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!”
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