Present Gallery

Fortnum & Masons Christmas Box for soldiers, WW1

Advertisement for quintessential London department store, Fortnum & Mason, in particular their Thirty Shilling Xmas Box of selected provisions which could be sent to the front for lucky soldiers (though probably officers!). Latest date for dispatch to France was 14 December 1917 and a war catalogue was available upon application. The box contained a fine selection of food including real turtle soup, roast goose, brandy sauce and cherries in brandy. Date: 1917

© Illustrated London News Ltd/Mary Evans

At present he works Bulgaria

At present he works Bulgaria. Illustration shows a puppeteer labeled Russia with marionettes labeled Bulgaria and Macedonia engaged in a sword fight; the Bulgarian puppet is about to cut the head off the Macedonian puppet who has dropped his sword. Hanging on the side of the theater, to the left, are three puppets labeled Roumelia, Servia, and Roumania. Date 1903 October 7. At present he works Bulgaria. Illustration shows a puppeteer labeled Russia with marionettes labeled Bulgaria and Macedonia engaged in a sword fight; the Bulgarian puppet is about to cut the head off the Macedonian puppet who has dropped his sword. Hanging on the side of the theater, to the left, are three puppets labeled Roumelia, Servia, and Roumania. Date 1903 October 7

© Mary Evans / Library of Congress

HMS Forward - Forward-class Scout Cruiser

Royal Navy - HMS Forward, a Forward-class Scout Cruiser. Forward was built by Fairfield???s S.B. & E., at Govan, in 1904. The ship was in reserve for most of the first decade of her existence. After the beginning of the First World War in August 1914, she was assigned to coastal defence duties on the East Coast of England. Forward was present when the Germans bombarded Hartlepool, in mid-December 1914, but played no significant role in the battle. The ship was sent to the Mediterranean in mid-1915 and was then assigned to the Aegean Sea a year later, together with her sister ship, Foresight, and remained there until the end of the war. After returning home in 1919, she was sold for scrap in 1921

© The Peter Butt Transportation Collection / Mary Evans A The Peter Butt Transportation Collection / Mary Evans