George V1 coronation china cup. West Melton.

The rise of the middle class during the Victorian & Edwardian eras had a formative effect on its character; the historian Walter E. Houghton reflects that "once the middle class attained political as well as financial eminence, their social influence became decisive. The Victorian frame of mind is largely composed of their characteristic modes of thought and feeling". Middle class positive thoughts on Empire produced a jingoistic souvenir industry