THE SAD TALE OF THE ZEPPELINS

[England]: n.p., 1916. Very good.. First edition of this fascinating piece of World War I ephemera, celebrating the downing of four zeppelins in a parody of the "Ten Little" rhyme. A large amount of cultural significance is packed into this single sheet, both explicitly and more subtly. On the surface, THE SAD TALE OF THE ZEPPELINS is an interesting illustration of British national pride and anti-German sentiment at the midway point of WWI. It was printed to commemorate the downing of four German zeppelins over England in September and October of 1916: one in Cuffley, Hertfordshire (the first zeppelin downed on British soil), two in Essex, and one more in Potters Bar, near London.
Structurally, the rhyme is a parody of or reference to the "Ten Little" counting poem. The source poem - based on a 19th-century minstrel song which counted racist terms for Black people or Native Americans, depending on the version - appeared in a variety of media. The format of the "Ten Little" poem, and the implied negative attitude toward the people or things being counted, would have been familiar to a wide audience when this broadside was published, emphasizing its anti-German sentiment.
THE SAD TALE OF THE ZEPPELINS is an apparently rare piece of WWI ephemera: OCLC locates no copies, and none have been located by other means of research. A complex wartime item. 6.5'' x 5''. Single leaf broadside. Printed one side only. Somewhat foxed; fold line to center. A sound survival.