WWI Silk Postcard - Souvenir of France'

« Prev Item Next Item »

1918

Overview

Embroidered silk postcard in the form of an envelope, featuring the words 'Souvenir de France' (Souvenir of France) in pink thread in a shallow arc along the bottom.
The flap of the fabric envelope is bordered with yellow thread and when lifted, reveals a white paper card with an image of a rose behind a rectangular view of a village. To the right of this are the words 'Kiss from France'.
On the flap itself is a colourful representation of the British Coat of Arms, featuring a lion on one side and a unicorn on the other. Above this are some green leaves, and below a wreath of green leaves and red berries.
The postcard is written in pencil and was sent on 3 September 1918 from a person named Hope to a Miss Beryl Pryor in East Kew, Victoria, Australia.

Historical information

Having researched the name and address of the recipient of the card, it appears to have been sent to Beryl Seymour Pryor, born in Melbourne on 11 February 1912. She has an older sister by the name of Edna Leatt Pryor who was born in 1904, as well as several other siblings.
One of these, Dora Vivian Pryor (born 17 June 1896), married Hopetoun Horace Stevens (Hope) who served with the Australian Imperial Force during World War One.
Hope embarked from Melbourne, Victoria, on board HMAT A35 Omrah on 17 January 1917 with service number 16701. He returned to Australia on 28 July 1919 by which time he was a Corporal in the 2nd Sanitary Section.
He married Dora on 1 March 1921.
This card was sent by Hope while on active service to his future wife's youngest sister, who would have been aged 6 when she received it.

Details

Registration number

cwa-org-119-RoW00380

Item type

Themes

War and Conflict
War and Conflict > World War 1

Material

Card

Paper

Silk (Textile)

Width

138 mm

Height or length

90 mm

Inscriptions and markings

On front of card:

"Souvenir de France"

On card insert:

"Kiss from France"

On reverse of card:

"3.9.18
My dear Beryl
Just a
card to say I have not
forgotten you & often
think about you. I expect
you have grown quite
big now, too big for me
to catch on the stairs.
Give my love to Edna.
With a lot of love &
kisses for Beryl.
From
Hope"

"Miss Beryl Pryor
"Carn Brea [sic]"
Barkers Rd
East Kew
Victoria
Australia"

Keywords

Place made

France

Year

1918