Comments on: "Keeping the public informed since the 20th Century"

"Keeping the public informed since the 20th Century"

MartinWisse — Sat, 22 Sep 2012 05:03:47 -0800

From 1915-2003, the National Office of Importance carried out its statutory public duty "to inform, insist and admonish" on behalf of the British Government.

Seen by some as a necessary conduit, and derided by others (notably the formidable editor of The Times, Auberondley Handelsman, who memorably dubbed it "a zoo of nannybodies, nincomboobs, whows, bingo-morts, gundiguts, mopsies and trotterclouts given inexplicable charge of a printing press") many of its campaigns and much of its publicity material has now become as fondly-remembered a part of the cultural landscape as coddled eggs and transistorised wainscotting.

By: Abiezer

Abiezer — Sat, 22 Sep 2012 05:15:07 -0800

I think recent history shows what a terrible error it was to dissolve this august body - now irrelevance has found its way to the very heart of our national political life with the Lib Dems in government.

By: Rock Steady

Rock Steady — Sat, 22 Sep 2012 05:42:50 -0800

We sat in our office, my staff and I, on the first day of Summer, waiting for the telephone to ring, hot with complaint and inquiry. Came there of either none. That second sentence there is a thing of beauty.

By: DU

DU — Sat, 22 Sep 2012 05:47:52 -0800

MetaFilter: ....no, it's just too easy.

By: Flashman

Flashman — Sat, 22 Sep 2012 05:51:03 -0800

I was a bit too young to understand, but I remember all the fuss about the introduction of summertime. I hope they post more of these. The English have done such daft things in the past, and it's well to be reminded of them.

By: Malor

Malor — Sat, 22 Sep 2012 06:05:41 -0800

Of all the peoples in the world, surely only the British could be trusted with End of the World failsafe buttons. Good thing there were no untimely heart attacks.

By: acb

acb — Sat, 22 Sep 2012 06:16:14 -0800

The English have done such daft things in the past, and it's well to be reminded of them.
posted by Flashman Eponysterical.

By: Leon

Leon — Sat, 22 Sep 2012 06:19:20 -0800

MartinWisse: This is great, but how on earth did you find it?

By: Isn't in each artist (7)

Isn't in each artist (7) — Sat, 22 Sep 2012 06:21:51 -0800

B&T, best blog ever? :)

By: rory

rory — Sat, 22 Sep 2012 06:35:52 -0800

For a brand new blog with only five entries under its belt, it's an impressive start. Shades of a certain poster found in Barter Books a decade ago. We should see the knock-off range of tea-towels, mugs and cushion covers soon. "No-body is interested in your dreams. Keep them to your-self and carry on."

By: Herodios

Herodios — Sat, 22 Sep 2012 06:45:26 -0800

Gotta get me some o' that transistorised wainscotting. It'll go nicely with the atonal apples and amplified heat I copped off that warthog in the shop 'round the corner.

By: gjc

gjc — Sat, 22 Sep 2012 07:19:08 -0800

I love this idea. In fact, along the same lines as David Letterman's American Foundation for Courtesy and Grooming, I have dreamed of a) becoming rich and b) starting a foundation whose sole mission is to admonish the public into behaving more politely. Sort of like privately funded public service announcements. Things like "Don't pass on the right!" and "Please don't stand so close when waiting in line. Breathing down my neck and making lip-smackey noises won't make time pass any more quickly."

By: Mezentian

Mezentian — Sat, 22 Sep 2012 07:23:01 -0800

Metafilter: a zoo of nannybodies, nincomboobs, whows, bingo-morts, gundiguts, mopsies and trotterclouts. I just love these polite insults. /Yes, it was too easy. But I did it. And you can't stop me.

By: Pyrogenesis

Pyrogenesis — Sat, 22 Sep 2012 07:31:20 -0800

Auberondley Handelsman ... a zoo of nannybodies, nincomboobs, whows, bingo-morts, gundiguts, mopsies and trotterclouts ... coddled eggs and transistorised wainscotting Okay, is this the script of an alternate version of the RAF banter sketch?

By: Mezentian

Mezentian — Sat, 22 Sep 2012 07:50:02 -0800

I realise it's Saturday, but just a heads up old chums, there's a bit of the old Gordon Tipple for the "Crackers aren't just for Christmas," 1985" sections and it might be a tad NSFW.

By: Kronos_to_Earth

Kronos_to_Earth — Sat, 22 Sep 2012 08:06:53 -0800

...a zoo of nannybodies, nincomboobs, whows, bingo-morts, gundiguts, mopsies and trotterclouts... 'Tomnoddies', too?

By: wilko

wilko — Sat, 22 Sep 2012 08:23:57 -0800

This reminds one that the department of Social Scrutiny is still doing sterling public service.

By: liza

liza — Sat, 22 Sep 2012 08:35:54 -0800

so the Monty Python government skits were basically like shooting fish in a barrel because the UK government writes it's own parodies.

By: subbes

subbes — Sat, 22 Sep 2012 08:48:17 -0800

I enjoy the earnest replies to this.

By: Jehan

Jehan — Sat, 22 Sep 2012 09:19:06 -0800

so the Monty Python government skits were basically like shooting fish in a barrel because the UK government writes it's own parodies.

Though these posters are parody/satire, some early post-war information campaigns were almost as surreal: "Don't store coal in the bath!" "Wash your children at least once a week!" "Don't use your doors as firewood!" "Children grow healthier with shoes!"

By: Malor

Malor — Sat, 22 Sep 2012 12:56:50 -0800

"Children grow healthier with shoes!" Hmm, I dunno about you, but I prefer children with regular feet.

By: Galadhwen

Galadhwen — Sat, 22 Sep 2012 15:27:35 -0800

Remember Charles Dickens' "Department of Circumlocution." I wonder if he was the first to publicly parody the British Gov't in that way? Some of my favorites are Dickens' fake names for British politicians in the British Gov't that appear in 'Bleak House.' Little appears to have changed in British politics since that book appeared in 1852.

By: Pyrogenesis

Pyrogenesis — Sat, 22 Sep 2012 15:58:04 -0800

I enjoy the earnest replies to this. This is to be expected, historically. 'Earnest' replies were of course the standardized, trained WWII replies to any counterintelligence agency that all British personnel had to learn. The "Earnest reply", named after earl Earnest W. Llowellynshire, became both a sign of heroism for British troops, and an endless source of frustration for the Nazi intelligence corps. To this day, Britain can be proud for always giving the highly misleading "Earnest" reply to any Nazi collaborator. Go Britain!

By: devious truculent and unreliable

devious truculent and unreliable — Mon, 24 Sep 2012 05:44:43 -0800

mmm, wainscotting