The Army and Navy Needle Book - 2

c. 1928
Overview

German made needle storage booklet entitled 'The Army and Navy Needle Book'. It opens horizontally to house rows of nickel-plated hand sewing needles wrapped in protective packets or threaded loose into a paper holder.
The front cover features a colourful illustration of the ocean liner, S.S. Bremen, with two red masts and two gold funnels with smoke billowing out. There is a much smaller vessel alongside the liner. The ocean is a pale blue green and the clouds and skies behind are a light grey blue colour.
There is a decorative gold and fine black line border of sections of rosettes and fans around the central image, outside of which is a pale blue border.
The phrase 'The Army and Navy Needle Book' is printed with red capitals and black lower case letters across the top. In the centre of the bottom, there is a Coat of Arms featuring two rampant lions supporting the Prince of Wales' feathers (three ostrich plumes) within a crown shaped border.
There are four packets of different gauge needles on the left of the open booklet. The paper is black and the labels are cream and gold. On the right, there is a a remnant of black paper and glue where previously loose needles would have been threaded. The inside background is buff coloured with an blue border and fine line blue decoration in the centre.
The back cover features a colourful depiction of the ocean liner, S.S. Europa, with two red masts and two red funnels with dark tops, with smoke billowing from them. The same central Coat of Arms is positioned in the crown shaped border at the bottom.

Historical information

The two ships featured on this needle book are the sister ships S.S. Bremen and S.S. Europa. They were revolutionary twin turbo-driven superliners built in 1928 for the German line Norddeutscher Lloyd (North German Lloyd) to dominate transatlantic luxury express service.
Although there is nothing on the booklet to indicate where it was made, it seems likely it was made in Germany as that is where the featured ships were built and also where the bulk of these needle booklets were manufactured.

Details

Details

Registration number
cwa-org-119-RoW00996
Item type
Collectibles
Ephemera
Haberdashery
Lithographs
Needlework
Needlework Equipment
Personal Effects
Souvenirs
Material
Card
Ink
Paper
Width
120 mm
Height or length
67 mm
Depth
2 mm
Inscriptions and markings

On front cover:

"The Army and Navy Needle Book"

On ship on cover:

"BREMEN"

On covers of needle packets inside:

"SUPERIOR
TRADE MARK
IMPERIAL
DRILLED EYED
5 SHARPS
1/5, 5, 3, 1
Warranted
not to cut in the eye"

On ship on back cover:

"EUROPA"

Year
Primary significance criteria
Artistic or aesthetic significance
Historic significance
Social or spiritual significance
Comparative significance criteria
Interpretive capacity
Last modified
Tuesday, 4 August, 2026
Completeness
94
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Front cover of The Army and Navy Needle Book - 2
Front cover of The Army and Navy Needle Book - 2
Contents of The Army and Navy Needle Book - 2
Contents of The Army and Navy Needle Book - 2
Back cover of The Army and Navy Needle Book - 2
Back cover of The Army and Navy Needle Book - 2
Front covers of needle book grouping
Front covers of needle book grouping
Back covers of needle book grouping
Back covers of needle book grouping

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