Object of the Month – December 2024
December’s Object(s) of the Month is themed around Christmas. The display features a Princess Mary Christmas gift box, which was distributed to members of the British armed forces in 1914, during the First World War.
George V’s 17-year-old daughter, Mary, Princess Royal, launched a public appeal to fund every member of the armed forces receiving these Christmas gift boxes.
Adverts were placed in the British press seeking donations and over £152,000 was raised.
Small boxes were made of silver for officers and brass for the other troops. Supplies of 45 tons of brass strip, destined to make more boxes, was lost at sea. In the latter stages of the war, some of the tins had to be made from plated base metals or alloys.
The tins were decorated with the image of Mary and other military and imperial symbols. Apart from a picture of Princess Mary and a Christmas card, the contents varied considerably, as they took account of gender and if the recipients were non-smokers or not or had different cultural or religious backgrounds.
It is estimated that 400,000 were delivered by Christmas 1914, with full distribution completed in 1920, by which time approximately 2.5 million had been delivered.
The embossed boxes were air-tight, and made a useful container for money, tobacco, papers and photographs, so were often carried by soldiers through subsequent service. Some troops repacked their tins and sent them home to their families.
Contents of the display case
Christmas pudding tin
Examples of Princess Mary tins, gifted to soldiers in the First World War.
A selection of blown glass Christmas tree bauble decorations, dating to c.1900-1920. They were donated in 2001 to the museum by John and Barbara Stubbington. They had originally belonged to John’s mother (1904-2001), and probably date to her childhood.
