Small pocket mirrors were an inexpensive trinket that were popular choices as charity and souvenir articles. They consisted merely of a piece of glass with a silvered back and a paper or leather cloth covering that could be decorated to celebrate a national event such as the Coronation or to show support for a charity. These little mirrors could be sold for a few pennies but were so cheap to make that they could still bring in a small profit for a charity or other organisation.
Obviously during the Second World War, a popular theme to decorate the mirrors in was the war itself and tonight we have a delightful little example to consider:
The design features the three allied war leaders, left to right we have US President Franklin D Roosevelt, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and Soviet leader Josef Stalin. The three respective nations’ flags are also included in the design as is the phrase “Souvenir of the World’s War”.
The paper backing wraps round the edges of the mirror to protect the owner from any sharp edges from the glass:
The backing to the mirror has degraded now, leading to the unsightly black spots, however these items were entirely ephemeral in nature and it is doubtful anyone expected them to be used for more than a few years, never mind still being in existence seventy five years later. Sadly this mirror has no information on which if any charity it was originally sold to raise money for, but it is a delightful and probably rare survivor.
The Royal Mail’s stamps were inspired by the design of the magazine ‘Picture Post’ and a special point of sale card was produced to display in post offices to encourage people to buy the new set of stamps:
The stamps themselves were of course sold individually for use in the mail, but special collector’s packs of mint stamps were produced:
As well as the standard first day cover:
The first day cover included an explanatory card inside with a brief outline of the Normandy Landings:
The Royal Mint’s 50p was offered in a card commemorative folder:
This folded out and the coin itself was contained in a plastic blister:
The coin featured a design of the landings with gliders flying overhead and the seaborne invasion beneath:
This particular design is often cited as one of the public’s favourite ever con designs and even twenty five years later is a striking design.
The shirt is made in the regimental colours of green and black with red trim and the regimental cap badge is embroidered onto the right breast:
A label with the word ‘Yorkshire’ is sewn into one seam:
While the piping around the collar is red with black ‘Yorkshire’ lettering on it:
These items are often sold through the regimental shop, known as a ‘PRI’, ARRSEpedia explains:
On the front is the official Silver Jubilee logo with the Queen’s head in the centre:
This design is seen on many different Silver Jubilee items; more unusually however is the design of warships in the background.
The mark on the base of the mug indicates it was manufactured by Lord Nelson potteries:
My guess is that this firm specialised in making commemorative ware for purchase by Royal Navy ship’s companies.
Tonight we are looking at a souvenir ashtray produced during the Aden Emergency from a spent shell casing from one of these 76mm rounds:
The ashtray has been made by cutting the casing down just a fraction of an inch above its base, three cuts have then been made to provide rests for the cigarettes and a local South Arabian coin soldered in the centre:
The quality of this work is excellent and indicates access to machine tools. My suspicion is that this ashtray is the work of army machinists such as REME mechanics who would have the skills and tools to produce these pieces. They would have been made in the soldiers’ spare time and sold to their colleagues to raise extra beer money.
HESH stands for ‘High Explosive Squash Head.’ HESH rounds are thin metal shells filled with plastic explosive and a delayed-action base fuze. The plastic explosive is “squashed” against the surface of the target on impact and spreads out to form a disc or “pat” of explosive. The base fuze detonates the explosive milliseconds later, creating a shock wave that, owing to its large surface area and direct contact with the target, is transmitted through the material. In the case of the metal armour of a tank, the compression shock wave is conducted through the armour to the point where it reaches the metal/air interface (the hollow crew compartment), where some of the energy is reflected as a tension wave. At the point where the compression and tension waves intersect, a high-stress zone is created in the metal, causing pieces of steel to be projected off the interior wall at high velocity. This fragmentation by blast wave is known as spalling, with the fragments themselves known as spall. The spall travels through the interior of the vehicle at high velocity, killing or injuring the crew, damaging equipment, and/or igniting ammunition and fuel. Unlike high-explosive anti-tank (HEAT) rounds, which are shaped charge ammunition, HESH shells are not specifically designed to perforate the armour of main battle tanks. HESH shells rely instead on the transmission of the shock wave through the solid steel armour.
The reverse of the coin can also be see and this dates from 1964:
This all ties in with the Aden Emergency and helps date the ashtray to that conflict. Souvenirs from Aden are of course pretty scarce as it was a short lived conflict with only limited British troops deployed over the period so this is a rare and interesting find.
The coat is clearly handmade, but of excellent manufacture. It is shaped to fit a large dog such as an Alsatian or Labrador, with straps to go around the chest, stomach and rump of the animal, all sewn to the reverse of the coat:
An iron buckle is fitted to one of each pair of straps, wrapped in red thread to make it more decorative:
It is the decoration on the coat however which is particularly interesting and which helps to date the coat to World War One. Four red crosses are sewn on, suggesting that it was this charity the dog was raising money for:
Embroidered on the front corners of the coat are the crossed flags of France and Zsarist Russsia:
This alone dates the coat to World War One. The opposite side has the British and Belgian flags:
Each of these pairs of flags is accompanied with red white and blue rosettes, picking up the colours of Russia, France and Great Britain. Belgium is represented by a single black, orange and red rosette at the rear of the coat:
On September 16th 1914 the Daily Mail reported:
The reverse of the coon has the crowned head of King George VI and as it was struck after 1948, the words IND IMP (India Imperator- Emperor of India) have been deleted:
Despite the date of 1945, the coins were actually struck in 1949, 1950 and 1952 with a total production of 1.2 million coins. The commemorative coin owes its existence to Mr. J. Wilfrid du Pre of the Societe Jersiaise who lobbied for its production.