Goddess  Temple Gifts

Women’s March Suffragette Tea Towel

Sing as you do your dishes and household chores, sing to honour the memories of those who came before us…

£12.50

This Women’s March Suffragette Tea Towel is based on a 1911 design by Margaret Morris in the Suffragette colours of purple, green and white. The design was intended to illustrate the song sheet of “The March of the Women”,

This feminist tea towel is based on a 1911 design by Margaret Morris in the Suffragette colours of purple, green and white. The design was intended to illustrate the song sheet of “The March of the Women”, composed by Ethel Smyth and dedicated to Emmeline Pankhurst.

“The March of the Women” was first performed on 21 January 1911, by the Suffrage Choir, at a ceremony held on Pall Mall in London, to celebrate a release of activists from prison. Emmeline Pankhurst  introduced the song as the WSPU’s official anthem.

On 23 March 1911 the song was performed at a rally in the Royal Albert Hall.  Smyth was ceremonially presented with a baton by Emmeline Pankhurst, and proceeded to conduct the whole gathering in singing it. Smyth was active in promoting the performance of the song throughout the WSPU’s membership. It became the anthem of the women’s suffrage movement throughout the United Kingdom.

A famous rendering of it took place in 1912, at Hollway Prison, after many women activists were imprisoned as a result of a window-smashing campaign.  The conductor, Thomas Beecham, visited Smyth in prison and reported that he found the activists in the courtyard  “…marching round it and singing lustily their war-chant while the composer, beaming approbation from an overlooking upper window, beat time in almost Bacchic frenzy with a toothbrush.”

While imprisoned in April 1913, Emmeline Pankhurst undertook a hunger strike which she did not expect to survive. She told Smyth that at night she would feebly sing “The March of the Women”.

Why not ensure that the next person drying up the dishes in your house uses this Women’s March Suffragette Tea Towel, and really understands what the incredible women of the suffragette movement went through, and achieved for us all!

Half Panama unbleached cotton (heavy weight, textured finish). Stitched on all four sides. Includes hanging loop. Measures approximately 48 x 70cm. Machine wash at 40 degrees max.

Additional information

Weight 250 g
Dimensions 30 × 25 × 2 cm