The Crippleage - A Company of One-Armed Girls

Portrait photograph of a goup of 'expert flower workers' from John Groom's Crippleage and Flower Girl Mission. Each girl has lost one of her arms. The charity came from preacher John Groom's concern for ill and disabled girls selling flowers in Farringdon Market, London. In its form at the time of the postcard, John Groom had hired houses in Sekforde Street in London from where disadvantaged girls learned to make artificial flowers in order to earn their own living. The front of the card is printed with 'Mr Groom's Industrial Training Homes for Afflicted, Blind and Crippled Girls.' The National Archives holds records of the charity: http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/a2a/records.aspx?cat=074-lma4305&cid=0#0