Skip to main content
Want more images or videos?
Request additional images or videos from the seller
1 of 2

Fougasse (Cyril Kenneth Bird)
Careless Talk Costs Lives 'Fougasse' IV Army Corps Edition World War 2 Poster

c.1940

About the Item

To see our other original vintage propaganda posters, scroll down to "More from this Seller" and below it click on "See all from this Seller" - or send us a message if you cannot find the poster you want. We have seven from this incredibly rare series, and the full eight from the normal Fougasse edition. after Cyril Kenneth Bird ‘Fougasse’ (British, 1887-1965) Careless Talk Costs Lives iii Lithographic poster c.1940 32 x 20 cm (12.5 x 8 in) Reprinted by the IV Army Corps by the 103rd Engineers Lacking the normal Fougasse edition, the IV Army Corps commissioned their Engineers - the 103rd Engineers - to produce their own edition. Indescribably rare, one of the ones in this series is inscribed 'To Al, with sincerest regards Warren C Guggenheim'. The cartoonist Fougasse, was a British cartoonist who was art editor of Punch 1937-1949, and subsequently editor until 1953. He is best known for his ‘Careless Talk Costs Lives’ series of posters, and the other posters both for the Ministry of Information, London Underground and others. The Ministry of Information’s wartime poster campaign was soon regarded as dull and uninspiring on account of its hectoring messages such as ‘Keep Calm and Carry On.’ There were posters telling the population how to conduct virtually every minute of their daily lives – for instance by saving old clothes for rags, turning off the lights, saving food, digging for victory, or watching out for spies. With this instruction overload the population ceased paying attention to the posters, so Fougasse offered his services to the Ministry of Information unpaid, with a view to bringing a touch of humour to serious messages. An amusing picture and a pithy caption helped to get the message across to the reader. His distinctive style, with the red border, was adopted by other Ministry artists.
  • Creator:
    Fougasse (Cyril Kenneth Bird) (1887 - 1965, British)
  • Creation Year:
    c.1940
  • Dimensions:
    Height: 12.6 in (32 cm)Width: 7.88 in (20 cm)
  • Medium:
  • Movement & Style:
  • Period:
  • Condition:
    Generally very good, a few very soft creases as normal.
  • Gallery Location:
    London, GB
  • Reference Number:
    1stDibs: LU79537305862

More From This Seller

View All
Boston Museum Centennial poster 1970 Mandala of Eight Bodhisatlvas
Located in London, GB
To see our other original vintage travel posters, scroll down to "More from this Seller" and below it click on "See all from this Seller" - or send us a message if you cannot find the poster you want. Anonymous Boston Museum Centennial 1870-1970 "Mandala of Eight Bodhisatlvas, Nepal 12th Century, Centennial Acquisition" 97x70cm Vintage poster 1970
Category

1970s Modern More Prints

Materials

Lithograph

Berlin 1955 Poster Kurfürstendamm Berlin Night Kaiser Wilhelm Gedächtniskirche
Located in London, GB
To see our other original vintage travel posters, scroll down to "More from this Seller" and below it click on "See all from this Seller" - or send us a message if you cannot find the poster you want. Berlin - Kaiser Wilhelm...
Category

1950s Modern More Prints

Materials

Lithograph

London Underground Map of London Christmas poster by Clifford and Rosemary Ellis
By Clifford & Rosemary Ellis
Located in London, GB
To see our other original vintage travel posters including more pre-war London Transport posters, scroll down to "More from this Seller" and below it click on "See all from this Seller" - or send us a message if you cannot find the poster you want. Clifford and Rosemary Ellis London Underground Map...
Category

1930s Modern More Prints

Materials

Lithograph

1939 Original Keep Calm and Carry On Poster
Located in London, GB
Anonymous, UK 1939 Keep Calm and Carry On Ministry of Information Lithographic poster 75 x 50 cm Very rare - we have traced copies in the Imperial War Museum collection but no other...
Category

1930s Modern More Prints

Materials

Lithograph

Owen Miller National Savings 1950 original vintage calendar poster
By Owen Miller
Located in London, GB
Owen Miller (1907-1960) National Savings calendar poster (1950) Lithographic poster 50 x 37 cm Printed for HMSO by Fosh & Cross. A fantastic original lithographic poster advertising the National Savings scheme and featuring a calendar for the year 1950. Born in Auckland and educated at Wellington College, Miller worked as an artist in New Zealand. His illustrations often appeared in Wellington newspapers. He found life difficult in New Zealand during the Depression, and eventually signed on to a boat as a deckhand, working his passage to the UK. When he arrived at the Port of London, he had only £5 to his name. His first job was an illustrator for J Lyons...
Category

1950s Modern More Prints

Materials

Lithograph

WW2 Tanks original vintage poster for National Savings
Located in London, GB
To see our other original vintage posters, scroll down to "More from this Seller" and below it click on "See all from this Seller" - or send us a message if you cannot find the poster you want. Tanks (1939 - 1945) Original vintage poster 74 x 51 cm A copy of this poster is held by the Victoria and Albert Museum (E.2134-1946). Issued by the National Savings...
Category

1950s Modern More Prints

Materials

Lithograph

You May Also Like

Jean Cocteau - Woman Portrait - Original Lithograph
By Jean Cocteau
Located in Collonge Bellerive, Geneve, CH
Original Lithograph by Jean Cocteau Title: Woman Portrait Signed in the plate Dimensions: 32 x 25.5 cm Edition: 200 1959 Publisher: Bibliophiles Du Palais Unnumbered as issued
Category

1950s Modern More Prints

Materials

Lithograph

Vintage Russian Shtetl Scene, Judaica Lithograph
By Anatoli Lvovich Kaplan
Located in Surfside, FL
Pencil signed and dated, colored Judaica Lithograph. Anatoli Lwowitch Kaplan was a Russian painter, sculptor and printmaker, whose works often reflect his Jewish origins. his father was a butcher in Rahachow which was at that time within the Jewish Pale of Settlement in Russia. His background was therefore not dissimilar to that of Marc Chagall, born a generation earlier in 1887, and although their lives were very different, their art has much in common. The shtetl figures in many of Kaplan's paintings - autobiographical references are very clear in The Butcher's Shop (1972) and Tailor's Shops (1975) and in the many illustrations which he was to create to the works of Sholem Aleichem...
Category

Mid-20th Century Modern More Prints

Materials

Lithograph

Vintage Russian Shtetl Scene, Judaica Lithograph
By Anatoli Lvovich Kaplan
Located in Surfside, FL
Pencil signed and dated, colored Judaica Lithograph. Anatoli Lwowitch Kaplan was a Russian painter, sculptor and printmaker, whose works often refl...
Category

Mid-20th Century Modern More Prints

Materials

Lithograph

Vintage Russian Shtetl Scene, Judaica Lithograph
By Anatoli Lvovich Kaplan
Located in Surfside, FL
Pencil signed and dated, colored Judaica Lithograph. Anatoli Lwowitch Kaplan was a Russian painter, sculptor and printmaker, whose works often reflect his Jewish origins. his father ...
Category

Mid-20th Century Modern More Prints

Materials

Lithograph

Jean Cocteau - Immortal Goat - Original Lithograph
By Jean Cocteau
Located in Collonge Bellerive, Geneve, CH
Original Lithograph by Jean Cocteau Title: Immortal Goat Signed in the plate Dimensions: 38 x 28 cm Edition: 200 1958 Jean Cocteau Writer, artist and film director Jean Cocteau was...
Category

1950s Modern More Prints

Materials

Lithograph

The Bewitched Tailor, Vintage Judaica Lithograph
By Anatoli Lvovich Kaplan
Located in Surfside, FL
Pencil signed and dated, colored Judaica Lithograph. Anatoli Lwowitch Kaplan was a Russian painter, sculptor and printmaker, whose works often reflect his Jewish origins. His father...
Category

Mid-20th Century Modern More Prints

Materials

Lithograph

Recently Viewed

View All