I bought this brass tin at my favorite Madison antiques shop thirty years ago. I loved this bit of history that I could take home with me. When I bought it, I gave no thought to the fact that the hundredth anniversary of the Great War was just over the horizon. Or that it was likely I would live to witness it.
The tins were paid for by the Sailors and Soldiers Christmas Fund, a nationwide appeal for donations organised by Princess Mary, the 17-year-old daughter of George V. According to various news stories about 335,000 of Princess Mary's tins made it to their destination before their Christmas 1914 deadline, though there were many who did not receive theirs until well into the New Year. They contained cigarettes and tobacco, sweets and a pencil within a shell casing.
Now, in December, 2014, it gives one a strange feeling to hold this lovely little box and to think about what the world was like when they were made and distributed. And to pity the men and women who received a box during the first Christmas of the war. Did they know, did they even have an inkling, how long and how devastating the war would be?
Princess Mary's Christmas Box is just the right size to hold red and green holiday candies. If I leave the lid up, you won't even have to think about how many Christmases the war consumed. Or that so many problems in today's world came out of the Great War. Not exactly the Christmas post I intended to write, but holding this shiny little memorial in my hand makes it hard to think about anything else.
Princess Mary in her nurse's uniform.
That is the thing about Christmas it dredges up all sorts of memories. The good the bad and the ugly. It shows that no matter what life and time marches on. We have to savor the good times. I hope your Christmas holiday is full of those good times and the shadows of Christmas past are just that shadows that the light of the season out shines all. Blessings.
Posted by: Lisa at Greenbow | Tuesday, December 23, 2014 at 06:29 AM