Cane knife remembrance brooch.

Remembrance brooches and pins take many forms, and those depicting a red poppy have become synonymous with war remembrance.

This is a photo of an unusual remembrance brooch in the shape of a cane knife.  The word “remembrance” is engraved on the knife blade and the knife handle is set with marcasite, some of which is now missing.

Cane knife jewellery was popular in sugar cane growing areas of Queensland in the 1920s and 1930s. For example, souvenir cane knife brooches in gold or silver were advertised for sale in Mackay around 1915. Newspaper records mention ladies cane knife brooches given as commemorative gifts in Port Douglas in 1923 and Innisfail in 1936. Cane knife tie pins were also popular as gifts in the 1980s, notably within Italian families.

However, this interesting piece is the only example of a cane knife  remembrance brooch that we are aware of.  It seems likely that it was made by a jeweller in a sugar cane growing area rather than “trench art”, which was what they called bits and pieces made by servicemen when they had time, using whatever was available. The big brass shell cases were turned into vases, with engravings on them.

Perhaps it was commissioned to commemorate a specific person associated with the sugar industry who became a casualty of World War I, or it may have been made as part of a larger movement to commemorate all fallen sugar industry workers.