Mabel Keeps Calm and Carries On

‘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 was one of Britain’s best-loved artists with her work touching generations, from those who grew up with her classic characters, Bunty and the Boo-Boos, to those who have read Charles Kingsley’s The Water Babies, which she famously illustrated. Her art has found its way into homes across the world through figurines, bathroom plaques and gift cards featuring her charming designs. Yet, many of her most poignant and humorous illustrations were created to cheer a world at war. She painted prolifically throughout the First and Second World Wars, with postcards featuring her child-like characters and tongue-in-cheek captions that were typical of her saucy sense of humour. Despite suffering loss and hardship herself during the wars she continued to encourage people to ‘smile through the tears’. This book which brings a collection of her wartime postcards together exclusively for the first time, pays tribute to the indomitable spirit of this incredible woman and to her art that cannot fail to raise a smile today for young and old alike.