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EH1 2NG - National War Museum Edinburgh

In 1914, the 17 year old Princess Mary decided she would like to pay for a Christmas gift for every serving soldier and sailor. Instead, she was persuaded to open up the payment to public subscription. Donations poured in: over a period of six years, some £200 000 was raised.

The gift itself was a small brass box, containing a variety of treats. There was a Christmas card along with a photograph of Princess Mary – and for the smokers, a packet of twenty cigarettes and a block of tobacco. Nurses received the same contents in their tin, but as it was not considered proper for ladies to smoke, the cigarettes and tobacco were replaced with chocolate.

There were further variations in the contents of the box: for example Sikh troops received a tin containing an aromatic mix of cloves, nutmeg, dried fruit and nuts.

Over the six years that the Princess Mary Christmas Gift fund was running, some 2.5 million boxes were sent out. Today they remain one of the most collectable souvenirs of the First World War.

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