WWI silk postcard sent to wife from husband/Daddy June 30 1916

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1916

Overview

Embroidered silk postcard in the form of an envelope sent home as a souvenir from France by a soldier during World War One.
The flap of the envelope is bordered with gold thread and features three pansies in colours of purple, burgundy, pink and gold with green stems and leaves, tied from above with a matching gold bow. There is a five-petaled blue flower with a yellow centre with green leaves and a golden background in each lower corner.
There may have been a small card inserted inside the flap when it was made and purchased, but this is not present.
The surrounds are made from embossed cream card with a decorative pattern of leaves and berries.
The reverse has a central line printed in black ink and the message to his wife, Daisy, and children, Irene and Ethell, from Daddy written in pencil. The day and date are written in purple pencil across the top.

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 the wife of a soldier who wrote regularly to her and both daughters.

Details

Registration number

cwa-org-119-RoW00658

Item type

Themes

War and Conflict > World War 1

Material

Width

141 mm

Height or length

91 mm

Inscriptions and markings

On reverse of postcard:

"Friday June 30 19/16
Dearest wife A few lines in Anser [sic] to you [sic] ever welcome letters
i recieved [sic] to day Well Dear i was pleased to get them and find
you where [sic] all well i am feeling pretty fair my cold is about
allwright [sic] again. Well dear i have wrote a big letter to you
two days ago i will anser [sic] these on Sunday. Well Dear take no
notice about them lovely presents those are getting but you are
going to get a better present than they are it may be
a long time and it may not so you look forward
for something worth haveing [sic] Well Dear most of then sort
came away with a pound or two and not leaveing [sic] as much
at home as me i hope you get the P.C. and Han i have sent
Well Dear i will close with fondest love and Heeps [sic] of sweet thouents [sic] to you all from loveing [sic] Husband & Daddy
I X X X X X X X D X X X X X X E X X X X X

Keywords

Place made

France

Year