought it ffrom an aussie site..”www.fishpond.com”” which is like a small version of amazon. thanks for video!!
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Dionysia, thanks so much for taking the time to write and give me these links, which I will get to right away – I am now completely in love with these posters and want to get a few more.
Plus, other readers who might be interested can get to them thanks to your comment….
so thank you!
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Now it’s your turn to make me cry. 😉 I just love this message. Absolutely love it. And the story behind it is just incredible. I’d like to find one of these posters for my office. 🙂
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The thought that the poster stayed hidden for such a long time, unknown… makes me think how many other amazing pieces of art and beautiful poetry, and wonderful books, and undiscovered letters are somewhere, forgotten, ignored, hidden behind dust…
disturbing, isn’t it?
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Lovely story and message. Thank you!
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Pretty touching… indeed…
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Sally, I’d love to see a photo of the poster on your lab!
what a nice story, and a great find!
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Hummmm… that’s a good idea, will include it on my next post on science-related stuff… (I’ve got one brewing in my mind.. 😉
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Looking forward to accessing this clip when we return home from our ski trip Sally – but as the wonderful universe would have it, I was repeating this phrase to my son last night who was falling apart playing pool (I’m quite certain the true story behind the phrase is far more significant than that but just funny the ‘keep calm and carry on’ sentiment was on my mind…) ;-).
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Actually, Kelly, when I pretty much sliced the tip of my finger off while cutting lettuce last night (Kyocera ceramic knife, just back from sharpening – OUCH!), I kept telling myself those words over and over and over, trying not to faint. I am such a wimp, and was alone in the house, so could not “lose it” 😉
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We’ve got a “Keep Calm and Corgi On” poster done in the same style. I bet if they’d released that one at the time the war would have been over in weeks. NO ONE can defeat a corgi 🙂
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It should actually be “Keep Calm, Corgi on, but don’t ever Jack Russell it!”
😉
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There are quite a few places you can find “Keep calm and carry on” memorabilia http://shop.cafepress.com/keep-calm-and-carry-on?, , http://www.zazzle.com/keep+calm+posters. ( just google the “phrase” – British Poster ) I too, felt the appropriateness of the phrase will never fad. Just visualiazing the words can lower your blood pressure. The story was lovely….from those who endured so much, we have lessons to learn.
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Thanks for the links! I am thinking of a coffee mug to enjoy my daily tea in the lab (actually, it’s turning out to be my “several” cups of tea in the lab)
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Love this post and the message. needed to hear it myself today!
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It is a message that comes in handy so often, isn’t it?
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It’s crazy what that generation went through. What a great message.
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It is important to remember what past generations went through. Very tough times that allowed us to have the life we do now.
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I think we need this poster for our lab! Everyone has been so tense lately.
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Tough times for research in all areas, it seems. Not enough grants, just not enough money to do what needs to be done. It is frustrating, but we must Keep Calm, and Carry on! 😉
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I’ve been to Alnwick, lovely place, in fact Northumberland is a lovely emptier part of England that is always a joy to visit. What a lovely film – thanks for sharing it Sally !
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I had no idea!! This is so cool that it came back around and the message still rings true.. for different reasons!
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