Toffee-hammer used for breaking windows

Toffee hammer used by militant suffragettes taking part in the Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU) window-smashing campaigns. Such hammers were readily available and could easily be concealed in clothing. In November 1911, window-smashing became an official policy of the WSPU. As Emmeline Pankhurst wrote in 1914, 'The smashing of windows is a time-honoured method of showing displeasure in a political situation'. Attacks on both government and commercial buildings during 1911 and 1912 resulted in the arrest of over 200 women, many of whom received sentences of up to two months in Holloway Gaol. Targets were chosen to avoid any loss of life, but the suffragettes actions often outraged public opinion.