Smokes for the Troops: British and Canadian Tobacco Funds during WWI
Jean Wang

In World War I, decades before the health dangers of smoking were recognized, newspapers and organizations such as the Over-Seas Club in London set up charitable funds to send cigarettes and tobacco (“smokes”) to British Empire troops fighting overseas. For soldiers, smoking relieved stress and boredom and boosted morale. The smokes sent overseas represented a piece of home and were a reminder to the men that they were not forgotten by the people they were fighting for. Every parcel of smokes sent to the front included a postcard addressed to the donor. The postcards returned via military post gave civilians a tangible connection to the men serving overseas, and the messages of thanks stimulated further donations.

In this presentation, Jean discusses the reach and impact of British and Canadian WWI tobacco funds through the study of reply postcards sent back from the front. The presentation was given to the Military Mail Study Group at its meeting at BNAPEX 2025 Vernon.

Updates to Catalogue of Canadian Military Mail Markings, Vol. 2 and 3, and Highlights of The Second Canadian Military Mail Postal History Anthology
Michael Street

The late C. Douglas Sayles produced two volumes of the BNAPS Catalogue of Canadian Military Mail Markings: Volume 3 – From Victory in 1945 to Afghanistan in 2006 and Volume 2 - The World War 2 Era 1936-1945 in 2011.

This presentation is divided into two sections. The first one shows pages from individual updates that are being prepared to identify, illustrate and catalogue new Canadian military postmarks that have been discovered since the publication of Volumes 2 and 3.

The second section shows highlights of The Second Canadian Military Postal History Anthology, a 272-page compilation of new articles written by 41 members of the Study Group that was released in the fall of 2024.

Presentation given at BNAPS 2025 Virtual Conference.