Souvenir in Commemoration of the Memorial Service for Nurse Edith Cavell at Westminster Abbey & Norwich Cathedral, 15th May 1919

Souvenir paper table napkin commemorating the memorial service and public funeral held for Nurse Edith Cavell at Westminster Abbey in 1919. The napkin includes a woodcut illustration of Nurse Cavell and a letterpress timetable outlining the day's events and the funeral processional route from Victoria Station to Westminster Abbey and subsequently to Liverpool Street Station from where it travelled to Norwich for burial. The text is surrounded by a purple floral border.

Edith Cavell's execution by Germany in 1915 elevated her to the position of one of Britain's greatest war heroines. When her body was returned to Britain she was given a state funeral and memorial service at Westminster Abbey. This programme was produced as a souvenir of the event that attracted huge public interest. It would have been sold by street traders to the mass crowds that gathered to watch the funeral procession.

Similar souvenir napkins were printed for every large public event, ceremony or procession that occured in London from the late 19th to early to 20th century. The squares were imported into London from Japan pre-printed with a decorative border in up to 5 colours and a blank central area. Burgess was one of the main printer of such napkins that would be sold for one penny (1d) by street hawkers moving amongst the mass crowds that attended such popular events. As well as providing practical information such as a programme and timetable of the day's events these napkins were also intended to be taken home and kept as a souvenir. Many were framed and used as decoration in working class homes.