Advert - London Underground and Edgware (1925)

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1925 and Edgware is the back of beyond, out there where they have to claim to have mains drainage before people will move to it. Edgware station at the end of the Northern Line was opened in August 1924.

Advert - John Pound Cabin Trunk (1923)

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This 1923 John Pound and Co. cabin trunk would probably exceed most airlines' weight limits empty. No, these were for proper travel by luxury liner or depositing dead bodies in at Charing Cross Station left luggage office.

Advert - Rinso (1926)

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1926 advert for Rinso the Dirt Dispeller. Rinso dates back to 1918 and was one of the first mass-market soap powders.

Advert - Renault cars (1927)

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The new Renault cars for 1927. The 9/15 had a top speed of only 39mph, you'd need the 14/45 if you were reckless enough to want to go at 60mph.

Advert - Rolls Razor (1926)

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A 1926 advert for the Rolls Razor with the guaranteed blade. Normal 'safety' razors as opposed to cut-throat razors had to have a new blade put in every few shaves but this had a permanent blade that was automatically honed. Expensive though at £1.25 and £1.50.

Advert - Prams from W J Harris (1926)

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1926 advert for prams. Push chairs seem to have replaced the old pram these days. Not much chance of baby falling out of these monsters. Are wheels really 15/- extra?

Advert - Kwiksail Car bonnet mascot (1920's)

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The Kwiksail car bonnet mascot guaranteed to inflict maximum damage to any pedestrian you run into. Especially the Biplane (Large) model. Beware of driving too fast or your front wheels may leave the ground. 1920's advert.

Cutting - Grand National and Lincoln Handicap (1923)

24th March 1923

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The 1923 Aintree Grand National was won by a 13 year-old horse, Sergeant Murphy, ridden by the Wodehousian named 'Tuppy' Bennett at 100/6. The three favourites were also rans. In December of 1923 Geoffrey 'Tuppy' Bennett was thrown during a race at Wolverhampton and kicked in the head. He died 19 days later and consequently protective headgear was made compulsory for all jockeys. You can watch the newsreel of the Grand National on the Pathé site or YouTube.

Cutting - Steam Wagon Overturned (1926)

31st August 1926

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An overturned steam wagon in High Road, Tottenham. How on earth did a 6-ton vehicle with a top speed of less than 10mph manage to topple over? Still an ideal opportunity for those that like that sort of thing to view the bottom of an undertype chain drive steam lorry. Everyone to their own.

Advert - Houses for Sale (1920's)

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A house for £25 deposit, £60 on completion and £1 11s a week for the next 40 years. 1920's advert for houses in Ifield, Mill Hill, Banstead and Taplow.

Advert - Hoover (1929)

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The new Hoover is a British Empire product! By the look of these ladies in this 1929 advert it was probably the maids that were cleaning from floor to ceiling rather than them.

Cutting - Head-Hunting to End (1927)

28th April 1927

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The mountain ranges known as the Naga Hills straddle the border between India and northern Burma. Despite considerable investment in schools, hospitals and roads on the Indian side, the Naga people of Burma remain almost entirely undeveloped and headhunting has been reported from the region as recently as the 1980's. At the time of this report in 1927 the writer George Orwell was a member of the Colonial Police Force stationed in the Sagaing region which included the homelands of the Naga peoples.

Cutting - The Shadow Show (1926)

17th October 1926

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‘The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse’ was originally released in the USA in 1921 and was the first starring role for Rudolph Valentino. Alice Terry, who co-starred, was married to the director of the film, Rex Ingram. The bitterness towards Germany left by the war to end all wars is obvious in the review written only 5 years after the Armistice.

Phonofilm was an early invention for recording sound onto film, but was not as successful as the synchronised disc systems that were also being tried out at the time. Both were superseded by the improved sound-on-film systems of the late 1920’s and the rest is history, as they say.

Advert - Alvis from Henleys (1920's)

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An Alvis car advert from the 1920's. 'Judged from any angle is supreme' - the drawing looks as if it's from the angle of someone being run over. Good graphics, though.

Advert - Komposill (1929)

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Komposill may have been the miracle clean-all in 1929 but by 1936 the company had gone into voluntary liquidation.

Cutting - Paris Fashion (1923)

March 1923

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I must admit I don't understand fashion, so I give you, without comment, three examples of Paris fashion from March 1923. 

The mentioning of 'Egyptian' was sign of the time. Following Howard Carter's discovery of the tomb of Tutankhamun and his opening of the burial chamber in February 1923 everything had to have an Egyptian connection.

Cutting - Embankment Motor Smash (1923)

March 1923

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Back in 1923 there were no breathalyzers or specific limits to how much alcohol would make a driver incapable, but when, as in the case above, a death occurred, then the driver would be charged with manslaughter. Annual figures for road deaths have been kept since 1926 and show that year's figure as 4,886 whereas last year (2013) it was 1,713. The peak year was 1941, possibly due to the blackout and removal of road signs during the War, when it was 9,169. The good news is that the figure has been steadily falling year on year since 1970.

Advert - Ruston Hornsby car (1924)

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Ruston Hornsby were an engineering company originally formed in 1840, who only dipped their toes in car manufacturing from 1919 to 1924. This advert is from the final year of production.

Cutting - Earl's Heir Killed (1926)

August 1926

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By dying in this car crash Major the Hon. Harold FitzClarence only missed being the 5th Earl by 2 years, his brother the 4th Earl died in 1928. 

Advert - Barratt Shoes (1926)

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Founded in Northampton in 1903 Barratt Shoes were a successful country wide chain by the 1920's. Who needs x-ray machines or special gauges to get the right size shoe when you have a pencil and a bit of paper handy?