Trench Art Letter Openers

Post date: 30-Nov-2012 11:19:46

Des retired from TAFE in 1993, and as a widower started to travel in 1995. He was away for 8 months and was unable to carry heavy tools. As his interest was in Art Deco, he found that letter openers were the ideal items to collect from a size and weight point of view. His first trip throughout the UK and Ireland gained him over 40 pieces, as a collection for the future and for his grandchildren. 

Three letter openers with bullets as handles 

His English and Scottish friends were taking him to fairs, marts and car boot sales. It was at these collectors' fairs that he met people talking about Trench Art letter openers, and was thus inspired to start another avenue of collecting. 

Des has collected pieces now from the US, New Zealand and all states of Australia, totalling over 50 mostly from World War I. The World War II pieces are not only fewer in number, but also appear less finely decorated and many are unnamed. 

Des selected 20 pieces of his collection from the 1914-1918 period to show at his family's celebration of his grandson's 21st birthday. The surprise and interest shown convinced him to bring them in to the May Hand Tool meeting in honour and celebration of Anzac Day. 

Strictly speaking, "Trench Art" is the term applied to objects made or decorated by soldiers, prisoners of war and civilians between 1914 and 1939 and kept as souvenirs or household ornaments by themselves or their relatives. Common examples include: painted or decorated artillery shell cases, crucifixes, jewellery and talismans, carvings, detailed models or military equipment. 

Trench Art can be broadly classified into three categories: 

• • War mementos made by soldiers during the Great War (1914-1918)

  • Items produced by civilians during both World Wars (1914-1945)

  • Souvenirs produced commercially from discarded war materials during the period between the wars (1918-1939). 

As personal memories of the two World Wars have faded with time so too has the popularity of Trench Art. Increasingly it is seen today as anachronistic ephemera hardly worth mention, let alone collecting. 

Since the end of the Second World War a great proportion of Great War Trench Art has returned to the blast furnaces from whence it came to be melted for scrap. 

Prisoners of war as far back as the Napoleonic Wars have been making small items, as well as soldiers in the Crimean and American Civil wars. Shells were introduced in the late 1800's, replacing cannon balls, and these produced a great quantity of brass material that had no immediate war value. 

The term "Trench Art", however, was coined specifically to refer to the items created in World War I. 

Letter opener made from bullet, with lettering on the blade

There are a number of categories of Trench Art that are of interest to collectors. A few are listed here. 

War Souvenirs 

These are often pieces of equipment or material that is mounted as a displayable souvenir, without any other work being done. 

Shell Art 

With the profusion of discarded shell casings, decorated casings became quite common, some of them amazingly ornate as seen here. 

Soldier Decorated Equipment 

This is a category that consists of everyday items the soldier might have, such as mess kits and helmets, that were decorated to give a sense of ownership or individualism. 

Prisoner of War Art 

The type of material used was somewhat restricted, and reflected in the type of object produced, many of which were sold to visitors. 

Battlefield Tourism 

After the war, battlefield tourism became a big industry, and many items were created out of the war debris subsequent to the conflict. These were sold to visitors and tourists.

This article first appeared in the June 2008 Benchmark magazine