Souvenir Handkerchief of The Provincial Unemployed Demonstration
Burgess William & Co.
London: Burgess William & Co. early 20th century.
Description:
Souvenir Japanese crêpe paper handkerchief with an outer border of purple pansy-type flowers and green foliage. In the centre is a picture (signed W. B [?] 84) of a poor mother with two young children. Above this is printed "Souvenir Programme of The Provincial Unemployed Demonstration" and either side of the picture are the texts "The profit of the earth is for all Eccles v.9" and "Labour is the source of all wealth". Below the picture are the details of the demonstration. It was to gather on the Embankment and then march through smart Mayfair ending in Hyde Park. The handkerchief notes that "there will be large contingents from Hackney, Bethnal Green, Battersea and St Pancras. The Liverpool Unemployed will join the procession". The Chairmen are listed as Mr H. Quelch, Mr H. Gosling L.C.C. and Mr Jack Williams. The handkerchief measures 365x355mm. Some chips and tears to the edges but otherwise in excellent condition.
Although this handkerchief is undated, it is almost certainly from the first decade of the twentieth century which was the heyday of these crêpe souvenirs produced by Mrs S. Burgess. They were printed for a huge range of occasions such as Royal and national commemorations, sporting events and the deaths of famous people. There was also a popular line in Suffragette handkerchiefs but this one, to mark a demonstration about unemployment, is a surprisingly radical departure. One wonders what Mrs Burgess and her genteel handkerchief artists would have made of Harry Quelch, the principal organiser of the demonstration. He was one of Britain's first self-declared Marxists and a leading member of the Democratic Federation which was the forerunner of the Social Democratic Federation, the country's earliest socialist political party. Qulelch was active as a trade unionist organiser of strikes and marches; he travelled extensively in Europe speaking at socialist conferences; and he printed Lenin's newspaper Iskra when it was banned in Russia. Lenin was impressed. On Quelch's death he wrote: "Quelch was in the front ranks of those who fought steadfastly and with conviction against opportunism and a liberal-labour policy in the British working class movement.... Over the whole of Britain the Social-Democrats, and they alone, have for decades been carrying on systematic propaganda and agitation in the Marxist spirit. This is the great historical service rendered by Quelch and his comrades".
Description:
Souvenir Japanese crêpe paper handkerchief with an outer border of purple pansy-type flowers and green foliage. In the centre is a picture (signed W. B [?] 84) of a poor mother with two young children. Above this is printed "Souvenir Programme of The Provincial Unemployed Demonstration" and either side of the picture are the texts "The profit of the earth is for all Eccles v.9" and "Labour is the source of all wealth". Below the picture are the details of the demonstration. It was to gather on the Embankment and then march through smart Mayfair ending in Hyde Park. The handkerchief notes that "there will be large contingents from Hackney, Bethnal Green, Battersea and St Pancras. The Liverpool Unemployed will join the procession". The Chairmen are listed as Mr H. Quelch, Mr H. Gosling L.C.C. and Mr Jack Williams. The handkerchief measures 365x355mm. Some chips and tears to the edges but otherwise in excellent condition.
Although this handkerchief is undated, it is almost certainly from the first decade of the twentieth century which was the heyday of these crêpe souvenirs produced by Mrs S. Burgess. They were printed for a huge range of occasions such as Royal and national commemorations, sporting events and the deaths of famous people. There was also a popular line in Suffragette handkerchiefs but this one, to mark a demonstration about unemployment, is a surprisingly radical departure. One wonders what Mrs Burgess and her genteel handkerchief artists would have made of Harry Quelch, the principal organiser of the demonstration. He was one of Britain's first self-declared Marxists and a leading member of the Democratic Federation which was the forerunner of the Social Democratic Federation, the country's earliest socialist political party. Qulelch was active as a trade unionist organiser of strikes and marches; he travelled extensively in Europe speaking at socialist conferences; and he printed Lenin's newspaper Iskra when it was banned in Russia. Lenin was impressed. On Quelch's death he wrote: "Quelch was in the front ranks of those who fought steadfastly and with conviction against opportunism and a liberal-labour policy in the British working class movement.... Over the whole of Britain the Social-Democrats, and they alone, have for decades been carrying on systematic propaganda and agitation in the Marxist spirit. This is the great historical service rendered by Quelch and his comrades".