Sunday 30 September 2012

Scott of the Antarctic's Tomb

The Daily Mirror dated Wednesday May 21st 1913
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We children of the 1950’s read about Scott of the Antarctica, Clive of India, Gordon of Khartoum, Livingtone, Nelson and Wellington in our Boys Own Book of British Heroes or in comic strip form in the Eagle.

Robert Falcon Scott had led a previous expedition to Antarctica using the ship Discovery (1901 – 1904) but the primary objective had not been to get to the South Pole. In June 1910 Scott set sail again, this time in the Terra Nova, and, after a stay in New Zealand, heavy storms and 20 days ice-bound, they arrived to set up a base at Cape Evans in January 1911. They were aware that the Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen was camped along the coast and was preparing to head for the South Pole.


Scott and his party finally set out for the Pole on September 13th 1911 and reached their goal on January 17th 1912 only to find that Amundsen had beaten them by 34 days. They left for home the next day but never made it back to Cape Evans.


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The remaining members of the expedition who had waited at Cape Evans set up a search party. They finally found the bodies of Scott, Wilson and Bowers on November 12th 1912 and erected the memorial shown on the front page. The Terra Nova arrived back in New Zealand in February 1913.

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There is an obvious attempt here to salvage some glory from the failed attempt to beat the foreigner Amundsen to the Pole by claiming Scott’s party actually got to the real location and the Norwegians didn’t.

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Captain Lawrence Oates was just 32 years old when he walked out into a blizzard with the words "I am just going outside and may be some time".
Aware that his ill health was compromising his companions' chances of survival he chose certain death. His body was never found.

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I can imagine Scott and his men huddled over cups of steaming Oxo and North Pole explorer Robert Peary scribbling away in his diary using a Koh-I-noor pencil but having Scott and Co laying Linola and admiring its pattern and hygienic qualities while a blizzard is trying to rip the roof off, is a bit harder to swallow.

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The close relationship between the British and German Royal Families dates back to 1714 when, instead of a Stuart King James III, the Act of Settlement gave us George of Brunswick the 1st Hanoverian King.

Kaiser Wilhelm II was King George V’s cousin (Wilhelm’s mother was George’s father’s sister). The coming of World War I only 14 months after this visit strained the relationship and George, who had began his reign as a Saxe-Coburg thanks to his grandmother Victoria marrying Albert of Saxe-Coberg-Gotha, changed the family name to Windsor in 1917.

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As Germany built up her Navy in opening decade of the 20th Century, the Royal Navy were worried and set about gathering intelligence. In 1910 Lieutenant Brandon and Captain Trench were two spies that got caught in Germany and were sentenced to 4 years in prison. Captain Bertrand Stewart was caught spying while travelling in Germany in 1911. He was sentenced to 3 years.


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Surely these are just the sort of items that would have caught the attention of Sherlock Holmes if he hadn’t been too busy with his bees. The Adventure of the Clean Motor-Goggles and The Adventure of the Silk Hat. Read them first in The Strand Magazine.

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Leo Maxse was the editor of the Right Wing magazine National Review and supporter of the National Party, a splinter group who broke away from the Conservatives because they were too ‘liberal’. Maxse was 49 in 1913 and had been brought up reading the old Victorian papers that were predominantly solid blocks of type and reported such items as hour long political speeches verbatim.


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Wanna see the Bunny Hug, the Turkey Trot and the Tango? Not to mention the Castle Walk, Maxixe, Hesitation Waltz and The Toddle?  Are you prepared to be shocked by the outlandish behaviour of the young? Do you have the smelling salts ready? Watch this Youtube offering if you dare.





Friday 28 September 2012

Random Ad - What's On (1933)

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The week's film offerings at the Broadway Cinema in East Ham. Note the lack of a Sunday programme. Up until 1972 Local Councils could allow or disallow Sunday Cinema openings.

'I am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang' and '42nd Street' were nominated for Best Film and Paul Muni as Best Actor at the 1934 Oscars. 'It Happened One Night' and Clark Gable were the respective winners.

Wednesday 26 September 2012

Blog News




I am starting another blog - Hold The Cover - in which I will be posting images of covers from my magazine collection. 

First post on Friday (28th) with new posts on subsequent Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays. 

Have a look on Friday (you know you want to!)

Random Cutting - Royal Family Abolished!

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From the front page of the George Orwell inspired spoof newspaper produced by Times journalists in 1984. It had no connection, other than the name, to the then successful TV sketch show 'Not the Nine O'clock News'

Sunday 23 September 2012

Queen Mum is 100

International Express dated August 8th-14th 2000 
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This is the overseas weekly edition of the Daily Express.

Elizabeth Angela Marguerite Bowes-Lyon married into the Royal Family in 1923 when she got hitched to Albert Frederick Arthur George Windsor the 2nd son of George V. When the 1st son, Edward Albert Christian George Andrew Patrick David Windsor abdicated before being crowned it was up to Albert to become George VI and Elizabeth to be his Queen. George VI died in 1952 and their eldest daughter Elizabeth Alexandra Mary became Queen Elizabeth II and her mother became (you’ve guessed it) The Queen Mum.

She outlived her husband by 50 years and died on 30th March 2002.

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Porton Down, where the package of ‘germs’ should have gone, has been involved in secret research on chemical weaponry from as far back as 1916 and has, allegedly, carried out tests on humans. I don’t think Debenhams has.

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Both my parents smoked like factory chimneys. I never have. One of my offspring smokes and the other doesn’t. So there may be something in this. Or not. 

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This is from Peter Hitchens’ column and it comes as no surprise that he would support George W. 

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These items are side-bars to a larger article about the end of the News of the World’s Name and Shame Campaign, which encouraged the revealing of the names and addresses of sex offenders to the public and led to a lynch mob mentality. A classic example of a newspaper-provoked ‘moral panic’ that even led to a paediatrician being targeted by a mob of ignorant ‘concerned citizens’. 

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This is a list of the 100 favourite films up to 1999 based on reviews on the Internet Movie Database (www.imdb.com). Having seen 79 of them I note that only 6 of my personal top 50 films of the 20th century appear in their top 50. Does this means that I have crap taste or does the rest of the World?

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The Monument to the Women of World War II did materialize and was dedicated by the Queen in July 2005. There is a good photo of it here.

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Having had a liver transplant in 2002 George Best died in 2005 at the comparatively young age of 59.

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There are fewer celebrity biographies and cookbooks than these days, although the dreaded Jamie Oliver does appear (twice!). Nice to see Kathy Reichs, James Lee Burke and Thomas Harris representing the Crime writers and Bill Bryson the travel writers, even if ‘Down Under’ was, in my humble opinion, his least interesting travel book. 




Friday 21 September 2012

Random Ad - Erecta Shoulder Brace (1910's)


There's nothing worse than a round shouldered shorthand-typist! The Erecta Shoulder Brace sent in a 'plain wrapper'. I could do with one now - I've been at this bloody keyboard for hours.

Wednesday 19 September 2012

Random Cutting - Gandhi's Funeral (1948)

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Following his murder on January 30th 1948 and in keeping with tradition, Mahatma Gandhi was cremated the following day. Estimates of the number of mourners vary from 250,000 to a million.

Sunday 16 September 2012

Ronald Reagan Shot

Daily Mirror dated Tuesday March 31st 1981
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Ronald Reagan had been a radio sports commentator, TV presenter/actor and a film star before entering politics and becoming Governor of California and finally the 40th President of the USA. Ironically John Hinckley Jr, his would be assassin, was an avid film fan and it was his obsession with the actress Jodie Foster and particularly her role in ‘Taxi Driver’ that led him to try to kill the President.
Reagan was hit by one bullet in the chest, which narrowly missed his heart. A policeman, a Secret Service agent and Reagan’s Press Secretary were also hit. The latter was disabled for life. Reagan, despite being 70, fully recovered.

Hinckley was tried for attempted murder but was found to be insane.

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Was there a plot to overthrow the Labour Government of Harold Wilson and install Lord Mountbatten as the head of a Military regime? Was Wilson a KGB agent as suggested by Soviet defector Anatoliy Golitsyn? Did the KGB murder Hugh Gaitskill? We mere mortals will never know, but conspiracy theories sell books and newspapers.

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I suppose Belinda Wood (far right) might pass as Diana Spencer on a foggy night, but the rest wouldn’t fool a blind man. 


Lewis Collins, who along with Martin Shaw, starred in the TV series ‘The Professionals’, seems to have had a passion for guns. He was charged with firing a shotgun in his living room and was fined £300. Following a tip-off in 2002 police found a collection of firearms, including machine guns and ammunition, in a house owned by Collins but which he hadn’t occupied for several years. 

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16 year-old Lynn Siddons had been stabbed to death in April 1978 while out walking with 14 year-old Fitzroy Brookes. He was tried for the murder but acquitted. When evidence pointed to Michael Brookes (Fitzroy’s stepfather) the police refused to re-open the case. It wasn’t until 1996, after an 18-year campaign by Lynn’s family and various national newspapers, that Michael Brookes was finally tried and convicted of the murder.

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Bucks Fizz did win the 1981 Eurovision Song Contest with ‘Making Your Mind Up’ and Oxford won the University Boat Race by 8 lengths coxed by Sue Brown, but Linda Sheedy failed to win the Grand National. Her horse refused at the 19th fence.

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Jack Slipper’s autobiography ‘Slipper of the Yard’ can be bought for as little as 62p (+ postage) at Abebooks.co.uk. (Other suppliers of second-hand books are available)
Slipper died in 2005. Biggs finally returned to Britain in 2001, was re-arrested and jailed. In 2009 he was released on compassionate grounds.

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ITV 10:30 The Academy Awards. Wrong! Due to Ronald Reagan’s little troubles earlier in the day the Oscars were actually re-scheduled for the following night. So the highlights of the evening were BBC2’s fascinating 2 and-a-bit hours of fishing, snooker and sheepdog trials. If there was ever a cure for insomnia…

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The Trimphone dates back to the mid 1960’s when it still featured the then familiar round dial rather than push button dialling. If you’re really interested (or have no social life) take a look at this site. Lots of lovely colour pictures of phones.  If there was ever a cure for insomnia…

Friday 14 September 2012

Random Ad - Humber Cars (1928?)


Humber had been making bicycles since 1868 and cars since 1899. The Humber 20/55hp was introduced in 1928. Front brakes! What kind of sissy drives a car with front brakes?

Wednesday 12 September 2012

Random Cutting - Pop Chart (1965)

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The top 30 best selling popular platters from January 1965.
The Righteous Brothers (Bill Medley and Bobby Hatfield) peaked at number 1 with ‘You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feelin’’. Their only other UK number 1 was a 1990 re-release of their 1965 'Unchained Melody'.
My favourites at the time were ‘Yeh Yeh’ by Georgie Fame, ‘Baby Please Don’t Go’ by Them (vocal by Van Morrison) and ‘Promised Land’ by Chuck Berry.

I’m not sure how The Rolling Stones’ 2nd LP got into a singles chart.


Sunday 9 September 2012

Communists' May Day Riots

Daily Mirror dated Thursday May 2nd 1929
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In the decade following World War I almost all of Europe was in financial difficulties and for those people hardest hit, the working class and even more so the unemployed, communism looked like a way out. The Russian people had thrown off the yoke of Tsarist oppression so why shouldn’t the French, the Germans or the Italians? The threat of a Communist Revolution was very real to the European governments and so any display of Communist sympathies was severely dealt with. 

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Guardsman George Sivwright turned up 2 weeks later at his mother’s house in Scotland. He had deserted from guard duty at Buckingham palace because he had been bullied by fellow guardsmen and had walked the 500 odd miles to Aberdeen. He got 112 days in the Glasshouse and a dishonourable discharge for desertion. (try saying that after a few drinks)

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In April 1928 Edward Duff died after a few day’s illness. 10 months later in February 1929 his sister-in-law Vera Sidney died, also after a few days’ illness. In March 1929 Vera’s mother died under the same circumstances.  The police became suspicious and all three bodies were exhumed and found to contain high levels of arsenic. The theory was that a family member had murdered them, but to cut a short story even shorter no one was ever arrested let alone brought to trial.

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Looks like the Mirror’s answer to the Sketch’s more famous ‘Pop’ cartoon (see post)

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In 1927 the London Power Company decided to build a large coal-fuelled power station on the south bank of the Thames at Battersea.

The proposal caused protests from people who felt that the building would be too large and an eyesore, as well as worries about the pollution damaging local buildings, parks and even, as it says in the article, paintings in the nearby Tate Gallery. The company hired architect and industrial designer Sir Giles Gilbert Scott, famous for designing the red telephone box and Liverpool Anglican Cathedral. He would go on to design Bankside, which now houses the Tate Modern art gallery. Battersea Power Station has become an iconic part of the London skyline and was featured along with a giant inflatable pig on the cover of Pink Floyd's ‘Animals’ album.

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If only someone would invent headphones or the Walkman or the iPod!

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Back in 1929 the ‘Talkies’ were the coming thing in cinema, but, just like the VHS vs Betamax problems of early videos, there were 2 major rival systems for putting sound onto films – the American Western-Electric system and the European Tobis-Klangfilm system. In 1930, the Tobis-Klangfilm Company made an agreement with Western Electric Company to retain exclusive rights of distribution of cinema equipment in most European countries. They were taken over by Siemens in 1941.

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Talking of Talkies, this was Mary Pickford's first after 244 'silents', but at 37 she was too old for the role she played in 'Coquette' and in fact made only 4 more films before retiring.

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The 2,000 Guineas Stakes, run at Newmarket since 1809, won in 1929 by Mr Jinks. The 2012 winner got £350,000 so isn’t it about time it got a name change? 

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“By Gad, Sir! So that’s what the memsahib gets up to while I’m polishing me swagger stick. Pass the Kiwi!”