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HIS406 Primary Source Analysis

Fashions for women cartoon

Author: William Haselden

Published: The Daily Mirror 08/06/1915

I started analysis of this primary source as Jordanova (2012, p.45) suggests, by first looking at the ‘technical basics’. The cartoon was designed by English cartoonist and caricaturist William Haselden (1872–1953), who worked for the Daily Mirror newspaper from 1903 (its founding year). Haselden’s work was greatly admired, Little (2007) states that he was ‘the father of the British newspaper strip cartoon’ and that his work was a ‘social commentary…in which he reflected on the different fads, fashions, manners, and modes of the average middle-class householder in a single frame divided into a number of panels.’ The Daily Mirror was initially launched as a middle-class women’s newspaper, ‘reflection of women’s interests, women’s thought, women’s work’ (Harmsworth, 1903)

I was drawn to this source, as its layout is familiar to me. I have a personal interest in ladies’ fashion in the Victorian and Edwardian era, and the cartoons format is that of a ‘fashion plate’ that commonly appeared in ladies’ magazines and newspapers, showcasing the fashions of the time, see example on the connected post from the  Ladies home journal, September 1904.

The cartoon shows six different women dressed in uniform / clothing for the roles of a; dustman, a porter, a chimney sweep, a messenger, a sailor, and a postman, and in small print at the bottom of the cartoon is ‘The taking on of men’s jobs by women in all classes of life just now ought to provide them with some useful and not unbecoming ideas for new fashions’

The cartoon addresses gender and class roles, but I will focus on gender for this analysis. All the roles portrayed, were at the time in 1915 male dominated roles, (unfortunately, it is fair to say that 107 years later, they still are!)

This source shows support for women’s changing gender roles at the time, the source was created less than a year after the outbreak of the first world war, showing there was already an awareness that women were going to need to be utilised in filling positions of men who have gone away to war, and the author indicates that this is a good thing, and he is supportive of this change in gender roles. I do feel however that this message is sent through a very ‘gendered’ format, using the medium of fashion, something women were believed to be very interested in. Interestingly shortly after during the interwar period, women’s fashion experienced the biggest change it would ever see, changing from restricted corsetry and long skirts to the looser and shorter styles of the ‘flapper’ in the 1920’s.

I think we could use Connell’s theory to analyse this source, as one of the three areas that he used to understand gender in society was production relations; how labour was divided in the workplace and at home, depending on a person’s gender.

Finding information on the author and the newspaper helped me to achieve a richer analysis of this primary source, as it all added to the context of the source. Also checking at what point in the war it was published was important, to try to avoid using hindsight when viewing the source, and focus consider only events that have happened up until its publication.

Bibliography

Connell, R. (2005). Masculinities (2nd ed.). Polity Press.

Jordanova, L. (2012). ‘Approaching Visual Materials’ in Gunn, S. and Faire, L. (eds.) Research Methods for History. Edinburgh University Press, pp. 30-47. https://bishopg.on.worldcat.org/oclc/795711413.

Harmsworth, A. (1903). The Daily Mirror. https://www.historic-newspapers.co.uk/blog/daily-mirror-history/

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This source is an item of propaganda that targets the support system around men rather than men themselves to encourage them to fight. It addresses the "Women of Britain" who are depicted as scared and weak, almost cowering in the corner, and in need of protection. by addressing the women the poster encourages to let go of their husbands and sons and let them fight for on their behalf. this poster could also shame men into fighting, as it suggests they need Women to tell them what to do, which in a society that believed men dominated women, could have been viewed as offensive to men.

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The source is a recruitment poster targeted towards the employer, pushing them to encourage their workers to enter the war. Presumably, the employer would be better-off financially, and possibly in a different social class, than their employees. The recruitment poster makes no mention of the employer enlisting – only the employees. This suggests that, at this point in the war, the expectations for enlistment for the upper-middle classes is different from that of the working class. The working classes were actively encouraged to fight in the war whereas the upper-middle classes had more of a choice. They say that they need more men but do not shame the employer, only the employees for their lack of involvement. The use of ‘control’ in the poster also promotes that divide between the classes and that the working class little choice to follow the orders of their social betters.

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The source is a leaflet published by the British Anti-German Union (not dated) printed in London. The frontpage consists of a headline “THE ANTI-GERMAN UNION.” and a in the center of the leaflet is stated:
“NO GERMAN LABOUR,
NO GERMAN GOODS,
NO GERMAN INFLUENCE,
BRITAIN FOR THE BRITISH.”
The back page shows the headline: “REMEMBER!” and contains a list of six things to remember about the Germans connected to their behavior during the war. The last third of the back page explains the reason of forming the Anti-German Union, which is to “get rid of Germans and prevent German Labour from competing with British Labour”.
The front cover makes clear that they reject Germans in every way. The first three lines starting with a no is a climax, as it first rejects German labour , then their goods which are things produced by them and then also their influence which is rather an idea than something which can be measured.
This source is an example of the significance of a racial idea during war. It displays the British fears of the superiority of the Germans at the beginning of the war and draws on the dependence of the Germans at the beginning of the war (Robb 2014, 12). The listed war crimes are used as evidence to convince the reader of the madness of Germans. In three out of the six points the suffering of children and woman is highlighted, these crimes on non-combats highlight the cruelness of Germans.

There are several points which should be examined further:

·       date of publication

·       foundation of the Anti-German Union (later British Union?)

·       the role of Sir John Simon?

Sources:

The Anti-German Union, No. 2. No German Labour, No German Goods, No German Influence, Britain for the British. Available through: Adam Matthew, Marlborough, The First World War, http://www.firstworldwar.amdigital.co.uk.bishopg.idm.oclc.org/Documents/Details/WRC.35a.492 [Accessed March 11, 2022].

Robb, George. British Culture and the First World War, Bloomsbury Publishing Plc, 2014. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/bishopg/detail.action?docID=4763830.

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Also, does this source show why the people may not be participating? The reasons for the people who refused to fight and if they had a good reason for not fighting?

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Also, does this source show why the people may not be participating? The reasons for the people who refused to fight and if they had a good reason for not fighting?

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This source does give a good representation of someone who in general attended games as a group of people, but it does not show the full extent on how diverse a crowd would be at a sporting event. Does this mean that only white men could attend these sporting events? 

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This source does give a good representation of someone who in general attended games as a group of people, but it does not show the full extent on how diverse a crowd would be at a sporting event. Does this mean that only white men could attend these sporting events? 

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It is a show of what male masculinity is. Going to sporting events and fighting in wars. The author is going into the stereotype of what a man does, and what a man should do. That he should be there, on the front, fighting for his country.

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It is a show of what male masculinity is. Going to sporting events and fighting in wars. The author is going into the stereotype of what a man does, and what a man should do. That he should be there, on the front, fighting for his country.

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The author seems to glorify war too. Labelling it as a 'tremendous time'. Showing their stance on war further.

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The author seems to glorify war too. Labelling it as a 'tremendous time'. Showing their stance on war further.

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The source gives us an indication about what type of people the author thinks will be participating in this war in 1916, the publication date. White men. 

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The source gives us an indication about what type of people the author thinks will be participating in this war in 1916, the publication date. White men. 

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The source I'm  going to analyse is called "3 questions to employers: more men are wanted to-day". This is a poster asking employers about the men in their place of work. The questions ask whether all men under their control have been given an opportunity to enlist and whether they are willing to, this is very much a propaganda question which shows us how much the government wanted soldiers to fight in the war. This show us that all men were required to fight in the war but only those not doing "indespensable work". The poster goes on to say "our present prosperity is largely due to  the men already in the fighting line" which is almost glorifying those who are already in the trenches and gives us an idea on the significance of masculinity as there is an importance of men enlisting (likely due to the fact that women were not allowed). There isn't a date listed for when this was published but it's likely before 1916 when the Military Service Act came in as it is not strictly enforcing it but very much encouraging enlistment. However, the source doesn't show us other elements of masculinity, rather focusing on idolizing the men at war but not showing us things such as the strength of men fighting which would've also been important at the time.

Brandon

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The source seems to show only white men that attend these events, no women, or people of any other skin colour. The source seems to be targeting the mass amount of people that is believed to have gone to these events, whether out of prejudice or not. 

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The source seems to show only white men that attend these events, no women, or people of any other skin colour. The source seems to be targeting the mass amount of people that is believed to have gone to these events, whether out of prejudice or not. 

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Britain will still have your favourite past time available during the war, but you do not want to be seen as someone who is attending these events during the war, whether by being injured or not participating. You could be considered being lazy or unpatriotic, not caring for having freedom or democracy.

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Britain will still have your favourite past time available during the war, but you do not want to be seen as someone who is attending these events during the war, whether by being injured or not participating. You could be considered being lazy or unpatriotic, not caring for having freedom or democracy.

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The general message is to encourage the type of men that go to football matches, or racing events, to enlist in the armed forces and sign up. 

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The general message is to encourage the type of men that go to football matches, or racing events, to enlist in the armed forces and sign up. 

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Football and Racing Enthusiasts in War Time