Australian Red Cross Christmas Box, 1917, empty

Heavy card box and lid of stapled construction with paper label glued to lid. Red printing on label reads: "With .../ Christmas Greetings / from / AUSTRALIAN / RED + CROSS / XMAS 1917". All sides of both lid and box have subsequently been heavily covered in juvenile pencil scribblings. There are no contents.

Australian Red Cross annual Christmas boxes, 50,000 of which were distributed to patients in almost 400 hospitals, casualty clearing stations and command depots in France and Great Britain in 1917, and were 'received with the keenest pleasure' (Australian Red Cross Official Monthly Gazette no 7, January 1918). The Red Cross maintained a policy of ensuring that comfort and entertainment for the wounded in hospital was onging and stated in its Gazette of December 1917 'Wherever they are, our boys will have a reminder on Christmas Day that the thoughts and sympathy of their people in far-off Australia are with them.' The boxes were usually packed in Australia and contained 'a pipe, tobacco, cigarettes, chocolate, playing cards, match-box, handkerchief and an attractive card, Australian in nature, conveying greetings from the Society.' (Gazette no 7, January 1918). However, the distribution of the 1917 Christmas box was frustrated by the combined strike by Waterside Workers and NSW Railway Workers (a strike which escalated into mass strikes involving coal miners, carters, railway workers, gas workers and other trades). The strike was not resolved until early August, by which time disruption to internal transport and overseas shipping meant long delays in transporting material to Europe in time for Christmas. Foreseeing the delay, the Australian Red Cross arranged for 30,000 boxes to be packed in London and subsequently distributed. These lacked the 'Australian native flowers' decoration (Gazette no 5, November 1917) which distinguished the Australian-produced version. This box is an example of the British-made version.