"French Harvest" dress silk, Mallinson's La Victoire series I

The devastation of war and the continuous drain of men from the farms to the armed forces affected France’s ability to feed its civilians and it soldiers. This design, from the first La Victoire series of dress silks created by H.R. Mallinson and Co. just before the Armistice that ended the fighting in World War I was signed in Fall 1918, celebrates detachments of troops assigned to assist with the harvest near the end of war. The firm’s marketing brochure describes the design as, "There's the wheat bound in sheaves, the various fruits of the harvest and the poilus hard at work gathering them for a harvest of Victory and Peace in this unusual design." There are two identical lengths in the collection, each printed on the Mallinson "Khaki Kool" fabrication in 5 colors on a dark blue ground. “Khaki Kool” was created by the Mallinson firm as a "Sport silk" early in the war, to give customers a silk alternative to scarce cotton and wool fabrics for sports and casual wear.

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