For a "Little Scrap of Paper"
Postcard
1914-1918 (printed), 1914-1918 (published)
1914-1918 (printed), 1914-1918 (published)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
By the early 20th Century greetings postcards had overtaken folder cards in popularity as they were cheaper to post. A ban on Christmas cards to conserve supplies of paper was mooted during the First World War but the idea was abandoned in the interests of maintaining the troops' morale. This propaganda postcard celebrates the alliance and excoriates the German attitude to treaties. The "Little Scrap of Paper" in question was the First Treaty of London or the Convention of 1839 by which the European powers were bound to uphold the independence and neutrality of the Kingdom of Belgium, the breach of which by Germany was seen by the allies as justification for declaring war in 1914.
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Title | For a "Little Scrap of Paper" (manufacturer's title) |
| Materials and techniques | Letterpress and colour half tone letterpress on card |
| Brief description | Postcard, letterpress on card, 'For a "Little Scrap of Paper"', Britain, World War I, 1914-1918. |
| Physical description | Postcard in landscape format. On the front colour illustration of the flags of the WWI allies (from left to right: Japan, Australia, France, Russia, Britain, Canada, Belgium, New Zealand, India) with a verse (For a "Little Scrap of Paper") superimposed. On the back: postcard template, publisher's information, text explaining the political background to the verse, V&A Museum stamp, and handwritten numbers. |
| Dimensions |
|
| Marks and inscriptions |
|
| Object history | This postcard formed part of a group transferred from Photographs to Prints for accessioning. In the process of cataloguing them and releasing them from the boards onto which they had been mounted it was discovered some of the postcards had already been numbered with 1969 numbers (now noted in the 'other number' field as 'numbered in error'). When the Photographs accessions register for 1969 was consulted two unrelated groups of material with the same run of numbers was discovered. One of these groups, which included this postcard was credited as being 'Given by Mrs Harrington'. Registry could find no record of a donation from a 'Mrs Harrington'. |
| Subjects depicted | |
| Summary | By the early 20th Century greetings postcards had overtaken folder cards in popularity as they were cheaper to post. A ban on Christmas cards to conserve supplies of paper was mooted during the First World War but the idea was abandoned in the interests of maintaining the troops' morale. This propaganda postcard celebrates the alliance and excoriates the German attitude to treaties. The "Little Scrap of Paper" in question was the First Treaty of London or the Convention of 1839 by which the European powers were bound to uphold the independence and neutrality of the Kingdom of Belgium, the breach of which by Germany was seen by the allies as justification for declaring war in 1914. |
| Other numbers |
|
| Collection | |
| Accession number | E.408-2008 |
About this object record
Explore the Collections contains over a million catalogue records, and over half a million images. It is a working database that includes information compiled over the life of the museum. Some of our records may contain offensive and discriminatory language, or reflect outdated ideas, practice and analysis. We are committed to addressing these issues, and to review and update our records accordingly.
You can write to us to suggest improvements to the record.
Suggest feedback
You can write to us to suggest improvements to the record.
Suggest feedback
| Record created | December 9, 2010 |
| Record URL |
Download as: JSON
