Monday, December 20, 2010

Christmas 1914

One of my favorite possessions is this brass box. It was designed as a 1914 Christmas gift from King George V's daughter, Princess Mary, to each and every person in the British armed forces. The box was distributed with gifts of candy and tobacco, and money for the monumental project was collected from public donations. Possibly the most interesting thing about this artifact is that the British were confident enough that WWI would last only a few months that they used up so much brass as a (lovely) gesture. To read more about H.R.H. Princess Mary's Christmas box, go here.

10 comments:

  1. Mark, I also have one of these that was received by my favourite Great Uncle in the WWI. It is one of my most treasured possessions!

    ReplyDelete
  2. David, how great that you have a personal connection to your 1914 box! I imagine that it must have been quite a morale booster for the original recipients.

    ReplyDelete
  3. now that is lovely - looking and gesture both! Does our country do anything for our troops now I wonder?

    ReplyDelete
  4. Oh my, I can see why you cherish this lovely box Mark. Gorgeous! I think it's amazing that it was made of brass. Yes indeed, a generous gesture!

    H.H.

    ReplyDelete
  5. you have a great page! I love your image, i love art.. come check out my page too, I actually just recently posted that image of Montefeltro.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Makavetis, thanks for visiting! I enjoyed your page, as well.

    ReplyDelete
  7. i own the same box.
    i love it as well.
    it is from my great grandfather's service in
    world war 1 .
    the queen of england gave it to him.
    it had chocolate in it.

    merry merry

    ReplyDelete
  8. LOVE the box. It's one of the prettiest images that I have seen this season. Thank you for sharing it. K

    ReplyDelete
  9. I remember seeing photos of these before, but yours is better and it seems to make a connection for readers because it belongs to you the writer.

    I very much like this style of design, the exquisite refinement of neo-18th century Georgian/ Adam, and Louis XVI. The floral "M" monogram is very similar to that of Marie Antoinette over 100 years earlier.

    An example of how an inexpensive gift, with thought, taste, and warm sentiment can make a Christmas memorable. Post this article again in four years, the 100th anniversary of this uniquely special gift.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Thank you Renée, Kathy and Terry! Terry, I think that the box I own might appear better than others you've seen because it was an earlier, solid-brass version. As my link explains, towards the end of the Christmas project, there either was a shortage of brass, or the shortage was anticipated. Some soldiers got a box that was brass-plated, but not solid brass, as this one is.

    ReplyDelete