'A stitch in time saves coupons' (British Board of Trade clothes-rationing poster)
A cheerful sailor in a white cap sits on the ground and sews the collar of his shirt, thread held high, beside the line 'A stitch in time saves coupons'. An ordinary serviceman doing his own mending presents thrift as everyday common sense.
- Date
- 1941
- Period
- Second World War
- Made by
- Board of Trade (printed for H.M. Stationery Office by H. Manly & Son Ltd; IWM Art.IWM PST 14931)
- Country
- United Kingdom
- Medium
- Poster
- Issuer type
- State
- Regime
- Churchill Government
- Leader
- Winston Churchill
- Audience
- Domestic public
- Themes
- Home front, Economy and finance
- Event
- World War II
- Techniques
- Plain folks
- Leader
- Winston Churchill
- Source
- Identified Openly sourced: the speaker is who they say they are
- Source
- Imperial War Museums (scan via Wikimedia Commons), retrieved October 2, 2026
- Rights
- Public domain (UK Crown copyright expired; PD-UKGov per Wikimedia Commons)
Unknown artist; Board of Trade (sponsor); H. Manly and Son Ltd, London N22 (printer); Her Majesty's Stationery Office. Imperial War Museums, Art.IWM PST 14931; scan via Wikimedia Commons.
Text on the object
A stitch in time saves coupons [illegible: imprint line at the lower left; the Commons description gives it as 'Printed for H.M. Stationery Office by H. Manly and Son Ltd. 51-2781']
Read from the committed image.
