Careless talk costs lives
Poster
1940 (made)
1940 (made)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
Fougasse was art editor of the magazine Punch when World War Two broke out in 1939, and he offered his services free to the British Government. He produced propaganda material for almost every ministry, and his gossiping cartoon characters injected welcome humour into propaganda posters in February 1940. Their popularity set a new tone for official mass communication. Despite an extended and illustrious career as a cartoonist, illustrator and commercial poster designer, it is probably for his 'Careless Talk Costs Lives' posters, issued by the Ministry of Information for display in public transport, that he is best known. Repetition was a characteristic feature of Fougasse's earlier cartoon style. In most of his 'Careless Talk' posters, multiple imagery plays ironically against the captions as a device to warn against the fundamental dangers of gossip.
Object details
| Category | |
| Object type | |
| Title | Careless talk costs lives (series title) |
| Materials and techniques | Colour lithograph on paper |
| Brief description | Cyril Kenneth Bird ("Fougasse") (1887-1965) "....but for heaven's sake don't say I told you" Reduced format poster from the wartime propaganda series 'Careless talk costs lives' 1940 |
| Physical description | Man with blonde hair in long blue coat and green hat stands talking on the phone in a red telephone box. Behind it are images of Hitler's head peering round the sides of the telphone box. |
| Dimensions |
|
| Marks and inscriptions | Fougasse (Artist's signature printed at the top within the image) |
| Credit line | Given by Peter N. Avory |
| Summary | Fougasse was art editor of the magazine Punch when World War Two broke out in 1939, and he offered his services free to the British Government. He produced propaganda material for almost every ministry, and his gossiping cartoon characters injected welcome humour into propaganda posters in February 1940. Their popularity set a new tone for official mass communication. Despite an extended and illustrious career as a cartoonist, illustrator and commercial poster designer, it is probably for his 'Careless Talk Costs Lives' posters, issued by the Ministry of Information for display in public transport, that he is best known. Repetition was a characteristic feature of Fougasse's earlier cartoon style. In most of his 'Careless Talk' posters, multiple imagery plays ironically against the captions as a device to warn against the fundamental dangers of gossip. |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | E.412-1998 |
About this object record
Explore the Collections contains over a million catalogue records, and over half a million images. It is a working database that includes information compiled over the life of the museum. Some of our records may contain offensive and discriminatory language, or reflect outdated ideas, practice and analysis. We are committed to addressing these issues, and to review and update our records accordingly.
You can write to us to suggest improvements to the record.
Suggest feedback
You can write to us to suggest improvements to the record.
Suggest feedback
| Record created | June 30, 2009 |
| Record URL |
Download as: JSON
