Doncaster Times Issue 2 - November 2016

Although the production of all types of postcards
increased in order to meet the demand prompted by
the outbreak of war, the genre which saw the most
marked increase in popularity were silk embroidered
ones or ‘silks’. These had been available since the
early 1900s but production methods made them
expensive and so they had been produced as novelty
items, rather than for a mass market. However, in
the period from 1914-1920 it is estimated that over
10,000,000 ‘silks’ were produced in over 10,000 2
designs and it is not hard to understand why.
They were patriotic, brightly coloured and appealed
to soldiers wanting to show their feelings and
sentiments to loved ones back home. They were
also widely available in France from the beginning
of the war and although expensive, within the price
range of the ordinary soldier; a private in a GB
infantry regiment received 1/- (5p) a day in 1916,
while one of the silk postcards cost 7d (3p).
My own fascination with these beautiful mementoes
of war began when my Grandma showed me
her postcard album, and amongst a collection
of greetings cards were eight examples of ‘silks’
sent to her by my Grandfather. They caught
my attention then and when I was given them,
they formed the start of a fascination and a
collection which still continues to this day.
As well as the more general patriotic ‘silks’, many
were produced for specific regiments, some of
which are very rare because few of a particular
design were produced. These are sought after
by collectors and are also quite expensive; a card
carrying the emblem of a yeomanry regiment
in good condition could cost well over £100.
These two examples illustrate why ‘silks’ were
so popular. The bright colours and clever use of
imagery would have carried a reassuring message
from the sender to the recipients. Novelty cards
such as these had to be sent in an envelope to
meet the requirements of the postal service, so
they were bought with the brown translucent
envelope shown here. However, it is rare to find
one of these with an address on; these postcards
were too delicate and expensive to post and were
usually enclosed within another envelope.
The use of a butterfly to carry the flags of the
allies was a common design and this is an early
example of the sort of cards available. It was
sent by Sergeant Thomas Douglas of the Black
Watch, BEF in August 1915. Although most of his
message consists of the usual pleasantries
it does contain the following,
‘I am glad to tell you that we are billeted in
a nunnery that has been destroyed by shell,
we are glad to get out of the trenches’.
Although many ‘silks’ were produced by French
publishers, very few were bought by French
soldiers. Most were sent by GB and Dominion
soldiers from Australia and New Zealand. This
reflects the rates of pay received by the different
soldiers as it would have taken more than two
day’s pay for a French soldier to be able to buy one
of these cards. The two examples below illustrate
that patriotic and colourful themes were applied
to all designs and across the forces involved.
It was originally thought that these silk postcards
were hand embroidered by French peasant women
in their homes before being sent to the publisher
for the final stages of being cut and glued to a
backing and edged with embossed card. Recent
research 3 now indicates that machines, which were
able to produce panels of up to 400 embroidered
strips, were operating in France well before 1914.
So many of these cards were factory produced, but
also in the home, if there was a room large enough.
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