Lord Derby Scheme comic postcard 4

« Prev Item Next Item »

1915

Overview

Colourful comic postcard featuring the back view of the lower half of a woman wearing a red skirt and cream petticoat, black rumpled stockings and shiny high-heeled shoes. A garter has fallen off her lower leg (causing the stockings to bunch) onto the pavement. It is coloured light brown with a red bow in the centre and has lace edging. From a distance, it resembles the Lord Derby Scheme armband which has a similar brown colour and a red crown.
A brown and white dog is looking closely at the garter and has commented 'Hullo! Some bloomin; recruit's lost his armlet' - written in blue writing.
The card is white in colour and has a red and blue border (colours of the Empire). There is a shaded area in cream and grey representing a wall to the left of the woman.
The reverse of the card is cream in colour with contrasting buff coloured text. It shows the printer's details and states that the card is 'No. 612, H B Series'.
A name and comment are written in pen.

Historical information

The Lord Derby Scheme armbands were worn by men who had formally volunteered for Army Service but who had yet to be issued with a uniform.
The scheme was introduced in November 1915 by Lord Derby, Edward Stanley, 17th Earl of Derby (1865–1948) after which it was named. He was Lord Kitchener's choice for Director General of Recruiting.
The scheme represented a final attempt to avoid full-scale Conscription.
Men aged between 18 & 41 were asked to attest their readiness to serve in the British Army, on the understanding that all single men would be called up before the youngest married volunteers.
Unfortunately by the scheme’s closing date of December 1915, more than a million men had failed to come forward, resulting in compulsory military service being introduced in January 1916.

Many humorous postcards were released around this time to encourage men to enlist. Several, such as this card, compared the khaki and red Lord Derby armband to garters on the legs of attractive ladies.

Details

Registration number

cwa-org-119-RoW00253

Item type

Collectibles

Ephemera

Postcards

Themes

Social History
War and Conflict
War and Conflict > World War 1

Material

Card

Ink