WWI silk postcard sent to Ethell May from Daddy June 21 1916

1916
Overview

Embroidered silk postcard, featuring the words 'I carry hope' in gold thread in a curve along the bottom. Above this is a colourful depiction of two crossed flags - the French flag on the left and the Union Jack on the right. They have gold finials and a red and blue tassel at the base.
Above them. a black bird with white underbelly is in flight and carries a letter. Behind the bird is a red white and blue ribbon - a patriotic motif representing the Empire.
The surrounds are made from embossed cream card with decorative floral patterns.
The reverse of the card has a central line and the words 'Fabrication Francaise' printed in black and the message written by Daddy to Ethell in purple pencil.

Historical information

According to the Australian War Memorial, woven silk postcards were first produced in Krefeld, Germany in 1898 as a combination of printed postcards and large woven silk pictures, known as Stevengraphs. The early cards were woven on machines. Being machine made, the woven cards always maintained a high standard.
Embroidered silk postcards were first made in 1900 for the Paris Exposition. The popularity of silk postcards peaked during World War One. A thriving cottage industry began around 1915 and the quality of the early silks was quite high. However later, to satisfy demand, the workmanship was often not quite as high.
Postcard companies began to employ women to produce silks on a rough assembly line basis. The cards were generally hand embroidered on strips of silk mesh with as many as 25 on a strip. They were mostly embroidered by French women in their homes and then sent to the factories for cutting and mounting on postcards.
Some postcards were made with little envelopes which could contain a smaller card with a sentimental message.
Production continued steadily through World War One, declining substantially in 1919, until ending around 1923. An estimated 10,000,000 hand made cards were produced from 1915 to 1919.

There are a large number of silk postcards in the collection, including several groupings relating to individual soldiers and their families. This card is an example of that, having been sent to one of two young daughters of a soldier who wrote regularly to his wife and both daughters.

Details

Details

Registration number
cwa-org-119-RoW00666
Width
141 mm
Height or length
91 mm
Inscriptions and markings

On front of postcard:

"I carry hope"

On reverse of postcard:

"Dear Ethell June 21/19/16
Just a few lines to dear Ethell
hopeing [sic] to find you well Well
Ethell i have not had a P.card
from you for a long time Mother
told me in her letter you sent me
one but i have not got it. Well
Ethell my cold is getting much
better it is getting fine whether [sic]
now i suppose it is cold over there
now I had to stop writing to watch
some airoplains [sic] going over plenty
here Et i get tired of looking up
in the air Well Ethell you must tell
me in your next letter how you
are getting on at school Tell Ted
i will send him a P.C. next week
i won't forget him i want to get
a funy [sic] one for him i will close
with fond love and Best wishes
from Daddy to Dear little Ethell May
XXXXXXXXXXX"

Place made
France
Year
Primary significance criteria
Artistic or aesthetic significance
Historic significance
Social or spiritual significance
Comparative significance criteria
Interpretive capacity
Last modified
Saturday, 16 August, 2025
Completeness
100
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WWI silk postcard sent to Ethell May from Daddy June 21 1916
WWI silk postcard sent to Ethell May from Daddy June 21 1916
Reverse of WWI silk postcard sent to Ethell May from Daddy June 21 1916
Reverse of WWI silk postcard sent to Ethell May from Daddy June 21 1916

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