Three officers lean in on a woman in a white evening gown, and she stays calm. Harold Forster (1895 to 1975) is credited as the artist of this wartime British poster. Greycaine Limited printed it in 1942 for the Careless Talk Costs Lives campaign.
The story behind the poster
She's the only one looking at you. The three officers are rather too distracted to notice.
But there's something wonderfully revealing about this poster. The Ministry of Information wanted to warn men about dangerous women. In doing so, it managed to get something rather important about women in the Second World War spectacularly wrong.
Read the story: Keep Mum, She's Not So Dumb: The WW2 Propaganda Poster That Got Women Wrong
On the poster
A woman in a white evening gown reclines at the centre, looking straight out at the viewer. Three Allied officers surround her: a naval officer at upper left with a glass and cigarette in hand, an Army officer leaning in from the right, and a third uniformed figure at far right.
Loose black brush script across the lower quarter reads "Keep mum she's not so dumb!" Beneath it, bold red capitals read "CARELESS TALK COSTS LIVES".
About this print
A digitally restored reproduction, printed on 200gsm Enhanced Matte Fine Art paper with pigment inks.
