The story behind the "Keep Calm and Carry On" poster
Two-and-a-half million copies of “Keep Calm” were printed, to be distributed in the event of a national catastrophe, but remained in storage throughout the war.
The message was all but forgotten until 2000, when a copy was discovered in a box of books bought at auction by Stuart Manley, a bookseller from Northumberland.
“I didn’t know anything about it but I showed it to my wife. We both liked it so we decided to frame it and put it in the shop,” explains Mr Manley.
“Lots of people saw it and wanted to buy it. We refused all offers but eventually we decided we should get copies made for sale.”
