Introduction
The beginning of the 1900s to the end of the
1910s witnesses a dramatic change both in terms of the world order as well as
people’s lifestyle. In order to analyze how products had evolved during these
turbulent decades in Britain, we cannot neglect three big events: Industrial
Revolution in the 19th century, the reign of King Edward VII and the First World War in the beginning of
the 20th century.
Technologies under King Edward VII: Electricity, Wireless, Automobile and Telephone
As the
nation’s new King Edward VII was crowned in 1901, the nation entered into a new
century with a great hope and new monarch. Thanks to the Industrial Revolution
of the 19th century, major technological innovations came out:
“Electricity began to revolutionize the economy and social life; The wireless
began another leap forward in communication; The automobile appeared, although
an average Briton was not be able to afford one (Wells 25).” People were more
closely involved in new technologies such as driving a motorcar or using a
telephone; In addition, electricity began to replace traditional gaslight,
candles and oil lamps (Brand Museum). However, not just men were eager to enjoy
the fruits of the new technologies, ladies founded Automobile Association in
1903 and they enjoyed cycling and roller-skating as well (Cook).
Technologies in Wartime: Key to the Victory
In the face
of overwhelming small arms fire, the first tank, the British Mark I was design
in 1915 and was first used in 1916, which, unlike Germans, who had never had
large-scale production of tanks in the First World War. Communication was
mainly through radios and telephones during the wartime, which did a huge help
to the troops in trenches. Transportation was further facilitated by motorcar
and even taxi. After hydrophone was first invented by Reginald Fessenden in
1914, it claimed its first U-Boat victim in April 1916. Aircraft carriers were
advanced in this period, which began to be equipped with two massive 18-inch
guns. As thousands of millions of soldiers got injured during the war, X-Ray
machine was invented for the new wonder weapon of medical diagnostics (Sass).
King Edward VII Politics: Conflicts within and without
King Edward
VII led Britain into a new mood of uncertainty, and he was the first monarch in
this new environment. On the one hand, Victoria’s reign saw a dramatic change
in British political system and it is under Victoria’s reign that monarchy
became a major force in the Government (Wells 30). In this way, Edward had to
make sure monarchy would well serve for the British political system. On the
other hand, the Boer War, which started with fighting with the Boers in 1899
and leading to the historic sieges in 1900, and ended with making heroes of the
generals in 1902, concluded Britain a bad reputation (Brand Museum). King Edward
VII not only had to raise the reputation for Britain, but also had to deal with
the increasing political and economic pressure coming from Imperial Germany,
which once was far behind Britain in the production of coal, iron and steel, but
now challenged the role Britain played as Europe’s leader. Fear of the
‘hereditary foes,’ France and Germany was the heart of Europe’s conflict
(Grenville 30).
Politics in the Great War: Instability and Decline in Power
With the
rise in the conflicts and the decline of power of the Ottoman Turks, brief wars
such as Balkan wars flared up into the Great War in 1914, which aimed to defeat
the increasingly widespread democratic socialism (Grenville 33). In Britain,
the Great War means a democratic change, even though “the navy ‘rule the
waves’; Britain’s wealth was matched by no other European state; a war in South
Africa had been brought to a successful end in 1902 though it had not enhanced
Britain’s military reputation (Grenville 46).” On the global scale, there were
two major powers coming from six countries: the Triple Entente of Britain,
France and Russia, and the Triple Alliance of Germany, Austria-Hungary and
Italy. Balancing the two great powers was the main issue throughout Europe in
the 1910s. Social reforms in Britain brought about the universal adult male
suffrage and votes for women aged over 30 (Strachan). Those women came to
realize their suffrage and started to create huge movements. In addition, the
striking domestic demand towards more American and German imports as well as
the unbalanced distribution of wealth on workers in different industries shaped
the new trade union movement and the Labor political movement, which asked for
decisive support and redistribution of wealth (Grenville 48). Overall, it seems
that following Bismarckian Realpolitik for
its own interest before the international harmony, Britain gave its role as the
global shipping and insurance center to the United States, and it became
heavily indebted to the United States at the end of the Great War.
The Souvenir Industry—Tin Boxes
The most eminent changes in the souvenir
industry are gift tin boxes and postcards. As the souvenir industry was
expanding after the Industrial Revolution in the 19th century, the
beginning of the 20th century made royal family as the main topic on
tin boxes. For example, the mustard companies of Keen’s and Colman’s issued tin
boxes for the Christmas trade, but still, the Jubilee tins made a topical
subject. Also, biscuit manufactures such as Huntley & Palmers, Macfarlane
Lang, and Carrs made royal residences shown on their supplied seasonal gift
tins. By the end of the 19th century, the range of tin boxes
increased with confectionery manufactures such as Parkinson and Callard &
Bowser, who added their tin boxes to the mustard and biscuit firms. When the
Edwardian period began in 1902, the souvenir industry saw a huge swing as more
chocolate manufacturers created their own decorative tin boxes. And in the same
period of time the arrival of railways, telegraphs and motorcars came on the
appearance of tin boxes. However, the main topic of royal wedding on tin boxes
lasted until the start of the Great War. In 1910s, tins began to be decorated
with allied flags and army leaders. Some cocoa companies such as Bourneville,
Cadbury’s and Rowntree’s replaced tins with card packets to save raw materials
for the war.
The Souvenir Industry—Postcards
Postcards were not allowed to have pictorial
images until 1894. After 1894, postcards officially became an important element
of the souvenir trade especially during Diamond and Jubilee periods. It is also
these periods that made the entire souvenir industry increasingly widespread
and affordable, many thanks to the benefits of the Industrial revolution. However,
the format of postcards before the 20th century was picture with
message on one side, and address and stamp on the other side. Only 1902 started
to appear today’s postcard format. After 1902 within King Edward VII reign,
we see a surge of images pouring out: comic, sentimental, greetings,
photographic, political, others mechanical. A new British tradition began as
extensive postcards started to have humorous pictures during Edwardian period
so that those pictures enabled the British public to laugh at itself. The
so-called ‘British humor’ was rapidly evolving. Communication through postcards
was actually quite effective and reliable at that time, much due to the
innovative technologies, and some 850,000 postcards were delivered during 1908
(Brand Museum).
As Britain entered into 1910s, content of
postcards changed a lot, but the British humor remained, especially during
wartime. Instability came both inside and outside. Pressure groups such as
women were one major topic on postcards during wartime besides soldiers.
Pictures of women on wartime postcards mainly show women with telephone and
camera, women asking for suffrage with big headline ‘General Election, Up with
the women, Down with the men.”
Another major topic on wartime postcards is comics. It is the sense of humor,
reflected from the wartime postcards, that made light of British serious
situations and instable hardship times. Donald McGill, an English skillful
graphic artist born in 1875, created a whole genre of saucy seaside postcards that
were especially popular in British coastal towns. His drawings demonstrate
typical British comics, with grotesque figures showing vulgarity and the very
nature of the jokes, as Orwell puts, “All the figures in them, every gesture
and attitude, are deliberately ugly, the faces grinning and vacuous, the women
monstrously paradied, with bottoms like Hottentots.” Donald was not the only
illustrator who continued his creative work after the war.
Conclusion
People struggled with the uncertain future, but
at the same time they strongly held optimism because of the victory and
technological innovations they made. Technologies empowered people to enjoy
more reliable communication, to have stronger competence for war, and subconsciously,
they rendered people the power to think big. Though under politically unstable
era, for the first time, we see that people started to speak out for
themselves, evident either from labor movement or from women suffrage movement.
This kind of self-expressionism corresponds with what both tin box market and
postcard market reflect: manufacture companies added more forms of decorative
arts on tin boxes; artists expressed women’s proactive attitude and civilians’
difficult life situations with a sense humor on postcards.
References:
Brand Museum
2 Colville Mews, London W11 2AR, United Kingdom
Grenville, J. A.
S. A History of the World from the 20th to the 21st
Century (2005). New York, NY 10016
THE END.
