Brief Summary
A Tag Day is a day when charitable organizations collect funds in the street and the donors are given tags to show that they have contributed to the charitable organization. During the Great War these charities would sometimes work together to raise money for a specific cause. The Victoria Red Cross would participate in a fair number of these tag days and on more than one occasion these tag days were set up to raise money exclusively for the Red Cross to help wounded soldiers overseas.
Red Cross Tag Days
As mentioned above, the Victoria Red Cross was a reoccurring participant in these charitable fundraisers and the Red Cross itself would have its own tag days. As pointed out in the Muggins article, the famous Spitz was a regular attended to these events. A lot of work went into organizing these tag days so getting the word out to the public was important for success. In many newspaper issues, the Victoria Red Cross would have their advertisements published, reminding people to come out and show their support. This was the case in the Daily Colonist publication on June 1, 1918 where several ads related or unrelated to the Red Cross had little reminders attached to the top or bottom of them. Some of the advertisements from the June 1, 1918 publication can be found at the bottom of this page.
On October 21, 1915 the Victoria Red Cross held its first official tag day. An estimated total of $5,000 was raised and this was considered a success considering that the tag day took place during unfavorable weather. There were women who braved the outside conditions and were set up on several street corners by local businesses. Men from the Highlanders were stationed throughout the city and helped the Red Cross ladies with their fundraiser by advertising the event to people passing by. The conveners who organized the day were Mrs. Ross Sutherland and Mrs. Lampman respectably. Other Red Cross units such as those from Esquimalt and Oak Bay also took part in the day’s fundraising.
On October 19, 1916 the Victoria Red Cross held another tag day which encouraged the public to donate more funds than the previous year. What made this tag day unique was that this appeal for funds was being issued throughout the British Empire and was not exclusive to Victoria. The tag day was also raising funds for the Order of St. John in addition to the Red Cross, which was also different from the year before. Mrs. Harold Fleming and her army of 500 young ladies helped run the days appeal. The women wore nurse’s uniforms as they handed out the tags (buttons) which had the red cross placed on a white background. The next day, the Daily Colonist reported that $9,121.88 was raised by the Red Cross units in Victoria, Esquimalt, and Oak Bay, with the funds expected to climb past $10,000 after the count was finalized. This meant that the contribution from 1916 ended up doubling the amount raised from 1915, showing signs of optimism moving forward.
On June 1, 1918 the Victoria Red Cross held yet another tag day in which the local branch had the responsibility to organize. Mrs. Harold Fleming was the central convener of this tag day and directed the day’s operations from the Temple Building on Fort Street. A determined effort was made by the workers of the Red Cross to raise at least $10,000 and to their pleasant surprise they had actually surpassed their goal and raised over $13,000, yet another improvement from previous years. This was the most successful tag day the Red Cross had organized and this goes to show how well the community responded to the requests for additional aid during the war.
The Stoppage of Tag Days
As of February 2, 1920 Victoria City Council made the decision to give tag days the “thumbs down” by defeating a resolution brought forward by Aid. A. E. Todd which suggested that tag days be allowed if they took place six weeks apart. The banning of tag days was suggested by Aid. George Sangster on grounds that the tag days that were operated during the war were technically illegal. He was quoted saying: “We have just as much right to authorize people to sell whiskey on the street corners as we have to authorize people to sell tags”. Todd admitted that there had been too many tag days in the past but he also didn’t want to stop deserving organizations from being able to raise funds for their worthy causes. Mayor Porter at the time also didn’t mind the tag days, pointing out the fact they were ran by hardworking volunteers. Nevertheless this meant the stoppage of tag days for the time being as Canada returned to its prewar peace.
Red Cross Tag Day mentions from June 1, 1918
References
“Declares Thumbs Down on Tag Days.” The Daily Colonist (Victoria). 3 February 1920. http://archive.org/stream/dailycolonist62y43uvic#page/n12/mode/1up/search/tag+days+day.
“Donors Are Thanked.” The Daily Colonist (Victoria). 4 June 1918. http://archive.org/stream/dailycolonist60y153uvic#page/n5/mode/1up/search/tag+days+day.
“Great Battle Proceeds with Varying Results.” The Daily Colonist (Victoria). 1 June 1918. http://archive.org/stream/dailycolonist60y151uvic#page/n0/mode/1up/search/tag+day.
“Red Cross Tag Day Pronounced Success.” The Daily Colonist (Victoria). 22 October 1915. http://archive.org/stream/dailycolonist57y271uvic#page/n4/mode/1up/search/red+cross+tags+tag+day+days.
“Red Cross Wants $10,000 Saturday.” The Daily Colonist (Victoria). 30 May 1918. http://archive.org/stream/dailycolonist60y149uvic#page/n7/mode/1up/search/tag+day+tags.
“Today’s Appeal for Funds is Empire-Wide.” The Daily Colonist (Victoria). 19 October 1916. http://archive.org/stream/dailycolonist58y268uvic#page/n6/mode/1up/search/tag+day+days+tags.