We’ve certainly seen the Keep Calm and Carry On phenomenon in action at Fabiola & Sing Sing, with lots of interest in our Keep Calm and Carry On tea towels, Keep Calm and Carry On mugs and even our Keep Calm and Carry On Shopping shopper bags by Catherine Colebrook.

You really know when something is taking off, of course, when people begin to spoof it – creating their own posters and variations on the Keep Calm and Carry On motto.

As you can see above, we’ve even seen the police make a humourous spin on the design in a newspaper advert.

So, what’s the appeal of the Keep Calm and Carry On message? Well, for a rather cynical view we need to turn to Dr Lesley Prince, a lecturer in social psychology at Birmingham University:

“It is a quiet, calm, authoritative, no-bullshit voice of reason. It’s not about British stiff upper lip, really. The point is that people have been sold a lie since the 1970s. They were promised the earth and now they’re worried about everything – their jobs, their homes, their bank, their money, their pension. This is saying, look, somebody out there knows what’s going on, and it’ll be all right”

Whether you share Dr Prince’s cynical point of view or not, you can join in the fun with the Keep Calm and Carry On goodies in the Fabiola & Sing Sing online store – don’t forget we’re offering 20% off in our Mother’s Day sale!

As we’ve discussed before, the posters were produced on the eve of the war, but never displayed in public.

We’ve found that people don’t just love it as a poster, they enjoy seeing the reassuring words on the side of Keep Calm and Carry On tea mugs, Keep Calm and Carry On tea towels and we are even being encouraged to save our economy through Keep Calm and Carry On Shopping bags!

So, whether you’re having a comforting cup of tea, drying the dishes, or buying the week’s groceries there’s no excuse not to show your British resolve in a time of credit crunch with the message “Keep Calm and Carry On”.

I thought you might be amused to hear a story about one group who were particularly interested in this retro-inspired product. We had two midwives come by the booth, who were particularly tickled by the mugs as they thought they carried the ideal message for the mums in their care.

I think it’s more traditional to wet the baby’s head with a glass of champagne or a stiff drink, but if a hot mug of tea is what floats your boat then that’s fine with us.. at least our mugs will be close to hand!

It makes me think of hot cups of tea being brewed in a crisis, and the gutsy English spirit of not being flustered when things go belly-up.

The phrase sprung out of World War II, where the British Ministry of Information commissioned several posters. The purpose was to relay a message from King George VI, reassuring his subjects that all possible measures were being taken to ensure the defence of the country.

Besides ‘Keep Calm and Carry On’, other posters read ‘Your Courage, Your Cheerfulness, Your Resolution will Bring Us Victory’ and ‘Freedom is in Peril’.

Well, thank goodness that we’re not in the middle of a world war, but somehow the phrase ‘Keep Calm and Carry On’ seems just as appropriate almost seventy years later given the gloomy economic mood at the moment.

The Britishness, steadfastness and retro nature of the message make it an amusing and wry statement to have printed on your kitchen tea towel or your favourite mug of tea. After all, isn’t it often the kitchen or the office where we have to demand the utmost calm in a crisis?

You can find mugs and tea towels with this famous slogan online at Fabiola & Sing Sing.

And if you’ve been listening to Gordon Brown lately (regardless of your politics) you’ll know he’s very keen that we do our bit to keep the economy going by continuing to engage in retail therapy.

In which case you’ll definitely be interested in our ‘Keep Calm and Carry on Shopping‘ bags in pink, pale blue and classic red. :-)