Original clear, studio portrait postcard of older, mature woman. She is an Alexandra Day charity rose seller and the child standing next to her is possibly a poor child or orphan of Bethnal Green. The child is dressed smartly but in an ill-fitting white suit and shoes which are too small. The woman holds a collecting tin which has the patron, Queen Alexandra's portrait on it. The woman is wearing a badge that denotes she is an official collector. From studio of A. Lewis 228 Green St. Bethnal Green, London, circa 1913.
Publisher:: A. Lewis (High Class Picture Frame Maker) 228 Green St. Bethnal Green. Queen Alexandra was the popular Danish wife of King Edward VII, who had first arrived in England for her wedding in 1862. Fifty years later, in 1912, as the Dowager Queen, she and her friends were searching for a way of marking what would have been her 50th wedding anniversary to the late king. During a visit to her native Denmark earlier that year she had come across a priest who was raising money for the needy by selling roses grown in his parish garden. Inspired by his actions, she returned to London with the idea of launching her own “rose day” to helping the sick and poor of London. To do this she engaged the help of “John Groom’s Crippleage and Flower Girls Mission”, a charitable venture for destitute, orphaned and disabled girls from the poorest parts of London. This charity had originally been set up in 1866 to train girls to produce flower displays but by 1912 had moved on to manufacturing artificial flowers for which there was a burgeoning market. It was these small artificial silk flowers that Queen Alexandra asked them to produce for her “Flag Day”, the first of its kind in Europe. The first “Flag Day” in June 1912 was a phenomenal success. 10,000 roses were produced, and raised the equivalent of £ in today’s money which, in turn, was given to the hospitals of London. During the following years and throughout the First World War the day was a major event in the London summer season with Queen Alexandra as the star. By 1920 the annual Flag Day had raised the equivalent of over £30m in today’s money, all of which went to supporting London’s Hospitals. Source: The charity exists to this day. This info helps us date the photo from June 1912 and the clothes the lady is wearing to circa 1913. Possibly the child in his poorly fitted clothing is an example of the intended beneficiary.
Size: 4570px × 6944px
Location: Bethnal Green, London, UK
Photo credit: © ThislifeThen / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
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