On Saturday we looked at a 1919 dated certificate and at the time I said that the original framers who had mounted the certificate had used an offcut of card to do it with. This offcut of card is as interesting as the certificate itself and is part of a World War one advertising poster for ale:Unfortunately I do not know which ale this was as the top part is missing and I have been unable to find a matching design online. This particular poster though incorporates some gorgeous artwork and has four war related characters, admiring the pint in front of them. Firstly on the left we have a sailor from HMS Invincible:
HMS Invincible was the lead ship of a class of three battlecruisers launched in 1907. She took part in the Battle of Jutland and was destroyed by a magazine explosion during the fighting. The next figure is a munitionette:
Munitionettes were women who worked in shell factories producing shells for the guns on the front line. They typically wore brown overalls and mop caps to protect their hair. World War one saw the number of different employment possibilities for women expand dramatically and as well as working in factories, the Women’s Auxilliary Army Corps was set up in 1917 and our third figure is dressed in their distinctive uniform:
The final figure is an archetypal British Tommy, wearing the cap badge of the Machine Gun Corps:
The Machine Gun Corps was founded in October 1915 and assuming this poster is reflecting this period accurately and not using artistic licence this would quite accurately date the image. If anyone has any more information on the poster, and indeed knows which brand of ale it was for please get in contact as I would be fascinated to know.
The third figure on your poster is a member of the Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps (WAAC in 3 lines on the hat badge) rather than Women’s Land Army. Both of these women’s organisations were formed in 1917. More on the WAAc here:
http://www.eastsussexww1.org.uk/womens-army-auxiliary-corps/