Volunteering at The Story

Embroidered postcards from WW1

While touring the Learning Studio for family activities, I was struck by the small collection of First World War embroidered postcards which soldiers would buy from France and send off to their loved ones back home. They are mostly made of delicate silk and thread and depict the most vibrant and elegant flowers, birds, natural scenes and flags. In particular, the floral themed postcards were my favourite as the craftsmanship involved in these cards seemed so complex. I then learned that The Story housed an incredible collection of these postcards and more floral related memorabilia. In this collection, I would find a series of postcards addressed to Kitty Hannah from her brother, Private H. Hannah from July- September 1916. The sparse messages from Harry, simply wishing his love and good luck for his sister time and time again, unfortunately concealed the horrendous conditions of the war and kept her from the reality of his suffering. The dedication to writing to his sister, though, with these postcards costing a soldier almost a day of wages, was incredibly moving.

As a keen collector of postcards, myself, I found it so interesting to see how correspondences had changed throughout the war and further. In another series of cards from the end of the war in Italy, a husband wrote his wife Betty many postcards full of information about how he would be with her soon and what he had been up to while away. These cards, perhaps, suited the interests of the recipient, with their strange images and odd art styles. The difference between these cards and the hope and excitement with which this husband writes to his wife is both uplifting and slightly bittersweet in comparison with the situation of private Hannah, who probably could not even imagine coming home to his sister just yet.