A wonderful Christmas surprise – my WW1 ration parcel

We had a brilliant Christmas surprise this year – a Jollyman Letters WW1 ration parcel!

My sister Lucy knows how hard we’ve been working on transcribing Herbert Jollyman’s antique letters home from the First World War, so she decided to give us a special WW1 treat.

She covered the box with brown kraft paper, and downloaded an image of a WW1 Red Cross parcel to stick on the top.

She found an Ebay shop selling repro WW1 labels for plays and reenactments, then shopped for modern products to fit inside them. Here’s what was inside:

• Fry’s Plain Chocolate
• Huntley & Palmers W.D. Biscuits
• Maconochie Meat & Vegetable Ration
• Peacock’s Greengage and Apple Jam
• Leech & Co Service Ration Beef Stew
• Libby, McNeill & Libby’s Corned Beef
• Maconochie Pork & Beans Ration
• Johnson’s Foot Soap
• W.D. & H.O. Wills’ Wild Woodbine Cigarettes
• Bacon’s Golden Pride Tobacco
• Capt. Webb Matches (named after Matthew Webb, who in 1875 became the first recorded person to swim the English Channel)

These labels are reproductions of actual British rations which would have been found in battlefield kitchens during World War 1. Some of them were mentioned in Herbert Jollyman’s letters home, as for part of the time his letters were censored and meals were one of the few topics he was allowed to mention. The soldiers often mixed the corned beef with the pork & beans ration and added whatever they could find for extra flavour:

I cut up the bread at mealtimes & help serving out the tea or stew or whatever is going & generally give a hand at helping the tent orderly when he is preparing some tasty dish. For instance today we were to have a Bully beef pork & bean stew for tea & someone thought a tin of tomatoes would be a good addition so I go to the Canteen but find they had none. They had some tomato soup powder so I got a tin of that & we put some in & the result was voted very good.

Of course, some of the repro packaging wasn’t exactly the right size to fit modern products. Where the modern product was slightly too large, Lucy added brown or white paper first to cover the rest of the label. For the Woodbines cigarettes, she had to cut modern cigarettes shorter to fit inside the packet.

In 1916, there were few of today’s health concerns about smoking. Herbert mentions Woodbine cigarettes as being issued by the Army when his group of soldiers left to join the fighting in France:

Before we left the square Sergeant Major came along & presented each of us with this pad & 2 packets of ‘Woodbines’. We gave rousing cheers to the popular NCOs & one big Booh! to our late Machine Gun Sergeant, that will show you what he is thought of. As we passed along the streets to the station a couple of ladies came along & gave away Cigarettes, very good of them to be up so early. Then there was a working man who put cigarettes into our mouths & lit them, so you see we are well looked after.

The best surprise was at the bottom of the parcel.

Lucy created a letter for us, written in Herbert Jollyman’s own style:

My Darling little Wife.

I had quite a surprise this morning when a decent young fellow in my barracks said that one day my letters would be published!

I await the day with anticipation, and although I believe the amount may be somewhat more than 9/6, I hope the enclosed will help towards the cost.

It’s now 1/2 past 5 so I shall march across the parade ground to the marquee for a nice cup of tea & biscuit.

Good night my dearest sweet girl.

I remain,

Your ever loving and faithful Hubby

The perfect end to the perfect Christmas gift. We were so thrilled to know our efforts to preserve our family history are appreciated.

As soon as The Jollyman Letters is published, I know who will receive the first copy!