Girl’s fancy dress garment

This dress was worn by eight-year-old Patricia Chalcraft in a fancy dress competition around 1931. Her parents hoped it would win a cash prize so that they could afford to buy her new shoes. With the onset of the Great Depression, Patricia's father had lost his job at the Shell Company. In an effort to make ends meet, her parents became involved in the Heidelberg Unemployment Bureau. Patricia's father painted the dress with images and slogans promoting the work of the Heidelberg Unemployment Bureau and his own availability for work.