Daly House contains numerous postcards from the Great War era. Many of these postcards are portraits of the young men who enlisted to fight overseas.  Other postcards from the period are humorous making one wonder what was funny about World War I? Why would such postcards be published when such a bloody and ruthless conflict was being wages?  It is precisely because of the war that these postcards exist as soldiers and civilians needed something amusing to compensate for the seriousness of the situation. Also postcards were an ideal way for the governments on both sides of the war to distribute propaganda to rally support for the war, national pride, and animosity to the enemy.

Generally, there were two themes into which these humorous cards fell.  The first category was humor directed at oneself regarding the situations soldiers and civilians found themselves in.  The second category was humor directed at the enemy.  Here are some examples of this humor and propaganda from the Daly House World War I postcard collections.

TANTALUS –QUALEN

 This humorous postcard definitely falls into both categories mentioned above. The card contains humor directed at oneself. In this case the soldiers wearing gas masks while investigating a cigar box.  The card also makes fun of the enemy as the cigars are German.  German cigars were considered to smell bad hence the need for gas masks.

Who Said Germany!

The image of the young eager soldier and the words “ITS ALLRIGHT I’M COMING!” subtly convey the message to that young eligible men should enlist for an adventure.  It reaffirms the government’s need for new recruits in a pleasing manner.

War Time Savings

“WHAT DO YOU THINK I SHOULD BEGIN TO SAVE ON DEAR?” – “BREATH”

 The message that civilians needed to support they war by saving at home is humorously conveyed by this card.  It was common during the war years for women to save rags that would be sent to the front to be used as bandages.

The Kaiser’s Night

mare bear

 This card is clearly in the category of humor directed at the enemy.  The card was one of the many different anti-Kaiser designs of the First World War. It was designed to united citizens at home against Germany while creating national pride by including the image of a bear pinning the Kaiser down with a flag labelled “MEN OF THE NORTH”. A reference clearly identifying the men of the Canadian Expeditionary Force.

Visit Daly House Museum to view the World War I memorabilia on display or in our archives. We’re open Tuesday to Saturday 10:00 am to noon and 1:00 pm to 4:00 pm year round. Call us at 204-727-1722 or email dalymuseum@wcgwave.ca to book your tour or research session today!