1914: A ROYAL CHRISTMAS GIFT
THE PRINCESS MARY GIFT BOX
To Empire soldiers and sailors in December 1914, a Princess Mary Gift Box was both a treasured reminder of home, and a symbol of appreciation for their service. At Loughborough Carillon we have several of these boxes and related items in the collection in our care.
Princess Mary was the only daughter of King George V and Queen Mary, and by all accounts her father’s favourite child. She was a shy and dutiful girl, aged 17 when the war began. The gift box was not her only contribution to the war effort. She also contributed a pearl from her own jewellery collection to add to a necklace which was raffled to raised funds. No doubt thanks to its Royal connection, it raised a modern equivalent of £11 million. Mary volunteered in a munitions factory canteen in Hayes when she was resident at Windsor, where she served and washed up. She also gave her name to a collection of stories by Kipling, Conan Doyle and JM Barrie. The Princess Mary Gift Book was sold to support her mother Queen Mary’s Work for Women Fund.
Mary’s plea for help
The idea of ‘comforts’ for the troops was not new. Mary was probably inspired by the fact that her great grandmother, Queen Victoria, had instigated a similar scheme for the South African War soldiers in 1900. But this thoughtful young woman wanted to put her name to an initiative of her own.
On 15th November 1914 a newspaper appeal went out:
“I wish you all now to help me to send a Christmas present from the whole nation to every sailor afloat and every soldier at the front. On Christmas Eve, when, like shepherds of old, they keep their watch, doubtless their thoughts will turn to home and the loved ones left behind….could there be anything more likely to hearten them in their struggle than a present received straight from home on Christmas Day? Please, will you help me? Mary.”
This heartfelt message, with its touching personal plea, was masterminded by a publicity expert, Hedley Le Bas, who also created the famous Lord Kitchener recruitment appeal. At first, Mary had planned to use her own money to fund the boxes, perhaps underestimating just how much it might cost. In the event, the public appeal was wildly successful, producing so much money (£15 million) that the gifts could also be sent to nurses, POWs (after repatriation), those disabled and injured on active service, and widows and parents of men who’d been killed. In 1914 alone, 450,000 gift packages were sent out to France. So many people were entitled to a box that the final deliveries were not made until 1920.
The box and its contents
The boxes were made of brass; and this became something of a problem with the sinking of the Lusitania, which was carrying 45 tonnes of this metal specifically for this purpose
Although these brass boxes are now known as Princess Mary Boxes, at the time they were just one of the items enclosed in the cardboard container which was called the Princess Mary Gift Box.
The contents were customised according to the recipients. In an age of widespread smoking, cigarettes and tobacco were bound to be popular, along with tobacco pouches, pipes and cigarette cases. However, smoking was considered unseemly for ladies, so nurses, as well as male non-smokers,received different gifts. Lemon sweets, chocolate, combs, writing cases, shaving brushes, postcards, knives and scissors were some of the alternatives. Sailors got pencils shaped like a bullet whereas Indian troops got packets of spices to liven up their army rations. All were items which might make daily service life just that little more bearable. Everyone got a Christmas card, and photos of the King and Queen and of Princess Mary herself.
Obviously it wasn’t possible to fit everything into the brass box, which measured 5 by 3¼ inches, so the recipients would have had the pleasure of finding several different items when they opened their packages.
A treasured gift
Well over 2.6 million Princess Mary Gift Boxes were produced and the brass tins were especially treasured. Many were sent home, contents intact, and kept by the men’s families. It explains why so many survive in museum collections and on memorabilia websites. There are stories of them being swapped for other items when German and Allied troops met for an occasional truce. And of (possibly apocryphal) accounts of boxes inside pockets deflecting enemy bullets.
Our Princess Mary boxes
In the collection in our care, some of the Princess Mary boxes have known recipients. One belonged to Bert Main of the Leicestershire Yeomanry, who rode Loughborough’s famous ‘war horse’, Songster. Another was sent to Trumpeter William Francis Kent, also of the Leicestershire Yeomanry, who was killed at the Battle of Frezenberg in May 1915. Yet another box was sent to Private John James Collington, of the Notts & Derby Regiment, who was killed in action in January 1915. No doubt these men, and millions of others, enjoyed their little treats of smokes, sweets and gifts, a little spot of relief from the horrors of the war.
Princess Mary (who was the great aunt of King Charles) later married Henry Lascelles, 6th Earl of Harewood, and they had two sons. She became HRH The Princess Royal and Countess of Harewood, and died in 1965, aged 67.
