My first reaction on reading the BBC’s 2009 list 100 things we didn’t know last year for 2009 was, “What you mean ‘we,’ Kemosabe?”
But seriously, the “Keep Calm and Carry On” poster was never actually used in WWII, it was only printed in two-and-a-half million times and stockpiled “in the event of a national catastrophe, but remained in storage throughout the war,” and then pulped, except for one which some guy found in a box in 2000 and hung in his bookshop, which he eventually decided to reproduce, because everyone wanted to buy it, and thus started a nostalgic design craze?
I feel like ‘we’ should have known that sooner, if only so we’d be prepared for the BBC’s tips for coping with the nationally catastrophic cold snap:
2. NEVER LET YOUR GUARD DOWN
3. GET USED TO SNOW
4. LEARN TO ACCEPT DEFEAT
5. HAVE LOWER EXPECTATIONS
Also, “46. Franco had one testicle.” puts the whole General Hospital/performance art/Deitch thing into perspective. [via kottke]