Catalogue Number
Temp.2024.11.2
Object Name
Postcard
Title
'Arms spending really screws you up'
Place
USA, Soviet Union, UK
People
Mikhail Gorbachev, Ronald Reagan, Margaret Thatcher, Steve Bell, Campaign Against Arms Trade (CAAT), Leeds Postcards
Events
Cold War
Date
1980s
Description
Illustrated postcard featuring caricatures of Mikhail Gorbachev (President of the Soviet Union) in a polar bear costume, Ronald Reagan (US President) in an eagle costume, and Margaret Thatcher (UK Prime Minister) in a lion costume. They all look at a small cruise missile on the ground in front of them. Designed by Steve Bell.
The postcard is No.4 in the Bread Not Bombs series with the artists donating their artwork. The campaign was organised by Campaign Against Arms Trade (CAAT). Founded in the UK in 1974, CAAT is an organisation that works to end the international arms trade.
On the back there is a Leeds Postcards logo. Leeds Postcards was founded in 1979, with the intention of using postcards âas a political tool and agent for changeâ. They quickly became well-known, producing some iconic work with activist groups such as the Medical Campaign Against Nuclear Weapons (MCANW) and Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND) branches across the country, and artists including Peter Kennard and Steve Bell. They are still publishing postcards today. Throughout the 1980s, Leeds Postcards published a number of cards satirising the threat of nuclear war, and celebrating the movement against the bomb.
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