Bill and Ben anti-nuclear badge; c.1991; BA005
FromBadge Archive
Name/Title
Bill and Ben anti-nuclear badge
Bill and Ben anti-nuclear badge
About this object
Bill and Ben the flowerpot men were children's television characters, first introduced in the early 1950s as part of a series titled 'Watch with Mother'. Accompanied by a flowering weed, the two puppets spoke in an idiosyncratically mangled but identifiable version of English in which words frequently ended with 'lob' or 'bob'. The slogan 'Bill & Ben against the bobalob' mocks the 1980s political predeliction for anti-nuclear sub-movements such as 'babies against the bomb' and 'cats against the bomb'. At the same time, its use of the flowerpot men evinces a kind of nostalgia for the innocence of 1950s childhood television programmes as well as reading protest politics back into a context from which they were originally absent.
Bill and Ben the flowerpot men were children's television characters, first introduced in the early 1950s as part of a series titled 'Watch with Mother'. Accompanied by a flowering weed, the two puppets spoke in an idiosyncratically mangled but identifiable version of English in which words frequently ended with 'lob' or 'bob'. The slogan 'Bill & Ben against the bobalob' mocks the 1980s political predeliction for anti-nuclear sub-movements such as 'babies against the bomb' and 'cats against the bomb'. At the same time, its use of the flowerpot men evinces a kind of nostalgia for the innocence of 1950s childhood television programmes as well as reading protest politics back into a context from which they were originally absent.
Date Made
c.1991
c.1991
Medium and Materials
Metal, paper, clear plastic
Metal, paper, clear plastic
Object number
BA005
BA005
Tags
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