Careless Talk Costs Lives
Poster
1940 (made)
1940 (made)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
Fougasse, whose real name was Kenneth Cyril Bird, believed that the viewer's own contribution to understanding the joke was the key to remembering and acting on the poster's message. He deliberately used bright colours and simple forms to attract attention, and then forced the viewer to engage with the image and enjoy the joke by coming close enough to see the detail and read the small lettering of the caption. His graphic wit used ordinary everyday situations to warn against the dangers of indiscretion in public places, particularly during unguarded intimate conversations.
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Titles |
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| Materials and techniques | Colour lithograph |
| Brief description | 'Be careful what you say and where you say it!', Second World War cartoon poster warning against careless talk, designed by Fougasse, United Kingdom, 1940 |
| Physical description | Cartoon illustration of two men, one dressed in yellow, the other in blue, leaning against a bar. In the background, the bottles on the bar's shelves all bear Hitler's caricatured likeness. |
| Marks and inscriptions |
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| Credit line | Gift of the American Friends of the V&A; Gift to the American Friends by Leslie, Judith and Gabri Schreyer and Alice Schreyer Batko |
| Subjects depicted | |
| Place depicted | |
| Summary | Fougasse, whose real name was Kenneth Cyril Bird, believed that the viewer's own contribution to understanding the joke was the key to remembering and acting on the poster's message. He deliberately used bright colours and simple forms to attract attention, and then forced the viewer to engage with the image and enjoy the joke by coming close enough to see the detail and read the small lettering of the caption. His graphic wit used ordinary everyday situations to warn against the dangers of indiscretion in public places, particularly during unguarded intimate conversations. |
| Associated object | E.2172-1946 (Duplicate) |
| Bibliographic reference | 'The Power of the Poster' edited by Margaret Timmers. London: V&A publications. 1998. page 156.
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| Other number | LS.1944 - Leslie Schreyer Loan Number |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | E.1559-2004 |
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| Record created | July 5, 2004 |
| Record URL |
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