The short answer is… we don’t. All of our products are made from genuine escape and evade maps printed by the military in the 1940s and 1950s. We do not reprint or reproduce them in any way: you are buying a real piece of history. For more information on the history of the maps see our ‘escape and evade’ page.
Shouldn’t these maps be in a museum?
Thousands of these maps were printed during WW2 and the Cold War and many museums such as the Imperial War Museum and the RAF Museums do have examples of the maps in their collections. The RAF Museum has endorsed us reusing the maps in this way by stocking our products in their shops.
Many of the maps we find are damaged and we remake the usable parts into something new. We believe that by making the maps into something that people want in their homes we are keeping the story and history alive. There is a long history of the maps being reused after the War; in the 1940s clothing was still rationed and many people turned the maps that had been brought home into dresses, housecoats – and even swim suits!
Can you gift wrap my purchases?
All our products apart from our lampshades come gift boxed or gift wrapped as standard using recycled cardboard gift boxes and Jane Means ribbon. You will also receive information about the history and provenance of the maps with every item. We are trying to find suitable gift boxes for the lampshades so do contact us if this is important to you.
If your purchase is a gift and you would like us to send it directly to the recipient please let us know and we can hand write a personalised notecard to go with your purchase. Write your message in the comments box when you checkout.