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IMG - 5764 Australia Day 1915. Patriotic Fundraising WW1
Patriotic Fundraising Card for Australia Day 30 July 1915.
(Foundation Day)
Supporting the troops through patriotic fundraising was also a way that those unable to fight could contribute to the war effort.
While most of us associate Australia Day with 26 January, in 1915 that date was celebrated as Foundation Day and only in New South Wales, as each of the colonies had their own commemorations for their founding. During the First World War, the concept of a national ‘Australia Day’ was instead part of a wider fundraising plan where money was raised by declaring a special ‘day’ on which events such as auctions, stalls, performances and street collections were held to encourage the community to contribute to the war effort.
The success of ‘Australia Day’ in 1915 saw a repeat of similar events the following year, this time on 28 July, and in the subsequent years of the war.
Australian people during other fundraising days saw an ‘Australia Day’ as a way of drawing on the pride of Australians in their soldiers’ recent achievements at Gallipoli. 30 July 1915 was the date agreed upon, and events were held across all of Australia. Ribbons, badges, handkerchiefs, buttons and other items were sold to raise funds, with phrases such as ‘For Australia’s Heroes’, ‘Help Our Wounded Heroes’ and ‘The Turks Struck their Match in the Australians’ which appealed to people’s sense of pride and patriotism. From a population of just under 5 million people, the day raised over 311,500 pounds in Victoria and more than 839,500 pounds in New South Wales. Today, that figure would be close to $623,000 and $1.7 million respectively.
Australia Day, celebrated on 26 January to commemorate the arrival of the First Fleet, was originally known as Foundation Day. It was not until after the Second World War that the Commonwealth and state governments agreed to rename the celebrations on 26 January as Australia Day.
Back in 1915, it was then a very generalised nominated name for any chosen date by any State to help raise funds to support our war efforts. A simple Google search on how Australia Day, as now celebrated on 26th January, came about explains all (Foundation Day became a national Australia Day, but it wasn’t back in 1915). It became nation-wide only in 1935 but an official national public holiday from 1994 – so recent!). If anything, a real “Foundation Day” would be, or should be, 1st January (from our federation in 1901). A Foundation Day is a designated date on which celebrations mark the founding of a nation. This day is for countries that came into existence without the necessity of gaining Independence, which is what we did. Prior to that we were just ‘colonies’ called states.
The above was obtained from the Australian War Memorial (AWM) web site.
IMG - 5764 Australia Day 1915. Patriotic Fundraising WW1
Patriotic Fundraising Card for Australia Day 30 July 1915.
(Foundation Day)
Supporting the troops through patriotic fundraising was also a way that those unable to fight could contribute to the war effort.
While most of us associate Australia Day with 26 January, in 1915 that date was celebrated as Foundation Day and only in New South Wales, as each of the colonies had their own commemorations for their founding. During the First World War, the concept of a national ‘Australia Day’ was instead part of a wider fundraising plan where money was raised by declaring a special ‘day’ on which events such as auctions, stalls, performances and street collections were held to encourage the community to contribute to the war effort.
The success of ‘Australia Day’ in 1915 saw a repeat of similar events the following year, this time on 28 July, and in the subsequent years of the war.
Australian people during other fundraising days saw an ‘Australia Day’ as a way of drawing on the pride of Australians in their soldiers’ recent achievements at Gallipoli. 30 July 1915 was the date agreed upon, and events were held across all of Australia. Ribbons, badges, handkerchiefs, buttons and other items were sold to raise funds, with phrases such as ‘For Australia’s Heroes’, ‘Help Our Wounded Heroes’ and ‘The Turks Struck their Match in the Australians’ which appealed to people’s sense of pride and patriotism. From a population of just under 5 million people, the day raised over 311,500 pounds in Victoria and more than 839,500 pounds in New South Wales. Today, that figure would be close to $623,000 and $1.7 million respectively.
Australia Day, celebrated on 26 January to commemorate the arrival of the First Fleet, was originally known as Foundation Day. It was not until after the Second World War that the Commonwealth and state governments agreed to rename the celebrations on 26 January as Australia Day.
Back in 1915, it was then a very generalised nominated name for any chosen date by any State to help raise funds to support our war efforts. A simple Google search on how Australia Day, as now celebrated on 26th January, came about explains all (Foundation Day became a national Australia Day, but it wasn’t back in 1915). It became nation-wide only in 1935 but an official national public holiday from 1994 – so recent!). If anything, a real “Foundation Day” would be, or should be, 1st January (from our federation in 1901). A Foundation Day is a designated date on which celebrations mark the founding of a nation. This day is for countries that came into existence without the necessity of gaining Independence, which is what we did. Prior to that we were just ‘colonies’ called states.
The above was obtained from the Australian War Memorial (AWM) web site.