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Symbols of support and the aesthetic of war

Patriotic badge design by Norman Macleod
John Daly's 'Toy War Tank'

John Daly’s ‘Toy War Tank’, 10 December 1917, no. 2588. National Archives of Australia, A13166, 3

For those on the home front, the relentless reports of life in the trenches were a grim reminder of the reality and scale of a terrible global conflict – a war which became known as the Great War. Contained in the pages of the Register of Designs is a vibrant patchwork of entries responding to this context, from quirky children’s toys, to patriotic badges and buttons, medallions of hope for peace and tokens of remembrance. In some cases they were designed to mobilise the war effort, and in other cases they were created to honour lost loved ones. What these objects demonstrate is that, despite their everyday quality and seemingly innocent nature, even the humblest of items contained meaning. Even in the simplest of ways, the war trickled into every part of people’s lives and became a reminder of the sacrifice made by members of the armed forces.

Toy tanks

Iggulden's 'Toy rocker'

William Iggulden’s ‘Toy rocker’, 29 July 1918, no. 2761. National Archives of Australia, A13166, 3

The military tank became one of the most common representations of the new kind of industrialised warfare witnessed on the battlefront. Indeed the development of the tank is attributed to the South Australian engineer, Lance de Mole, though his achievements were not recognised until after the war. The tank seems to have captured the imagination of two designers in particular, whose creations sought to emulate this symbol of power and might. On 10 December 1917 John Charles Daly, a grocer from Rose Bay, Sydney registered his design for a ‘Toy War Tank’.1Number 2588, 10 December 1917, Designs Register. National Archives of Australia, A13166, 3 A former bombardier in the Field Artillery Brigade he enlisted on 4 January 1915, was admitted to hospital for ‘Valvular Disease of the Heart’ in Egypt in October 1915 and declared medically unfit and discharged from the army in March 1916.2Service no. 3526, National Archives of Australia: B2455, DALY J C. See also John Charles Daly, The AIF Project, accessed 25 March 2015

Another applicant took Daly’s concept further with his ‘Toy rocker for children representing a battle tank’.3Number 2761, 29 July 1918, Designs Register. National Archives of Australia, A13166, 3 William Alfred Iggulden, a manufacturer from Brighton, Victoria registered his design on 29 July 1918, and would later register a range of patents.4Patents include ‘An improved floor cramp’ (24030/25), ‘An improved appliance for cutting fibro-cement sheets’ (18308/29) and ‘An improved domestic appliance for handling hot cooking vessels’ (29434/30), accessible via AusPat These examples are perhaps an unsettling indication of how the war may have made its way to the children’s playroom. Ironically when this new type of vehicle was introduced, initially described as a ‘landship’, the British Army officer Field Marshal Horatio Herbert Kitchener called it a ‘pretty mechanical toy’.5His Beloved Tanks’, 24 September 1932, The Mail, p. 4

War is not a game

Frederick Paton's 'Puzzle'

Frederick Paton’s ‘Puzzle’, 23 January 1917, no. 2345, National Archives of Australia, A13166, 3

In addition to children’s toys, designers registered war-themed puzzle games demonstrating again how the war pervaded people’s everyday lives. On 23 January 1917 Melbourne manufacturer Frederick Ninian Paton registered his design for an anti-German puzzle game. In this one participants are required to ‘Intern the Kaiser’, referring to Wilhelm II, Germany’s Emperor from 1888 to 1918.

On 24 November 1915 Londoner Albert Hunt registered two designs for games titled ‘Battle in the Skies’ and ‘North Sea Tactics’.6Number 2004 and 2005, 24 November 1915, Designs Register. National Archives of Australia, A13166, 2 On his concept drawing for the latter, a Royal Navy officer stands over what appears to be the south of England with a German officer standing on the opposing side, above him the figure of a Zeppelin airship. The main theatre of sea operations during the war, the North Sea was the centre of a confrontation between the British Grand Fleet and German High Seas Fleet, and consisted of a naval blockade designed to block supply routes to Germany.7David Stevens, In All Respects Ready: Australia’s Navy in World War One, (South Melbourne: Oxford University Press, 2014), pp. 142-55 In Hunt’s game, a chequerboard over the North Sea area indicates where participants are required to outplay each other in a game of strategy, as if mimicking the tactics of naval commanders in this real-world scenario.

Badges, buttons and bric-a-brac

George Wybar's ornamental design

George Wybar’s ornamental design, 4 November 1915, no. 1990. National Archives of Australia, A13166, 2

Found in the pages of the Design Registers are a range of buttons, badges, medals and other trinkets which illustrate a certain war aesthetic. On 4 November 1915, George Wybar from Melbourne registered his ‘ornamental design for radiator caps for motor cars, paper weights and ornaments’.8Number 1990, 4 November 1915, Designs Register. National Archives of Australia, A13166, 2 Alfred James Ogilvie from Sydney registered his design for a ‘Torpedo mascot for motor car’ for the ‘purpose of the pattern and ornamentation’.9Number 2638, 13 March 1918, Designs Register. National Archives of Australia, A13166, 3 Also inspired by the war, Henry Albert Chivers from Kew, Victoria submitted his design for a charm in the shape of a military tank.10Number 2457, 30 May 1917, Designs Register. National Archives of Australia, A13166, 3

Motor car ornamental designs aside, no object found in the registers communicated patriotic and commemorative sentiment more than the humble badge or button. Samuel George Pepper and Claude William Smyth from Sydney designed a series of buttons in 1916. It is clear most of them were intended for women as each one, emblazoned with the words ‘For King & Country’, also included the words ‘Husband’, ‘Sweetheart’.11Numbers 2317-21, 16 November 1916, Designs Register. National Archives of Australia, A13166, 3 These items were designed to publicly display an individual’s patriotic support as much as to honour the wearer’s relative fighting on the front.

Alfred J Ogilvie's Torpedo mascot

Alfred J Ogilvie’s Torpedo mascot, 13 March 1918, no. 2638. National Archives of Australia, A13166, 3

The designs of these badges and buttons varied according to what year they were registered. One design for a badge registered 11 days after war was declared depicts the flags of the Allied powers kept together by a banner that reads ‘United We Stand’.12Number 1589, 8 August 1914, Designs Register. National Archives of Australia, A13166, 2 Another early design depicts the shape of Australia with a picture of King George V and the words ‘Rule Britannia’, while another depicts the shape of Australia again with the words ‘United We Stand’ and the flags of the Allied nations.13Number 1600, 14 August 1914, Designs Register. National Archives of Australia, A13166, 2 and Number 1612, 9 September 1914, Designs Register. National Archives of Australia, A13166, 2 In another fascinating series of designs for badges, one depicts the map of Australia and the head of a soldier and the other the outline of Australia again, with shapes representing ‘the heads of the British Lion, the Russian Bear, and a Trench Soldier’.14Number 1607, 28 August 1914; number 1611, 7 September 1914, Designs Register. National Archives of Australia, A13166, 2

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Gallipoli with kangaroo trinket designed by Edward Arthur Newlyn

Gallipoli with kangaroo trinket designed by Edward Arthur Newlyn, 30 August 1915, no. 1915. National Archives of Australia, A13166, 2

As the war progressed and Australia participated in Gallipoli and other battle campaigns, the badges, buttons and other bric-a-brac transformed from symbols of unity with the Entente countries to more Australia-centric expressions of patriotism. One July 1915 design for an enamelled brooch resembles a leaf and appears emblazoned with the words ‘Dardanells’ [sic].15Number 1860, 15 July 1915, Designs Register. National Archives of Australia, A13166, 2 Francis Henry Miller’s design depicted Australia in front of the rays of a rising sun, a reference to its association with the Australian Army, now a symbol of the concept of the ‘Anzac spirit’.16Number 1885, 4 August 1915, Designs Register. National Archives of Australia, A13166, 2 In another design, a kangaroo is depicted standing over an outline of the Gallipoli peninsula marked with ‘Gallipoli 25.04.15’.17Number 1915, 30 August 1915, Designs Register. National Archives of Australia, A13166, 2 It indicates the date of the Anzac Cove landing and what has become one of the most significant anniversary dates commemorated in Australia and New Zealand. Other designs exhibited anti-German feeling, with one button from a Melbourne firm depicting a kangaroo on a shield covered with the British Union Jack and the words ‘I will not buy German goods’.18Number 1944, 28 September 1915, Designs Register. National Archives of Australia, A13166, 2

'United We Stand' badge designed by Edward Durant

‘United We Stand’ badge designed by Edward Durant, 8 August 1914, no. 1589. National Archives of Australia, A13166, 2

Many of these designs were registered before legislation was introduced in May 1916 which banned the use of the word ‘Anzac’ ‘in connexion with any trade, business, calling, or profession’.19Statutory rule no. 97, War Precautions (Supplementary) Regulations 1916, 18 May 1916, ComLaw, accessed 26 March 2015 Over time, this was extended to include words such as ‘Returned Soldier’, ‘Aussie’, ‘Our Wounded Soldiers’, ‘Repatriation’, ‘AIF’, ‘Australian Imperial Force’ and many others.20‘‘ANZAC’ – a national heirloom’, Gallipoli and the Anzacs, Department of Veterans’ Affairs and Board of Studies NSW, 2010, accessed 25 March 2015. See also ‘Our Wounded Soldiers Not to be Used as Trade Mark’, 9 February 1917, The Telegraph, p. 2 and ‘Prohibited Trade Mark’ 15 July 1919, Western Argus, p. 21 However, some designs were rejected retrospectively, including a series of eight ‘Anzac’ brooches registered by New Zealander Percy Norwood Wenton and Victorian Walter Sneddon McNee in December 1915.21Numbers 2019-26, 13 March 1918, Designs Register. National Archives of Australia, A13166, 3 Herbert Ernest White’s design depicting the Gallipoli peninsula outline was cancelled because it too was marked with the word ‘ANZAC’.22Number 1919, 6 September 1915, Designs Register. National Archives of Australia, A13166, 2 Joseph Hendry Grice’s design for ‘jewellery consisting of the word “Mother” above the letters A.I.F’ was also cancelled under the regulation due to the presence of ‘AIF’.23Number 2194, 29 June 1916, Designs Register. National Archives of Australia, A13166, 3

As the horrors of the battle front trickled back to the home front, recruitment slowed and the tide of public opinion eventually ruled against the idea of compulsory conscription. However, in the lead up to the national referendum called by Prime Minister William M Hughes on 28 October 1916, pro and anti conscription individuals and groups rallied passionately for their cause. One of the most common expressions of support came in the form of buttons and badges which were sold in trams, buses and railway stations with mail orders were advertised in the newspapers.24Fundraising badge: Commonwealth Button Fund 1914-1919, ‘In Commemoration’’, Australian War Memorial, REL39111, accessed 29 March 2015. For a collection of conscription badges and buttons see ‘Conscription, World War I, 1914-1918’, Museum Victoria, accessed 29 March 2015

Anti conscription button

Anti conscription button registered by Henry Griffin, 19 November 1917, no. 2578. National Archives of Australia, A13166, 3

The Commonwealth Button Fund was established to coordinate and sponsor the fundraising activities of smaller state groups and it became a lucrative business.25Buttons and Boodle. “Linely’s Lucrative Lark”’, 10 June 1916, Truth, p. 6 Women also became a powerful force and organised movement on this front. Knitting and sewing circles proliferated as women sewed for their male relatives at the front, and also donated their stitching skills to the war effort in general. Funds were raised through ‘button days’ and special events and support services galvanised home comforts and dispatched them to the front.26Judith Brett, Australian Liberals and the moral middle class: From Alfred Deakin to John Howard, (Port Melbourne: Cambridge University Press, 2003), p. 61 The trinkets were emblems of sympathy for the cause, a small gesture designed to, on the surface, show solidarity in support of Australia’s troops but in reality support their local patriotic fund.27Commonwealth Button Fund’, 25 June 1915, Evelyn Observer and Bourke East Record, p. 1

After the first referendum was defeated, a second referendum was held on 20 December 1917 asking again: ‘Are you in favour of the proposal of the Commonwealth Government for reinforcing the Commonwealth Forces overseas?’.28Conscription referendums, 1916 and 1917 – Fact sheet 161, National Archives of Australia, accessed 29 March 2015 Elaborate recruitment parades were seen in city streets. One in Melbourne featured military bands, model tanks and visibly wounded returned servicemen with signs reading ‘We are dying of exhaustion for want of a spell’ and ‘Wanted – A man to fill this gap’. The referendum was again defeated, with 1,015,159 in favour and 1,181,747 against.29Conscription referendums, 1916 and 1917 – Fact sheet 161, National Archives of Australia, accessed 29 March 2015


[Above clip courtesy of National Film and Sound Archive of Australia]

Ethel Barringer's peace medal

Ethel Barringer’s peace medal, 12 October 1917, no. 2552. National Archives of Australia, A13166, 3

As a sense of ‘war weariness’ set in, the dialogue changed from one of patriotic support for the fight to one of hope for peace and commemorative reflection. On 12 October 1917 Ethel Barringer from North Adelaide, South Australia submitted her design for a medal depicting what appears to be the Greek goddess of peace, Eirene, carrying a cornucopia and torch amid rifles and the general destruction of war.30Number 2552, 12 October 1917, Designs Register. National Archives of Australia, A13166, 3 The words ‘Peace’, ‘Disarmament’, ‘Arbitration’ surround the image while on the reverse, a dove is depicted hovering over a globe surrounded by a wreath and the words ‘In Unity’ ‘Liberty and Brotherhood’ and ‘Let all peoples be one’. The sense of war weariness and desire for an end to the large scale destruction and loss of life is apparent in Barringer’s design. Though less focussed on peace, the sense of commemoration is evident in a design registered fifteen days after Armistice Day which signalled the end of the war. A photographic mount appears with a wreath design and the words ‘His Country Called, He Answered’, ‘The Great War 1914-1918’ and the battle campaigns surrounding it.31Number 2850, 26 November 1918, Designs Register. National Archives of Australia, A13166, 3

Conclusion

The Registers of Designs from 1914 to 1918 reflect a wide range of emotions and viewpoints. Applicants demonstrated their patriotic zeal in designing buttons to illustrate multinational unity, rally support for conscription and display anti-German sentiment. But as the battle wore on, some designers exhibited a sense of ‘war weariness’, producing items that expressed a desire for peace and remembrance. During what became a period of complete social, political and economic upheaval in Australia, these objects were signs and symbols of how war pervaded every aspect of people’s lives.


This article was originally published by Intellectual Property Australia as part of a project to investigate IP rights during World War I. Read the original article. Reproduced here courtesy of IP Australia.
See also: Battlefront innovations and the ‘Engineer’s war’ and The Anzac brand

References

References
1 Number 2588, 10 December 1917, Designs Register. National Archives of Australia, A13166, 3
2 Service no. 3526, National Archives of Australia: B2455, DALY J C. See also John Charles Daly, The AIF Project, accessed 25 March 2015
3 Number 2761, 29 July 1918, Designs Register. National Archives of Australia, A13166, 3
4 Patents include ‘An improved floor cramp’ (24030/25), ‘An improved appliance for cutting fibro-cement sheets’ (18308/29) and ‘An improved domestic appliance for handling hot cooking vessels’ (29434/30), accessible via AusPat
5 His Beloved Tanks’, 24 September 1932, The Mail, p. 4
6 Number 2004 and 2005, 24 November 1915, Designs Register. National Archives of Australia, A13166, 2
7 David Stevens, In All Respects Ready: Australia’s Navy in World War One, (South Melbourne: Oxford University Press, 2014), pp. 142-55
8 Number 1990, 4 November 1915, Designs Register. National Archives of Australia, A13166, 2
9 Number 2638, 13 March 1918, Designs Register. National Archives of Australia, A13166, 3
10 Number 2457, 30 May 1917, Designs Register. National Archives of Australia, A13166, 3
11 Numbers 2317-21, 16 November 1916, Designs Register. National Archives of Australia, A13166, 3
12 Number 1589, 8 August 1914, Designs Register. National Archives of Australia, A13166, 2
13 Number 1600, 14 August 1914, Designs Register. National Archives of Australia, A13166, 2 and Number 1612, 9 September 1914, Designs Register. National Archives of Australia, A13166, 2
14 Number 1607, 28 August 1914; number 1611, 7 September 1914, Designs Register. National Archives of Australia, A13166, 2
15 Number 1860, 15 July 1915, Designs Register. National Archives of Australia, A13166, 2
16 Number 1885, 4 August 1915, Designs Register. National Archives of Australia, A13166, 2
17 Number 1915, 30 August 1915, Designs Register. National Archives of Australia, A13166, 2
18 Number 1944, 28 September 1915, Designs Register. National Archives of Australia, A13166, 2
19 Statutory rule no. 97, War Precautions (Supplementary) Regulations 1916, 18 May 1916, ComLaw, accessed 26 March 2015
20 ‘‘ANZAC’ – a national heirloom’, Gallipoli and the Anzacs, Department of Veterans’ Affairs and Board of Studies NSW, 2010, accessed 25 March 2015. See also ‘Our Wounded Soldiers Not to be Used as Trade Mark’, 9 February 1917, The Telegraph, p. 2 and ‘Prohibited Trade Mark’ 15 July 1919, Western Argus, p. 21
21 Numbers 2019-26, 13 March 1918, Designs Register. National Archives of Australia, A13166, 3
22 Number 1919, 6 September 1915, Designs Register. National Archives of Australia, A13166, 2
23 Number 2194, 29 June 1916, Designs Register. National Archives of Australia, A13166, 3
24 Fundraising badge: Commonwealth Button Fund 1914-1919, ‘In Commemoration’’, Australian War Memorial, REL39111, accessed 29 March 2015. For a collection of conscription badges and buttons see ‘Conscription, World War I, 1914-1918’, Museum Victoria, accessed 29 March 2015
25 Buttons and Boodle. “Linely’s Lucrative Lark”’, 10 June 1916, Truth, p. 6
26 Judith Brett, Australian Liberals and the moral middle class: From Alfred Deakin to John Howard, (Port Melbourne: Cambridge University Press, 2003), p. 61
27 Commonwealth Button Fund’, 25 June 1915, Evelyn Observer and Bourke East Record, p. 1
28, 29 Conscription referendums, 1916 and 1917 – Fact sheet 161, National Archives of Australia, accessed 29 March 2015
30 Number 2552, 12 October 1917, Designs Register. National Archives of Australia, A13166, 3
31 Number 2850, 26 November 1918, Designs Register. National Archives of Australia, A13166, 3
Skills

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07/06/2015