WWI silk postcard sent to Ethell May from Daddy
c. 1916Embroidered silk postcard in the form of an envelope, featuring the words 'A happy Christmas' in gold thread on a pale blue scroll background. The surrounds are made from embossed cream card with a series of parallel lines for decoration.
The flap of the fabric envelope is bordered with white thread and has a red and pink flower with central yellow stamens on the left and three purple flowers and a bud on the right. Around this are two different varieties of green leaves which extend from the bottom of the card onto the flap.
Inside the lifted flap is a small greeting card featuring a circular scene of a stone castle by a river, with two more flowers and foliage at the lower left. The words 'With Loving Christmas Greetings' are printed in red and an inscription is written in black pen. The reverse of the card is also inscribed.
The reverse of the postcard features a message from Daddy to his young daughter, Ethell May. There are also printed words in English and French indicating where the correspondence and address should be written, and that the card was made in France.
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
On front of postcard:
"A happy Christmas"
On left of reverse of postcard:
"Dear Ethell a few
lines hopeing [sic] you are
well as it leaves me
fairly well at present
a nice P.card for
Xmas with love
XXXXXXXXXX"
On right of reverse of postcard:
"Miss Ethell May
with love from
Daddy from
France"
On front of card insert:
"With Loving
Christmas Greetings"
from Daddy
to his Dear
little girl Ethell"
On reverse of card insert:
"A big
fond Kiss
X"
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