Princess Mary's charitable Christmas gift to British troops at the outset of World War I in 1914, featuring a decorative gilt tin containing a sealed pouch of tobacco, an opened pack of 18 rolled cigarettes, a .303 cartridge-shaped pencil, and a Christmas card with a small portrait of the princess. The yellow tobacco and cigarette packages are labeled, "Her Royal Highness The Princess Mary's Christmas Fund, 1914." In fine condition. In 1914, the 17-year-old Princess Mary began a public fund to support Christmas gifts to be distributed to 'every sailor afloat and every soldier at the front' in the First World War. Her charitable efforts were wildly successful, and her call for donations ultimately yielded the astonishing sum of £162,591. The gift boxes were distributed over the course of the next three years, and brought welcome comforts of home to the men at the front.
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