Careless Talk Costs Lives
Poster
1940 (made)
1940 (made)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
Fougasse, whose real name was Cyril Kenneth Bird, was a well-known cartoonist and editor of the magazine Punch when war broke out. He convinced the Government to use humour for wartime propaganda and offered his services free. He believed the sharing of a joke enabled a poster to persuade without causing resentment by appearing to preach. Fougasse designed a series of eight posters for the Careless Talk Cost Lives campaign. They were produced in a variety of formats both for indoor and outdoor display, and proved so popular that they were even reproduced on textiles.
Object details
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| Object type | |
| Titles |
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| Materials and techniques | Colour lithograph |
| Brief description | '...But for Heaven's sake don't say I told you!', Second World War cartoon poster warning against careless talk, designed by Fougasse, United Kingdom, 1940 |
| Physical description | "...But for Heaven's sake don't say I told you!" World War II propaganda poster. Illustration of a man depicted in profile, in a traditional, British, red telephone box, talking into the telephone. Peering over the top and sides of the telephone box, sometimes just barely visible, are fourteen caricatures of the head of Hitler. |
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| 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 | |
| Summary | Fougasse, whose real name was Cyril Kenneth Bird, was a well-known cartoonist and editor of the magazine Punch when war broke out. He convinced the Government to use humour for wartime propaganda and offered his services free. He believed the sharing of a joke enabled a poster to persuade without causing resentment by appearing to preach. Fougasse designed a series of eight posters for the Careless Talk Cost Lives campaign. They were produced in a variety of formats both for indoor and outdoor display, and proved so popular that they were even reproduced on textiles. |
| Associated object | E.2168-1946 (Object) |
| Other number | LS.1945 - Leslie Schreyer Loan Number |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | E.1561-2004 |
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| Record created | March 1, 2006 |
| Record URL |
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