Fundraising Badge - "Help Until the War is Won"

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Unknown

1914 - 1918

Subcollections

Overview

Two different sized circular tinplate badges with a celluloid face and a stick pin at the back. Both badges have the map image of Australia with five white stars (Southern Cross) surrounding the country. Red text over Australia.

Note: A printed paper design was placed on a thin sheet of celluloid, which was then covered with a pressed metal shell and secured with a pin. This method of production made celluloid badges more accessible and affordable for fundraising efforts.

The most common design featured a paper or celluloid face wrapped over a pressed tin backing with a metal pin.

Historical information

Fundraising badges during WW1 were small, inexpensive tokens distributed to citizens in exchange for donations. These "pin" or "button" badges helped fund war efforts, support wounded soldiers, and aid refugees or prisoners of war. Sold during high-energy street drives and national "Badge Days", they were highly visible symbols of patriotism and civic duty. During World War I, fundraising badges (often called "tinnies" or "patriot buttons") were small, mass-produced tokens given to citizens in exchange for a donation. Worn proudly on clothing to show civic duty and financial support, they funded charities like the Red Cross, the Wattle Day League, and Veterans' Widows.

Details

Registration number

cwa-org-124-2019.128

Item type

Badges

Collectibles

Souvenirs

Themes

Fashion

War and Conflict

Material

Metal

Paper

Plastic

Inscriptions and markings

Item 1 (large badge): "I will help until the war is won. Copyright"

Item 2 (small badge): "I will help until the war is won"

Contextual information

This is a fundraising badge and was produced to encourage and display patriotic support for the war effort. Such badges were sold in trams, buses, at railways stations and at rallies to raise money for the stated cause. This example is a generic badge encouraging support for the war and may have resulted from the strong and divisive debate over Conscription.

(Reference: https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/REL39131

Keywords

Fundraising

NUMISMATICS

World War 1 souvenir

Place made

Australia

Year

1914 - 1918

Primary significance criteria

Artistic or aesthetic significance

Historic significance