Optimistic Collection

Silhouette, Hope Springs Eternal in the Human Breast
Hope Springs Eternal in the Human Breast -- silhouette showing a shipwrecked man standing on a raft, waving to a ship on the horizon

The Happy Man, head and shoulders cartoon Date: circa 1850

Good Luck postcard, Royal Irish Guards, WW1. Bonne Chance Pour Toi, Mon Garcon. Date: 1914-1918

Sketch, Oct 1939 - WWII The Old Soldier Never Dies
Front cover of The Sketch featuring a photograph of a jolly British soldier, complete with pipe and waxed moustache. Hes even sitting on a pile of sandbags

WW2 pop-up greetings card (inside), soldier in khaki -- If its OK by you, its OK by me. Date: circa 1942

WW2 greetings card, RAF pilot
WW2 pop-up greetings card (inside), RAF pilot shaking hands with a colleague. Date: circa 1942

WW2 birthday card, dog and two cats
WW2 pop-up birthday card (inside), a spotted dog and two black cats with binoculars as fire watchers and aircraft spotters, All Good Wishes and the Best of Luck! Date: circa 1942

Cartoon, The Allies, WW1
Cartoon, The Allies during the First World War. Linking arms, they sing: Are we all here? Yes! And if we re all here, thats all right

Cartoon, K and His (Anti) German Garden, WW1
Cartoon, K and His (Anti) German Garden, showing Lord Kitchener watering his garden during the First World War to grow more army recruits ready for a spring offensive. Date: 1914

WW2 Christmas card, two air raid shelters
WW2 Christmas card (inside), two air raid (Anderson) shelters and their occupants. Date: circa 1942

Nikolai Ostrovsky
NIKOLAI OSTROVSKY Russian writer : though blind and paralysed he wrote an optimistic autobiographical novel

WW1 Aim for Victory French optimism in 1914 - General Pau
WW1 - Aim for Victory - French optimism in 1914, the card shows troops resting before a push for ultimate victory - the card also has a portrait of French General Paul Marie Cesar Gerald Pau

Cartoon, French women in munitions factory, WW1
Cartoon showing French women working in a munitions factory. One woman tells her boss: we ve replaced rice powder (used in cosmetics) with gunpowder. Date: 1917

Britannia & Erin 1812
A rather optimistic allegory of Erin (Ireland) making friends and shaking hands with Britannia (Britain). Date: 1812

Peasants dancing on anniversary of Revolution, Russia
Peasants enjoying a general holiday, dancing and celebrating on the anniversary of the Revolution in Russia. Date: circa 1918

Four cats with toothache on a New Year card, quoting from Charles Dickens characters (Sairey Gamp, Mrs Harris, Betsy Prig and Tiny Tim) -- Its best to grin and bear it! Date: circa 1890s

WW2 Christmas card, Carrying On! Date: 1939

WW2 Christmas card, Tin Hats and the different people who wear them. Date: 1939

WW2 greetings card, Cheer up! It won t be so long now!! A Scots terrier with a bandaged tail. V for Victory is painted on the fence. Date: circa 1942

WW2 birthday card, birds and flowers. Date: circa 1942

WW2 Christmas card, jolly sailor giving the thumbs up. Date: 1941

WW2 greetings card, sailor waving
WW2 pop-up greetings card, sailor waving from a porthole. Date: circa 1942

WW2 greetings card, smiling soldier
WW2 pop-up greetings card, smiling soldier in khaki uniform. Date: circa 1942

WW2 greetings card, Thumbs up
WW2 pop-up greetings card, Thumbs up! Date: circa 1942

WW2 Christmas card, Keep Smiling Through! Date: 1939

WW2 Christmas card, Good Cheer -- a sailor, an airman and a soldier queue up for a welcome cup of tea at the NaFI. Date: 1941

WW2 Christmas card, Blackout and snow
WW2 Christmas card, You can t Black Out my greeting this Christmastide. Date: 1939

WW2 Christmas card, Business As Usual (inside). Date: circa 1942

Cartoon, At Biarritz, WW1
Cartoon, At Biarritz. A man who is optimistic about the war chats in the sea with a fellow-bather. Date: 1915

WWI Poster, Victory... if you Join Now
WWI Parliamentary Recruiting Committee Poster, A Happy New Year to our Gallant Soldiers! Anticipating Victory with the sunrise of 1915. You can make it certain if you Join Now. Date: 1915

The Sphere Western Front Number cover
The front cover of The Sphere Western Front Number, a special expanded issue (dated 26 May 1917) which included a full page colour portrait of Field Marshal Sir Douglas Haig

Abdullah cigarettes advertisement, WW1
Advertisement for Abdullah cigarettes during the First World War with a poem entitled, Cheero! reflecting the British Armys obsession with cigarettes or smokes

Cartoon, The Two Extremes of Public Opinion, WW1
Cartoon, The Two Extremes of Public Opinion, Optimism and Pessimism, during the First World War. On the left is a smiling, patriotic man reading the financial news

Blind soldiers at St. Dunstans, WW1
A cheerful group of blind soldiers pictured at St. Dunstans hostel, Regents Park, London. St. Dunstan s, near Hanover Gate in the park, set up by Mr. C

First day of the Somme - Worcesters off to battle
British soldiers from the Worcester Regiment cheerily waving their helmets on their way to battle on the first day of the Somme (1 July 1916)

Scottish soldier, World War I by Robert Baden Powell
Sketch by Sir Robert Baden-Powell of a cheery Scottish soldier during World War I, with the rousing, optimistic caption, We are down-hearted, I don t think. Date: 1916

Sheet music cover, Don t Ever Walk in the Shadows, with words and music by Art Noel and Clem Bernard. Showing a young couple walking along arm in arm. Date: 1942

Cheerful British soldier on a postcard, WW1
Cheerful British soldier on a postcard during the First World War. Worry? I don t think. Date: 1914-1918

Confident British soldier on a postcard, WW1
Confident British soldier on a postcard during the First World War. Do I comprey? Not arf! Date: 1914-1918

Optimistic Sundial
An optimistic sundial on the side of a private house at South Holmwood, Surrey, England : Let others tell of storms and showers, I mark the sunny morning hours... Date: 19th century

James Hope (Irish)
JAMES HOPE Irish statesman, member of the United Irishmen (an optimistic association indeed) Date: 1764 - 1846

WW2 - British Serviceman arm-in-arm with his ATS Girl
WW2 - W.A.T.S. the use of worrying? - A British soldier and his ladyfriend, who is part of the Auxiliary Territorial Service for Women (ATS). Date: circa 1940

WW2 era - Comic Postcard - Theres a Good Time Coming
" We have to gian the victory - that is our task." - Winston Churchill, The Prime Minister Theres a Good Time Coming - a little girl sees a future without rationing

Advert for British Industrial Plastic Limited 1942
Shush - secret session for advancd thinkers. Post-war planners have been told - sometimes rudely - that we ve got to win the war first. We agree - absolutely

Optimist and pessimists - postcard by George Ranstead
Postcard by George Ranstead, amateur soldier artist of the Great War featuring three miserable looking hairy men with long beards, looking with suspicion at an optimist who is grinning broadly

Christmas at the Front: British Soldiers bringing in Mistlet
British soldiers in khaki uniform carrying mistletoe on the barrels of their rifles in December 1914; an optimistic portrayal of Christmas at the Front during World War I

Trying a British dainty
French soldier eating Christmas pudding by the wayside; an optimistic portrayal of Christmas at the Front during World War I

The Tatler Peace Number
Colourful and optimistic front cover of The Tatler depicting " Eve" powdering her nose and dressing up for a party, a discarded uniform to one side. Frou-Frou the dog joins in

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