Advert - Rex Coronation Souvenir records (1937)

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On 12th May 1937 the Coronation of King George VI was held at Westminster Abbey. This advert was published on 13th may 1937.

Note that the records came with a full-colour picture label e.g.

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 - Olympia Motor Show (1935)

17th October 1935

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The future King Edward VIII, as Prince of Wales, opening the Olympia Motor Show on 16th October 1935.  

If you were in the market for a shiny new 1936 car then why not try the Riley Kestrel 6 at £450 and only £7 10s a year road tax? Rover had 9 models ranging from a 10 horsepower model at £248 to a 14hp at £415. The cheaper Austin range had 12 models between £120 and £187 or 20hp Alvis for a whopping £800. 

For those must have accessories who could resist a trip meter which computes average speed  and times the car over a set distance down to 1/5th of a second?

Random Cutting - The Princesses see Shakespeare (1938)

February 4th 1938

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The Queen, Princess Elizabeth and Princess Margaret having just seen the Old Vic production of Shakespeare's 'A Midsummer Night's Dream' on February 3rd 1938. It starred Robert Helpmann as Oberon, Vivien Leigh as Titania and the cast included Ralph Richardson and Anthony Quayle.

Random Ads - Royal Wedding stuff (1981)

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Prince Charles and Diana Spenser's wedding in July 1981 spawned a good many pieces of memorobilia. Here we have three examples - stamps, a medallion and coins. All guaranteed to last longer than the marriage?

Duke and Duchess of Windsor Wedding (1937)

Daily Mirror dated Friday June 4th 1937

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He had been Edward VIII, King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, Emperor of India from January 20th 1936 until his abdication on December 11th 1936 when he chose a life with American divorcee Wallis Simpson over the Throne. He left England to live in Austria until Mrs Simpson's divorce was made absolute, then on June 3rd 1937 they married at the Château de Candé, near Tours in France. They remained married until his death in 1972.

On the back page there is mention of a telegram from 'veteran trade union leader Ben Tillett', which seems a little odd until you remember Edward's outspoken support for the workers and poor during the early 1930's.

Duke and Duchess of Kent Wedding (1961)

Daily Sketch dated Friday 9th June 1961

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Another Royal wedding. Edward, Duke of Kent was born in 1935, his father was George, Duke of Kent who was a son of George V and killed on active service in 1942. Edward's bride was Katharine Worsley, a descendant of Oliver Cromwell, and they married at York Minster on 8 June 1961. 

Charles and Di Wed (1981)

Daily Mirror dated Thursday July 30th 1981

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A fairytale wedding with an unhappy ending. The couple separated in 1992 and divorced in 1996. Diana was killed in a car-crash in 1997 and Charles re-married in 2005. 

Proclamation of King Edward VII (1901)

The Guernsey Advertiser dated Saturday February 2nd 1901

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When Queen Victoria died on the 22nd January 1901, her son and heir Albert Edward was 59 years old and had lived a 'full' life during his long wait to become King. The Coronation was set for the 26th of July but had to be postponed when he had to be rushed to hospital 2 days earlier for an appendectomy. The Coronation of Edward VII finally went ahead on the 9th of August. 

After Victoria's long and isolated mourning for her husband Albert, the popularity of the Royals was at a low ebb but Edward soon changed that by numerous public appearances here and on the Continent.

A life-long heavy smoker he died of a heart attack on the 6th may 1910 and his son became George V.

The poem which also appeared on the front page is, by modern standards, well over the top and makes the eulogies to Princess Diana look mundane.

Queen shooting drama

Sunday Mirror dated Sunday 14th June 1981

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Teenager Marcus Sarjeant fired 6 blanks froom a replica pistol at or near the Queen during the Trooping of the Colour ceremony. He was subsequently tried under the 1842 Treason Act and sentenced to 5 years in prison. He served 3 years.

Death of Queen Mary

Daily Sketch dated Wednesday March 25^th 1953

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Queen Mary was the wife of George V, mother to Edward VIII and George VI and grandmother to Elizabeth II. She was born in 1867 as Victoria Mary Augusta Louise Olga Pauline Claudine Agnes and known as Mary of Teck.

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I wonder how long this story had been waiting to be published. I imagine that Queen Elizabeth’s, the Duke of Edinburgh’s and even Prince Charles’ obituaries are sitting there even now ready for the presses to start rolling.

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There was very little space left for any other stories in this edition, but one would have made the Front page on any other day -

Three bodies found at 10 Rillington Place, Notting Hill in North London while a prospective buyer is shown round – like an episode of ‘Location, Location, Location’ written by Steve Pemberton. This was the start of the case that would lead John Reginald Halliday Christie to the gallows. See this post. 

Space Shuttle Challenger disaster

The Mirror dated Wednesday January 29^th 1986

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The front and back covers of this edition of The Mirror (as the Daily Mirror called itself for a while) were unusual in that they were printed sideways.

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This was the 25 launch of the Space Shuttle since the first orbital flight in 1981 and the 10^th using Challenger. The special commission appointed Ronald Reagan to investigate the accident found that NASA management were to blame for not heeding scientists’ warnings that the component that failed would be at risk if the launch was made in the weather conditions that prevailed on January 28^th and that they had known of a potential fault with the component since 1977. A U.S. House Committee on Science and Technology investigation came to the same conclusions.

The Shuttle program was halted until September 1988 when the program was resumed. All went well until January 2003 when Columbia broke up on re-entry. The Space Shuttle program finally came to an end in July 2011.

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L Ron Hubbard died on January 24^th 1986 following a stroke. He had made a living as an author of pulp fiction in the 1930’s and 40’s but then developed Dianetics - a way of improving an individual’s physical and mental health. Later he went on to expand these ideas into Scientology. He has been called both a messiah and a pathological liar, but what can’t be denied is that he led a fascinating life and is well worth Google’ing.

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I like the comment ‘if he hadn’t been there he wouldn’t have got hurt’. I am surprised though that he got away with keeping an axe under his bed for just such an event.

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Anne Robinson (yes, the Weakest Link Anne Robinson) waxing lyrical about Prince Charles.

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I could imagine this happening in the 1950’s but in 1986 it’s unbelievable. Could there be more to the story than is printed here, or was the Landlord really that out of touch with the world of the 1980’s? 

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Paul McCartney, Roger Daltrey, Bob Geldof and some other bloke. It says four stars but I say three stars and Phil Collins. 

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The Top 40 in all its variety. Number 3 should be ‘Walk of Life’. Number 39 is a version of one of my all time favourite Animals tracks ‘Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood’ by a group even Google hasn’t heard of - Coltello Show Confederates.

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Palace intrigue just like in the olden days. Did Princess Anne really call Princess Dianna ‘the Dope’, or not? We commoners will never know. Or care.

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The usual pre-World Cup optimism. In fact England were pushed out of the Mexico World Cup in the quarter-finals by Argentina and more specifically by Diego Maradona and his ‘Hand of God’ goal. Argentina went on to win the tournament. Gary Lineker won the Golden Boot as the leading scorer.   

The Crowning of George VI

Daily Mirror dated Thursday May 13^th 1937

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The King who shouldn’t have been. May 12^th 1937 was to have been the Coronation of Edward VIII but when George V eldest son chose marriage, to the divorcee Wallis Simpson, over the Crown, the succession passed to the second son - Albert, Duke of York. He became a surprisingly successful and popular King but ill health cut his reign short in 1952. 

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A possible question for ‘QI’ – how many Queen Elizabeth’s have we had? Allen Davis senses a trap and refuses to answer.

First time contestant Ami Childs buzzes in, “There was, like, Queen Elizabeth but that was, like, ages ago, you know, like Shakespeare and all that.”

Ross Noble bites the bullet. “Two”

Klaxon sounds.

Stephen Fry looks smug. “No. At least 3 and by some accounts 5. Queen Elizabeth 1 and 2 and GeorgeVI’s wife Elizabeth. Edward VI and Henry VII were also married to Elizabeths.”  

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Being of the peerage doesn’t make you immune to life’s troubles. Gustavus’ wife Joan died the following year and he was killed in action in France in 1940. The surviving son Gustavus Michael became the 10^th Viscount Boyne.

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£4000 is the equivalent of about £150,000 now. I thought the ‘take no responsibility for your actions and sue’ culture was something new.

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This 4 week long strike was protesting about conditions of work for London bus drivers and conductors, notably hours of work, rates of pay and a proposed speed-up of London buses. Failure to involve the Underground and Tram workers was blamed for the failure of the strike.

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Maureen O’Sullivan shot to fame as a very scantily clad Jane to Johnny Weissmuller’s Tarzan in ‘Tarzan the Ape Man’ in 1932. She went on to appear in another 50 or more films and to do a lot of TV work over the next 62 years. She died in 1998. 

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King Alfonso XIII left Spain in 1931 after the country had been proclaimed a Republic and his eldest son, also Alfonso, took the title Count of Covadonga.

In May 1937 the ex-King Alfonso severed relations with the Count, blaming him for making public assertions that he still considered himself legitimate heir to the Spanish Crown.

He married Marta Rocafort-Altuzarra in July 1937 but they were divorced in January 1938.

In September 1938 the Count was being driven home from a party in Miami when the car crashed. He died six hours later.

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Popeye had first appeared as a character in the American syndicated newspaper strip ‘Thimble Theatre’ in 1929 and this is his introduction to the UK newspaper print, although he had been seen over here in cartoon films.

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They certainly took their comic strips seriously in the 1930’s, and with the quality of ‘Jane’, ‘The Ruggles’, ‘Belinda Blue Eyes’, ‘Buck Ryan’ and ‘Gordon Fyfe’ I’m not surprised.

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For ‘candid camera pests' read ‘paparazzi’. New York Mayor Fiorello H. La Guardia was re-elected and in fact held that office from 1934 until December 1945. William Griffin was all for keeping the US out of World War II and narrowly missed being put on trial for subversion in 1942.

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One definition of ‘to croon’ is ‘to sing popular songs in a soft, sentimental manner’. So a crooner is someone, usually a man, who croons. With the advent of the microphone it was no longer necessary from a singer to sing loudly or project his voice to be heard at the back of a theatre, so a quieter more intimate style of popular singing developed as epitomised by Bing Crosby, Rudy Vallie and Frank Sinatra.