Monday 11 June 2018

Making a souvenir of a Zeppelin ........ and other interesting things from the Great War

Now nothing surprises me about the companies that made crested china during the Great War.

When hostilities broke out they switched from producing peacetime models of Blackpool Tower and Ann Hathaway’s cottage to pieces with a war theme.

They range from tanks and ambulances to battleships and Red Cross Nurses with more than a few variations on the British bulldog.

And somewhere I guess after the first air raids on British cities, Alexandra China decided to produce a model of a Zeppelin.

It comes from the collection of Fred Page whose parents collected crested china, and who kindly shared pictures of the war time ones.

Along with the Zeppelin, are a tank and a nurse carrying the coats of arms of Southend-On-Sea, a sailor from Moretonhampstead, and a Dreadnought battleship from Paisley.

Those with a sound knowledge of geography will instantly smile at our sailor and the battleship.
Moretonhampstead is a small market town on the edge of Dartmoor and is landlocked while Paisely in Renfreshire is a long way from the sea.

And while Paisley was the centre of a textile industry, took heavy losses during the Great War and has a population of 77, 000, Moretonhampstead has just 1, 703 people.

All of which points up to the appeal and demand for these war time pieces many of which can still be bought today at reasonable prices.

As for our zeppelin I went looking for Alexandra China and have yet to find a description of the company, but there are plenty of their crested china for sale, covering the years of peace before the Great War and during the conflict.

So over the next few weeks I shall be returning to Fred’s collection, leaving me just to thank him for sharing.

Location the Great War



Pictures, crested china model of a Zeppelin and a sailor, from the Great War, courtesy of Fred Page.

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