A Copy of Verses on the Unemployed and the Great Distress in England

London: W.C. Such, Printer and Publisher. Very good. Broadside. Undated, ca. 1922. 25 x 19 cm (ca. 9.75" x 7.5"), on newsprint or similar stock. Old folding creased, closed tear with archival repair on verso; very good. Although this song--a lament for England's poor and unemployed--may have been written as early as the 1890s, this edition, with its plea to "Please buy a copy from an unemployed ex-service man," was printed in the aftermath of World War I. Unemployment in England became a significant problem around 1920, as the country's economy slowed, trade decreased, and debts incurred by the war loomed large. Reincorporating the demobilized troops into the civilian workforce and providing sufficient resources for those disabled during the war proved particularly challenging. We locate copies of this song sheet at the British Library, Bodleian (Ballad-Roud # V20673), and the University of Warwick.