“Keep Calm and Call Your Mother” Mug

Marilyn Vollebregt, 2020

Ceramic and vinyl lettering

Dimensions Variable

Originally owned by Marilyn Vollebregt; gifted to current owner Haiden Vollebregt

Personal collection

“Keep Calm and Carry On” was a motivational poster created by the British government in 1939, and was intended to boost public morale in preparation for World War II. Its production was part of a series of propaganda posters associated with a campaign that, Susannah Walker notes, was a “resounding failure.” Few people ever saw the posters in public, and those who did perceived them as patronizing and divisive. This attempt to cultivate public resolve in the face of mass air attacks may have failed, but the re-commercialization of the phrase was an instant hit. The poster’s phrase was re-discovered at the beginning of the 21st century and attracted so much interest that by 2012 the design was appearing on a wide range of products, from t-shirts to key chains, to mugs.

This specific mug came about after my mother saw the phrase “Keep Calm and Call Your Mother” on a mug in a store this year; taking inspiration from the store-bought cup, she invented her own design and gifted a mug to myself and my older sister. The phrase on the mug has been re-contextualized to reflect the relationship I have with my mom. We have kept in very close touch since I left home and consequently, she is the first person I call with news, both good and bad. This mug’s meaning is rooted in countless phone calls and all the times that I have found guidance on the other end of the line. I have emotionally invested in it memories of past conversations, as well as all of those yet to occur.

Those of us who are able to take shelter in our homes are confronted by feelings of disappointment and anxiety, juxtaposed by security and comfort. The pandemic experience has isolated people from many or all of their loved ones. In light of these circumstances, this artifact’s value has shifted from an ordinary object to a “comfort object”. With regards to the mug, it allows me to connect with my mother when we have to be apart, thus providing an emotional shelter from life’s stressors. In particular, this object is a reminder every day that I am loved deeply, and that the most vital parts of life – the strength of human connections, the power of family, compassion within communities – are being maintained.

Haiden Vollebregt