Rhineland Evacuation signed

Daily Mirror dated Saturday August 31^st 1929

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At the end of the First World War the Treaty of Versailles stipulated that the Rhineland would be off-limits to the German military and up until 1935 a combined force of British, American, Belgian and French soldiers would police the area. In fact the Americans evacuated their troops in 1923 and the last to leave were the French in 1930. The idea of the occupation was to ensure that Germany could not use the Rhineland industrial infrastructure to re-arm. In March 1936 Hitler ordered the remilitarization of the Rhineland. 

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Jewish access to the Wailing Wall in Jerusalem was at the root of the violence that broke out in August 1929 between Arabs and Jews in Palestine. From the 23rd to the 29^th of that month 133 Jews were killed by Arabs and 339 Jews injured, 110 Arabs were killed and 232 Arabs injured.  Many of the Arabs were shot by the British Police who were trying to restore order. The nasty massacre at Safed marked the end of this particular outbreak of Arab/Jewish hostility.

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Movietone pioneered sound newsreels from 1928 onwards.

Ramsay MacDonald and Herbert Hoover met at the President’s retreat in Virginia in October 1929. They didn’t solve the World’s armaments problems.  

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After the fire, which gutted Dorset’s Lulworth Castle on August 29^th it was left empty and exposed to the elements until the 1970’s when English Heritage started a restoration effort that was finally completed in 1998.

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Not exactly the Great Train Robbery but literally a wages snatch.

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I think the photo is of the new Morris Isis-Six, which replaced the Morris Six, which had been around since 1920.

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Lots of bargains here if only one had a time machine.

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Rather than get married, surely it would have been easier for this 84 year-old woman to just leave all her property to the young man in her will.

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I know little or nothing about fashion but the lady on the left of the top picture looks suspiciously like a time traveller from the 1980’s to me. Maybe she was there house hunting.

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The U.S. Steamboat Inspection Service Board’s investigation found that the ‘San Juan’ had changed course in the fog and had cut across the oil tanker Dodd therefore causing the collision, which claimed the lives of 72 people.

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The race for the Schneider Trophy was a competition for seaplanes and was run (or flown) in 1913 and annually from 1919 until 1931. In 1929 Richard Waghorn in the Supermarine S6 won with an average speed of 328.64 miles per hour. Sadly Waghorn was killed 3 years later after parachuting out of a Hawker Horsley biplane test flight at Farnborough.

R J Mitchell, who is most famous as the designer of the Spitfire, designed the Supermarine S6.  

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Mary Learoyd was strangled in Sedbergh Park, Ilkley, Yorkshire on August 25^th. Nobody was ever convicted of the murder. It seems that the man arrested in London was actually on his way to Scotland Yard to present an alibi and clear his name.

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This is something that I think is lacking from modern newspapers – nicely drawn headers for articles and columns.

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I include this because it reminded me that I used to frequent Gamages’ Store in High Holborn many years ago and once used their recording booth to create a vinyl record – now long lost - both the record and the booth.

Random Ad - Ford Cars (1950's)

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The inclusion of the Ford Squire and the Zephyr Zodiac means this advert must be 1955 or 1956. The first car I ever drove was my father's Ford Prefect 100E.

Random Cutting - Rhodesian Independence (1965)

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Rhodesia, now known as Zimbabwe, was officially called Southern Rhodesia, by the British Government after Northern Rhodesia became Zambia. In the post-war period the British Government had a policy whereby colonies would only be given independence if they were rules by a majority of the people. In Rhodesia this would have meant the African population and not the minority white settlers led by Ian Smith. On November 11th 1965,11 days after this cutting was published, Ian Smith’s Party declared the country independent from British rule in what became known as a Unilateral Declaration of Independence or UDI. 

Daily Graphic first edition (1890)

Daily Graphic dated Saturday January 4^th 1890

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The Daily Graphic was the first daily illustrated newspaper in England and evolved from the Graphic weekly illustrated newspaper that was first appeared in 1869. In 1926 the Daily Graphic merged with the Daily Sketch.

The Forest Gate Fire

The fire had broken out on New Year’s Eve in the Forest Gate District Poor Law Boarding School and 26 boys between 7 and 12 lost their lives. The incident caused a great deal of distress and anger in the local community and beyond. A Parliamentary inquiry criticised the management of the school. Three years later 2 children were killed and hundreds made ill by food poisoning at the same school.

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The cast for this Jack and the Beanstalk pantomime included the very popular Music Hall comedian Dan Leno who also specialised in Panto dames. In 1903 he had a mental breakdown and was committed to the Camberwell House Asylum for a few months, after which he tried to re-start his career but died at the age of 43 in October 1904 of unknown causes. 

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The Czar whose health is commented on was Alexander III.  He died 4 years later of kidney failure and was succeeded by doomed the Czar Nicholas II.

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The American showman, businessman, politician and sometimes hoaxer Phineas Taylor Barnum created his first circus at the age of 61 in 1871. He went on to run the Greatest Show on Earth – The Barnum and Bailey Circus, which toured the USA and Europe. P T Barnum died in 1891 following a stroke.

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The Prince of Wales' Sandringham Tennant’s Ball had a guest list straight out of Burke’s Peerage and included Lord and Lady Randolph Churchill, parents of 16 year-old Winston.

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Sarah Bernhardt was probably the most famous stage actress of her day. Born in Paris in 1844, she started her stage career in 1862 and became an International success. In 1915 her right leg was amputated after an accident but she continued to perform on the stage right up until she died of kidney failure in 1923. She also appeared in a dozen films and has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

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Sport in the Highlands? I’m not sure the word ‘Sport’ should be applied to the butchering of 95 stags and thousands of grouse. 

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Emmensite was a high explosive invented by Dr. Stephen H. Emmens who, as well as filing patents for guns, shells, refrigerants, a surf motor, a steam jacketed kettle and various manufacturing processes also claimed to be able to turn silver into gold i.e. alchemy.

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What a surprise – a contract for supplying the armed forces with equipment going over the estimate. Then as now and always shall be.

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Submarines had been around since the American Civil War of the 1860’s but by 1890 the most advanced were electric-powered (batteries) and sported torpedo tubes. The development of the periscope and diesel-electric power made submarines practical for combat in time for World War I. 

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This trial of Charles Johnson makes a pleasant change from the murders and violent assaults that were so prevalent in late Victorian newspapers.

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This request for readers’ drawings and photos is rather like today’s local TV news asking for viewers to send in their mobile phone videos. “Excuse me Mr Bank Robber, but would you mind holding that pose while I do a sketch for the Graphic?”

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To guarantee Swaziland independence and sovereignty Britain and the Boers of the South African Republic had signed the Conventions of Pretoria in 1881 and of London in 1884, but by then almost all of the Swazi’s mineral rights, transport networks and land rights had been signed over to Europeans. From 1890 until 1894 Britain and the Boers effectively controlled Swaziland jointly but then Britain withdrew until after the 2^nd Boer War (1899-1902). So the answer to the question posed is not just yet but then yes for a while.

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Created in the 1880’s to debunk triskaidekaphobia, the Thirteen Club hosted dinners of 13 people to cock a snoot at the superstition that one of the guests would die within a year. This meeting in 1890 included P T Barnum who died (cue spooky music and pregnant pause)… 16 months later! Ah well, it could have been a good story.

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“Gawd bless her Majesty and all who sail in her.“ Queen Victoria, the last of Hanoverian monarchs, came to the throne in 1837 at the age of 18 and stayed there until her death in January 1901. Who is that lurking behind the tree in the Osborne garden drawing? He looks suspiciously like her Majesty’s very good friend John Brown to me.

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The writer of this proposal to build a Hall of City Companies in London was H W Brewer who was famous for his architectural illustrations that included aerial views of cities and imagined pictures of cities as they were in times gone by. Worth a look on Google images.

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Launched in 1874 the SS Britannic was the first White Star Line ship with that name (the 2^nd was the sister to a certain Titanic). In 1881 it ran aground in fog off Ireland, and having been re-floated, sprung a leak and was beached at Wexford Bay. In 1887 she collided with the SS Celtic off New Jersey and 6 steerage passengers were killed outright and another six were later found to be missing having been washed overboard. The incident in this article followed 3 years later. In 1899 she was taken over by the Royal Navy and used as a troopship for the Boer War at the end of which she was condemned and scrapped.

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These adverts for books include Mark Twain’s latest ‘A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court’ and Wilkie Collins’ final novel ‘Blind Love’ which the author left unfinished when he died the previous September – it was completed by Walter Besant. Collins’ penultimate novel ‘The Legacy of Cain’ (1889) is also offered. Jerome K Jerome’s Stage Land is misrepresented as a travel book.

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I hope this article about Jamaica’s so called Dignity Ball doesn’t offend anyone. It is presented as an example of the incredible racist and patronising attitude of British Victorians to their colonial subjects, which, by the way, continued to a lesser degree to within my living memory. 

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The Influenza Pandemic of 1889/1890 spread from China and Siberia to most of Europe and the USA. It hit London in December 1889. This pandemic was mild – only 1 million deaths compared to the estimated 20-50 million deaths in 1918/20.

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It’s about time someone invented the ASBO!

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The Bi-unial Magic Lantern was basically 2 lantern systems mounted vertically to allow the projectionist (or lanternist) to superimpose or dissolve from one slide to another. A skilled lanternist could create an illusion of movement similar to those pesky little repeating ‘gifs’ that crop up on some websites.  

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“By Gad, Sir! No more baggy trouser knees! Hurrah! The greatest invention to grace mankind since the self-waxing moustache! Pass the brandy!” 

Random Ad - Ovaltine Rusks (1960's)

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All together now -

"We are the Ovaltineys, little girls and boys

Make your requests, we'll not refuse you

We are here just to amuse you

Would you like a song or story?

Will you share our joys?

At games and sports we're more than keen

No merrier children could be seen

Because we all drink Ovaltine

We're happy girls and boys."

Random Cutting - German/Irish Plot (1918)

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It is now accepted that The German-Irish Plot of May 1918, in which Sinn-Fein were supposed to be conspiring with German Intelligence to start an armed revolt in the province, was in fact a set up job by British Intelligence and used as an excuse to arrest and imprison many Sinn-Fein members. It ultimately proved to be counter-productive because Sinn-Fein sacrificed many of its more moderate members while ensuring the hard-liners such as Michael Collins stayed free. As shown in the clipping Eamon De Valera, later President of the Irish Republic, was arrested. He was imprisoned, but escaped from Lincoln Gaol in February 1919.

Port Stanley Airport bombed

Sunday Mirror dated Sunday May 2^nd 1982

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For 140 years the Argentineans said that the British had no right to the Falkland Islands and on April 2nd 1982 they invaded. On April 5^th a Task Force of Royal Navy ships set sail for the region, By May 1^st South Georgia (which up until 1985 was part of the Falkland Islands) had been re-taken, but Margaret Thatcher’s ‘rejoicing’ was premature as it took until June 14^th before the Argentineans surrendered along with the loss of 907 lives.

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The first Avro Vulcan delta-wing bomber went into RAF service in 1956 and was designed to deliver both conventional and nuclear bombs. The last Vulcan was built in 1965 and the type was decommissioned from the RAF in 1984. To get from their base in the Ascencion Islands to the Falklands and back the Vulcans had to be re-fuelled in mid-air 8 times. The re-fuelling planes also had to be re-fuelled themselves on route.

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The Union Flag is better known as the Union Jack although should only be called so when flying over a ship, the Flag of St George is England’s official flag - a red cross on a white background, the Council of Europe flag has 12 gold stars arranged in a circle on a dark blue background and, probably the least familiar is the English Standard which has 3 elongated gold lions stacked on a red background. Quite why the Local Council was wasting valuable time discussing this publican and his flag waving is beyond me.

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Tom Baker played the eponymous ‘Dr Who’ from December 1974 until 1981 and met Lalla Ward, who took over the role of his assistant Romana from Mary Tamm in 1979. They married in 1980 but divorced in 82 and Tom later married Sue Jerrard who had been an editor on the same programme.

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As it was and still is – unfortunately.

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This is taken from the September 1980 interview with David Sheff published in the January 1981 Playboy magazine.  

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As it states in the article there was no danger to road or rail users and presumably the Keeper knew when the next train was due, so it’s all a bit of a non-story really.

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‘One Step Further’ by Bardo was 1982’s Eurovision Song Contest entry for Britain and came 7^th. 

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Tony Knowles was in the top 16 ranked players for 7 years from 1983 and reached the World Championship semi-finals on three occasions but never the final. Steve Davis on the other hand won the World Championships 6 times.