RESTORED WITH RESPECT · PRINTED TO ORDER · USD PRICING
Loose Talk Can Cost Lives — Paper Print to Pinterest (opens in a new window)
Loose Talk Can Cost Lives 1942 poster by Stevan Dohanos, a torpedoed merchant ship sinking bow-up as survivors swim to lifeboats, restored
Loose Talk Can Cost Lives poster, unframed print shown front-on
Loose Talk Can Cost Lives poster, unframed print on a navy living room wall above a leather sofa
Loose Talk Can Cost Lives poster, unframed print on an oak-panelled study wall above a desk
Loose Talk Can Cost Lives poster, unframed print on a white shiplap wall in a coastal hallway
Loose Talk Can Cost Lives poster, unframed print on the wall of a classic American bar
Loose Talk Can Cost Lives poster, unframed print on a log cabin wall beside a fireplace
Loose Talk Can Cost Lives poster, unframed print on a tiled wall above a retro diner booth
Loose Talk Can Cost Lives poster, unframed print on a concrete wall in a city loft

Loose Talk Can Cost Lives — Paper Print

Price range: $49.00 through $179.00

Stevan Dohanos’s 1942 careless-talk poster, restored: a torpedoed freighter goes down bow-first as survivors swim for the lifeboats.

Paper or framed print
Unframed or framed, printed to order in the USA.

Choose frameFramed prints arrive ready to hang
Choose sizeCompare on a wall

Made to order. All sales final. Replacements or refunds only for damaged, faulty or incorrect prints reported within 7 days. Returns policy

Compare the three sizes on a wall
  • Free Standard shipping to the US
  • Printed to order in the USA, paper or framed
  • Quality promise: damaged, faulty or incorrect prints replaced if reported within 7 days (details)
Paper & printing

Giclée print on 200gsm Enhanced Matte Art paper: a smooth, natural-white fine-art stock with no glare, so the restored colours read true under any light.

Each print has a slim white border and is supplied unframed, ready for a standard frame or hanging clips.

Shipping & returns

Every print is made to order. Standard shipping to the US is free; Express is available at checkout. You will get tracking details by email when your print is on its way.

Because each print is custom-made, all sales are final and we do not accept change-of-mind returns. If your print arrives damaged, has a production fault or is the wrong item, tell us within 7 days of delivery with photos and we will send a free replacement.

Read the full shipping & returns policy

Which size should I choose?

11.7 × 16.5 in suits a desk, shelf or gallery wall. 20 × 28 in works above a desk, console or bed. 23.4 × 33.1 in is a statement piece above a sofa or in a hallway.

See all three to scale on a wall

Framing

Framed prints come in a solid wood, satin-finish frame in black, white or natural wood, glazed with shatterproof acrylic. The print is the same 200gsm Enhanced Matte Art paper as our unframed editions.

Framed artwork sizes are 12 × 17 in, 20 × 28 in and 23 × 33 in (the frame adds a little to each side). Every frame is made to order in the USA and arrives with a hook fitted, ready to hang.

SKU: AMP-PRT-020 Categories: , , ,
Restoration

Before & after

Drag the divider to compare the archival source scan with our restored edition. Tears, stains, fading and paper damage were repaired by hand while keeping the original artwork, lettering and colors true to the period.

Your print is made from the restored edition on the right.

Loose Talk Can Cost Lives — Paper Print restored edition
Loose Talk Can Cost Lives — Paper Print archival source
Before After

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Choose your size

See it on your wall

Each size is shown to scale on the same wall. Prints are unframed and made to order.

Description

The Loose Talk Can Cost Lives poster

“Loose Talk Can Cost Lives” was painted by Stevan Dohanos in 1942 for a series of security posters distributed by the British and American Ambulance Corps. A merchant ship, torpedoed and sinking, rears bow-first out of a calm sea while its crew swim for the lifeboats. Two torn strips of paper carry the warning across the water: a careless word about a sailing could put a U-boat in the right place at the right time.

Dohanos (1907 to 1994) went on to paint more than 125 covers for The Saturday Evening Post. The quiet, precise realism he was known for makes the scene all the more chilling, and it is one of the strongest American posters of the Battle of the Atlantic.

Read the full history of the poster and the careless-talk campaign.

Restored edition

Restored from a scan of an original 1942 lithograph. Fading, stains and paper wear were removed and the sky and sea brought back to clear blues, keeping Dohanos’s crisp detail in the hull, rigging and waves. Drag the before and after slider below to compare.

Sizes and options

  • Paper print: 11.7 × 16.5 in, 20 × 28 in or 23.4 × 33.1 in
  • Framed print: 12 × 17 in, 20 × 28 in or 23 × 33 in, in a black, white or natural wood frame, ready to hang

Printed to order in the USA on 200gsm Enhanced Matte Art paper. Free Standard shipping to the US. Compare the print sizes.

More WWII posters

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