A COLLECTION of Christmas cards sent by soldiers from the trenches during the First World War have arrived at York Castle Museum.
The embroidered cards, known as WWI Silks, feature embroidery carried out by French and Belgian women working in their homes or in refugee camps.
They are being catalogued ahead of a major exhibition to mark 100 years since the start of the war, which opens on June 28 next year.
Dr Faye Prior, collections facilitator at the museum, said: “We have many of these hand-embroidered cards in our collection and each one offers us a very personal and often moving message from soldiers wishing their family a Merry Christmas.
“Thousands of cards similar to these were hand-made by women to sell to troops and many show scenes we do not necessarily associate with Christmas today, such as swallows, flowers and boats. It was only later that the trend towards winter scenes, Christmas trees and Father Christmas began to dominate Christmas cards like they do today.”
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