‘During the Second World War, I worked in an empty building by the Thames. It had been used by the Thames Conservancy Board. When war came, they moved out and I was moved in. I stayed there for most of the war. I never went down to an air raid shelter. I was too busy trying to make people laugh about wartime bread and sausages, instead of crying about them.’ Mabel Lucie Attwell.
Mabel Lucie Attwell’s postcards tell the story of Britain’s Home Front in a charming and often moving way, they are at times laugh-out-loud funny and at times very poignant. Set in the context of her wartime letters and the Home Front, this book will be loved by Attwell fans old and new.
I’ve always known Mabel Lucie Atwell as an illustrator of children’s books. There’s a widely held belief that those who write for children should be opinion-formers, since young readers are the future grown-ups in any society. It’s fitting, then, that an artist linked with many children’s classics should also be doing her bit for the war effort during the two major conflicts of the first half of the twentieth century.
Mabel Keeps Calm and Carries On offers a well-chosen collection of Atwell’s postcards from 1914-1945. There’s also an interesting introduction by Vicki Thomas which gives us some biographical detail and insights into the cultural context in which Atwell worked. One very interesting feature is the insight Vicki Thomas gives into the commercial success of postcards – something that seems almost unbelievable in the age of email and tweet.
Atwell’s cute style is not to everyone’s taste but inside the velvet glove of sentimentality there’s an iron fist: an insistence on duty, fortitude, everyday courage and deliberate cheerfulness in times of trouble. Her postcards deal with the many and varied challenges of life during a war – the separation, the hard work, rationing and deprivation. But through her winsome child figures, she banishes self-pity and urges her audience to look on the bright side and hope for the best. To a contemporary eye, some of her depictions of gender and race seem outdated. However, her images are still popular across the world and the values she is promoting remain relevant and worthy. My favourite reassuring caption is on a card from 1941: “Here’s a four leaf clover – Your trouble’s over!”.
This beautifully produced book would make a great gift for anyone interested in children’s book illustration, life during the two world wars or media studies. And every book sold contributes to the “Help for Heroes” charity.
Book: Mabel Keeps Calm and Carries On
Edited by Vicki Thomas
Review by: Sue Creed
Sue Creed is an avid reader who is keen to promote books of all kinds. She has worked in education - at school and university level - for more than 25 years. When she's not reading, she's gardening.