A brass Christmas gift box topped by a cameo of Princess Mary highlights a Pelham Historical Society display of First World War items in the lobby of the Pelham Public Library.
Princess Royal Mary, the teenage daughter of King George V, was popular with British and Canadian servicemen. She sponsored projects to assist soldiers and their families.
The Princess Mary Christmas Gift Fund was one. Through it, starting in 1914, all servicemen received brass gift boxes containing cigarettes or candy.
“The boxes were very popular,” said Pelham historian Mary Lamb. “They were sent each year although the group ran out of brass later in the war and substituted other metals.”
The society drew items from its collection as well as donations from society members for the display.
They include: a vase from David Prior made from a German shell; war medals worn by Albert Robinson, Ron Hubbard’s uncle; canvas belt from a uniform and a photograph of a list of Pelham residents who served in the First World War. The list on a wall display hangs at Royal Canadian Legion Branch 613.
Lamb said the society setup the display to mark both Remembrance Day and the start of the First World War 100 years ago.
“Many young men from here volunteered,” she said. “It seemed like more of an adventure than working on the farm. Little did they know what they were getting into.”
Some of the volunteers were Barnardo’s Boys, orphans sent out from Britain by the Dr. Barnardo charity to work in rural areas such as Pelham.
The display includes photographs from the home front . Farmettes, young women from nearby towns, came to work on farms to replace men who were away.
Knitting needles and yarn represent the volunteer work of women such as members of the Fonthill Women’s Institute.
“They knitted, and knitted and knitted” making socks, gloves, pyjamas and head covers, Lamb said.
She remembers doing the same thing as a girl during the Second World War.
The Pelham Historical Society changes its display in the every couple of months, often providing a local historical twist to current events.
