In 1899, British soldiers and sailors were in South Africa fighting the second Boer War which lasted from 1899 to 1902. Queen Victoria was concerned about the morale of her army and navy and wanted to do something to lift their spirits. She would send chocolate to all of her army and navy serving in South Africa (including Australian contingents) as a Christmas/New Year gift in 1899/1900. The chocolate manufacturer, Cadbury, which since around 1854 had a Royal Warrant to supply Queen Victoria with cocoa and chocolate, was contacted and requested to produce the royal bars of chocolate, each with its own individual tin. This put Richard and George Cadbury in a dilemma because, as Quakers, they were pacifists and did not agree with the war. However they did not want to refuse a request from the Queen. To prevent their confectionery rivals from accusing them of going against their principles, their solution was to invite fellow Quakers, Joseph Fry and Joseph Rowntree to form a temporary three-way partnership to complete the order. Forty thousand tins, designed and made by Fry, were produced in two different sizes. The larger of the tins (15 x 9 cm) has a gold coloured rim around the edge of the lid and contained two layers of chocolate. The slightly smaller or rather thinner tin (16 x 8 cm) has a blue rim around the edge of the lid and contained one layer of chocolate. The design of the lid of both sizes is the same. It was decided by all three companies, that the tins would carry no brand name. However Queen Victoria was not amused by this decision; she wanted her army and navy to know that she was sending them quality British chocolate. As a compromise, the Cadbury name appeared on interior packaging of the chocolate. The tins remained unbranded. The empty tins had a more sombre use for for men killed in action. The tins, containing their few personal belongings, were sent home to the next of kin. The tins were not large and may have contained items such as medals, talismans, coins, jewellery, photos, letters and dog tags.Sheet metal tin with hinged lid. In the middle of the red lid of the tin is a gold-coloured embossed picture of Queen Victoria's head. To the left is Queen Victoria's insignia, and to the right are the words "South Africa 1900" and is inscribed "I wish you a happy New Year" and signed Victoria running along the bottom.gift to defence personnel from queen victoria. gift sent at christmas / new year in 1899/1900, gift sent at christmas / new year 1899/1900

This file contains one item about the Caulfield RSL’s newsletter: 1/Five issues (nos. 26, 33, 35, 42, and 44) of Furfs, the official newsletter of the Caulfield RSL, dated 12/2000, 05/2004, 10/2005, 12/2007, and 11/2009 respectively. The issues vary in size (numbering 12, 6, 1, 8, and 8 pages, respectively) and consequently, in terms of breadth of content. Most, however, report on the Club’s recent activities, list the current administrative staff, eulogise recently deceased members, and contain advertisements for goods and services of interest to members. All except the shortest also contain numerous black-and-white photographs of members participating in various events. No. 42 also has an article on the progress of the Club history including mention of a 1963 ABC Four Corners episode with footage inside and outside the Club as well as interviews with members.furfs, advertisements, gould tony, moore hedley, frances ken, stewart r. k, whybrow john, mclean tom, elsternwick, canfield bill, anzac day, remembrance day, middlemiss glenys, middlemiss brian, sayers john, rodda alby, st. george’s road, remembrance day service, president’s dinner, annett michael colonel, dejussing clive, stacey carole, white thomas sir, fuller joan, edwards m. t., greer j., warburton jimmy, decker john, mcbean j., mclean s. mrs., gibson ray, rigby jack, oakley trevor, paul’s steak house, wear well dry cleaners, mclean susan, caulfield lions clubs, glen eira district lions, ‘my brother jack’ short story award, ‘glenmore’, everett kevin, lee kenneth c., sneddon bruce n., perignon george j., bradley john m., kennedy colin j., waratah cellars, glenhuntly road, glen huntly road, taverna john, taverna robyn, gaylard bernie, auhl ron, yob loretta, muir frank, morris tony, blaney matt, james bob, kevin brennan, davey kathleen, wreath laying ceremonies, may carl, one petroleum co., ager michelle major, taus joe, geier noel, blore peter, creaney john, wadley geoffrey, oliver mavis i., browne donald d., ross john, kidd william, rea alan m., pollock rob, pollock florence, sell patricia miss, fidler n., dew d., mayell w., booth vincent, booth lois, johnson carl, ‘the ole tin hat’, centre road, bentleigh, rigby pat, eade charles, howell davie, blore jeff, russell paul, kesoglidis kon, morse r. e., long bridford f. r., harkensee keith r., collins williams h., daniels albert e., stephani detleef p. von, walton alan l., canfield william g., barclay henry i., rose frank w., sherriff william g., may donald c., fergus mark l., sorel peter a., chivers keith, scarffe richard a., dalgleish maggie, sampson stan, jacobs frank, ware les, powell massey, merlo harry, perini leo, milnes ‘bluey’, carmody jack, edwards michael terrence, orrock george, lyon stan, raines barbara, raines laurie, hall ron, metherall murray, blore geoff, walker keith, davis max, doyle tom, reece jim, jewell bill, o’neill roe, ferrari ron, fogarty des, sinclair bill, mitchell j., harris l., boughton h. ms., townsend d. mrs., decker j., larkin r., elder g., sell p., clarke john, mclean t., kean phyllis m., booth geoffrey e., donoghue clifton s., durham leonard c., ford john w., nitsche neil h., davidson kelvin r., werba adele, pleydell max, price colin, taberner laurie, condron neil, leech gail, green barry rev’d, veteran’s lunch, devlin joseph h., murray mark blodwen, jackman david d., hall erica d., hackman james f., thompson pauline l., gassick betty m. le, logan george, wilson tony, slater bob, cobby a. h. (harry) air commodore, steinberg alison mrs., astill bob, reed donald, niewland hans, bodelier berry, little harold, hawkes stewart, limbue ram bahadur, kirkwood robert, rai bharansher, mclean susan, mcbean jon, white michael sgt., caspar freddie

Rectangular metal container with hinged lid for tobacco, main colour green with floral graphic and blue and white text.Mark on lid 'Skipper Brand British Navy Cut....'.

Small rectangular metal box with push on lid, white lid with text and Tudor buildings in orange and black.Lloyd's Old Holborn Blended Virginia Cigarette Tobacco. 50 g net weight . Made in the United Kingdom. Richard Lloyd & Sons London.

Pickwick Clubs were established around the world in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, inspired by the first novel of Charles Dickens. A Kew branch was formed in 1897 and lasted until c.1912. Its membership was drawn from a number of notable Kew families. The club published two booklets, the first in 1904 and the second in 1912. In addition to holding meetings, club members performed in productions of Shakespearian plays in the Recreation Hall in Wellington Street Kew. Members of the club adopted pseudonyms based on characters in Dickens' novels.Literary publication of of artistic (literary) significance recording the social and cultural activities of a group of residents of Kew and its environs that operated from 1897 to c.1912. Another copy is held by the State Library of New South WalesContents of The Pickwick Portfolio, Vol.1, No.2 - Frontispiece / Mark Tapley (Alice Bale); Editorial; To Pickwick / John Jarndyce (Mr G. Bell); A sonnet / BarkisThe Pickwick Portfolio being the magazine of The Pickwick Club, Kew, Vol.1, No.2 January 1, 1912 (Mr McCowan); Nikko / Barnaby Rudge (Mr H. Gaze); The lady or the tiger? / Nathaniel Winkle (Mr J.A. Richardson); Why? / Alfred Jingle (Mr H.M. King); The autobiography of Richard Pitt Cobden Slugger / Sam Weller (Mr P Vines); A new natural history; A kerosene tin / Wardle (Mr Veitch); Peter, or butt me no butts / Henrietta Boffin (Mrs J.A. Richardson); Laughter: can it be cured? / Cap'n Cuttle (Mr E. Vines)fictionthe pickwick club - kew, literary clubs, pickwick clubs, charles dickens