2010.54.2180

• female
• gender

The top and bottom edges have a maroon border that mimics the torn edge of a piece of paper. The top of the poster has a photograph of an image of an old woman's face created out of sew together pieces of fabric. Below this the poster has the text: "Warning / Jenny Joseph / When I am an old woman I shall wear purple / With a red hat that doesn't go, and doesn't suit me. / And I shall spend my position on brandy and summer gloves / And satin sandals, and say we've no money for butter. / I shall sit down on the pavement when I'm tired / And gobble up samples in shops and press alarm bells / And run my stick along the public railings / And makeup for the sobriety of my youth. / I shall go out in my slippers in the rain / And pick the flowers in other people's gardens / And learn to spit. / You can wear terrible shirts and grow more fat / And eat three pounds of sausages at a go / Or only bread and pickle for a week / And hoard pens and pencils and beermats and things in boxes. / But now we must have clothes that keep us dry / And pay our rent and not swear in the street / And set a good example for the children. / We must have friends to dinner and read the papers. / But maybe I ought to practise a little now? / So people who know me are not too shocked and surprised / When suddenly I am old, and start to wear purple."