Very Rare & Genuine WW2 Home Front Poster c.1940 by Frederick Reeves
A very rare and extremely sought after World War Two British public information poster printed for H.M. Stationery Office by Johnson, Riddle & Co Ltd.
The careless talk costs lives poster is from the famous 1940 campaign “Be Like Dad, Keep Mum!”
Careless talk propaganda discouraged talking about sensitive material where it could be overheard by spies, showing either an Axis eavesdropper or depicting a death caused by such information leaking. It was also intended to prevent morale sapping rumours from spreading.
A link to the poster on the Imperial War Museums site can be found here: http:/www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/22549
The poster was designed by Frederick Reeves who was a prominent war artist and illustrator. Amazingly, the poster for sale comes complete with an original letter from Reeves’ son who confirms the poster came from his fathers studio. This provides the poster with some remarkable and unique provenance directly attributable to the original artist. Such solid provenance is extremely rare and makes the poster even more highly prized and collectible.
