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Votes For Women Souvenir Official Programme [Pictorial Suffragette crepe paper napkin].
Publisher: Burgess [Sarah], London;
Date of Publication: 1910
Stock Code: 14195
Approx 36cm square with central text printed in black, and surrounded left, top and right by photographic portrait vignettes of 14 women, all enclosed in an elaborate purple and green floral border. Very good condition, with historic folds and creases. Souvenir napkins and handkerchiefs were first produced in Britain in the late nineteenth century to commemorate important events and celebrations, and Sarah “Auntie” Burgess printed a wide range to sell at her novelties shop just off the Strand. This example was printed to advertise and commemorate a suffragette political rally held Saturday 18th June 1910, one of the earliest mass marches organised by the suffrage movement. Up to 15,000 women attended the demonstration. Film footage of the event shows how well attended the march was, it also briefly shows a street vendor selling similar souvenir napkins to this one. The napkin contains details of the march route from Embankment to the Royal Albert Hall, led by a Prisoners Pageant. There is a full list of the groups that marched accompanied by bands including University Graduates, Business Women, Civil Servants, Teachers, Nurses plus numerous local, regional and national suffragette groups. Portraits include Adele Pankhurst, Mrs Pankhurst, Annie Kenney and Mrs Pethick Lawrence who had all been imprisoned for their work in the cause of women’s suffrage.

A fragile and rare survivor from one of the key British protest movements of the 20th century.
£950.00