World At War Virutal Museum

Trench Art

Ashtray
Ashtray made from a M14 105mm spent shell casing produced in 1943.

Trench art might have been around as long there were wars. The name trench art was first introduced during the First World War were soldiers spent long hours in the trenches. To kill time, soldiers started to craft with items they had normally laying around. Spent shell casing was frequently used because they were easily available and plentiful. Other materials, such as wood and bones, were mostly used for carving arts.

Most art pieces are simple items such as ashtrays. Some pieces are really advanced from novelty bullet plain to a complete brass tea set including brass plate.

Creating trench art was also common with civilians, civilians in internee camps, and prisoners of war (POW). After the war was over civilians created more trench art to sell to soldiers as souvenirs.

World at War Virtual Museum

Trench Art