Among the plethora of good wishes and gifts at our 25^th party was a handsome tote bag chock-a-block full of yummy edibles.  There were rosemary crackers and balsamic honey vinegar and olive oil.  Oh, and there were even two coffee mugs decorated with hens and roosters!  But it is the bag, itself, that I am most taken with.

First of all, it’s oversized as totes go — thirteen by seventeen inches which is plenty big enough to contain my oversized laptop.  Plus a lot more.  It is the perfect ‘get-away’ bag.  The bonus is its looks and the super bonus is its message.  Against its lineny-burlap color is a bold red rectangle containing a crown and the words “Stay Calm and Carry On.”  (It actually might be an example of Marshall McLuhan’s concept, ‘the medium is the message’ although I might be looking at it too literally.)

The little tag that was attached to the bag gives this explanation:

It was 1939 and Britain was on the brink of war.  In anticipation of this the British Government’s Ministry of Information commissioned a series of propaganda posters to reassure the population they would be defended at all costs.
The posters were to be displayed all over the country once war was declared.  Using only the crown of King George VI this particular poster simply read “Keep Calm and Carry On.”  It never actually made it onto the walls of Britain and was never officially issued.
A crumpled copy of the poster was, however, rediscovered by chance many years later amongst a pile of dusty old books in a book store in Northumberland, England.
This simple poster with its simple message is just as relevant today as it was back in the 1930s.

So… I’m trying to follow those old British words of wisdom.  Plus, I’m totally at the ready for any get-aways that happen to present themselves!