If there is an annoying thing it is for a broomhead to come off when a housewife is busy.

Feb 22, 2009 20:14

Firstly, thanks to everyone for their comments on my last post. 'Cathartic' would be an understatement.

But secondly, because not everything is about doom and gloom, I have some lovely pictures to share. They are from two publications of the 1930s, and both were found in the family archive last weekend, where they'd obviously been preserved by my step-grandmother.

The first ones come from a page of the Daily Mirror, published on Monday September 17th 1934. It's the women's page (page 23), which she had torn out and kept, though we're not quite sure why. Anyway, it's an absolutely brilliant snapshot of feminine life in the 1930s. You've got recipes, fashion reports, household tips and (best of all) an article about Meg Lemonier, a 'charming little French actress' who is also a male impersonator. I've scanned it in four over-lapping parts, so that every article can be read in its entirety on at least one of the scans.









The other side of the page is sporting news, but apart from a few pictures of very 1930s-looking rugby-players, it's nothing like so exciting. Teams win and teams lose in every era, and unless you're invested in their fortunes, it's pretty dull to read about.

Meanwhile, my second find was a souvenir programme printed to commemorate the centenary of the City of Birmingham being awarded a royal charter in 1938. The official content is again kind of dull - there's a great deal of stuff about centenary committees and awards, and a bit of stuff about decorations, floodlights and pageants put on to mark the occasion. Best of all by far, though, are the period adverts, which take up about 50% of the booklet. Click on each one to go to the gallery, and then again for the full-size version.





Birmingham Centenary souvenir programme, 1938

Front cover of a brochure produced to celebrate
the centenary of the City of Birmingham in 1938



Cadbury's advert



Electric cookers advert



Healthy living adverts



Mitchells and Butlers advert



Slumberland advert



Triplex cooker advert



Typhoo tea advert



Back cover

Jones, Mackay and Croxford housing advert. My Dad grew
up in a house pretty much identical to the one shown
in the advert in Ralph Road, Shirley.

Click here to view this entry with minimal formatting.


art deco, jffw, news and media, pictures, family, birmingham, vintage clothing

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