Hi All,
This coming April, it will have been one hundred and one years since the United States declared war on Germany, marking America’s entry into the First World War. It has been some years since the last veteran of the conflict passed away, and soon, the great event will have passed out of living memory. And even though most witnesses to the war have moved on, there remain behind many tangible remembrances of the Great War. Photographs, uniforms, weapons, medals and even poetry are as much a part of the history of the struggle as are the millions of inscribed grave markers scattered across the globe.
World War I also saw the production of a number of items that will be of interest to visitors of this forum, namely paper models. Back in July 2017, fellow member John Wagenseil, at the urging of B-Manic, shared a list of sites he titled, “Imagerie d’Epinal - Brave Frenchmen and Their Evil Adversaries.” The lineup included a number of paper diversions in the form of models, dioramas, hampelmann figures and downright bloodthirsty propaganda. A couple of these images are included below. Most of the scans depict the products of Imagerie d’Epinal Pellerin & Cie, the famous French publisher, and it is the output of this company that forms the basis of the following discourse.
Bandages and Baguettes will focus not on the lurid battle scenes published by Pellerin, but instead on the dioramas and other models that portray soldiers in their hours away from the battlefield. Many sheets were printed depicting soldiers training, camping, cooking, relaxing and receiving medical care in the field and elsewhere. It is these scenes that will be discussed here. Other paper constructions from other publishers, such as three-dimensional models and paper dolls will be reviewed as well.
First up is Pellerin publication No. 2039 bis called, “Un Poste De Secours Sur Le Front Français,” or, “A Rescue Station on the French Front.” The small group of soldiers and nurses is composed of just nine elements that I have arranged in a diorama format. A close look at the original sheet will reveal that the nine elements are double-sided, each with a front and a distinct back. When built as intended, the finished elements can be viewed from two sides to show both sides of the people, structures and materiel. I chose to build only one side of each element and set them upon a custom mat board base to create a small diorama of the Rescue Station. I did this both to neatly display the paper parts and, more importantly, to keep all the elements together. I intend to build quite a few paper soldiers, and without gluing each in its place, chaos would quickly ensue.
Three nurses dressed in angelic white are shown caring for a wounded soldier, while another stretcher case is being carried off to a waiting ambulance. Things seem to be quiet and orderly at the Rescue Station. The group is not under direct fire, and they can calmly go about their business of caring for the wounded. Note that there is green grass under their feet, indicating a patch of ground that has not been overturned by the constant artillery fire. Off in the distance is a denuded forest, an image often associated with Great War battlefields. Because no backdrop was included with these paper parts, my friend Tom Greensfelder suggested using a sepia toned photograph showing a stripped woodland. The contrast between the colorful figures and the dingy backdrop is striking.
For those interested in learning more about the events of a century ago, there are a number of web sites dedicated to the history of the First World War. The war not only changed forever the political map of the world, but we are still living with the consequences, intended and otherwise, to this day. I hope the models I present in this series will encourage your further interest in this important, world-changing event of so long ago.
Score and fold,
Thumb Dog
