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Monthly Archives: July 2014
Zebras in harness
This is the main attraction. This was the story that first stopped me in my tracks taken from that page of The Graphic published that August Saturday 119 years ago. I was distracted by so many other stories on that … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged 1895, 19th century, history, hobbies, rich men, Rothschild, social history, taboos, The Graphic, Tring, zebras, zebras in harness
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Did Dickens steal Sam Slick of Slickville?
It was not looking like a success. It was meant to be an amusing satiric picture postcard of a book about the exploits of lower middle class sportsmen who aped their betters. The writing was merely meant to wrap around … Continue reading
Jack Hargreaves; new viewers start here
Jack Hargreaves died 20 years ago. The name is so plain English. It is the sort of name you see rolling up the credits of a black and white movie from the forties. Jack Hargreaves is the source material of … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged Bygones, country ways, historical research, history, Jack Hargreaves, Out of Town, Picture Post, Southern TV
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Short and sweet
Best four-line obituary ever? Not so much a death notice, more like the beginning of a novel.
What are zoos for?
That page of The Graphic from 1895 just keeps on giving. Looking across from the pheasants shocker is another piece of news that has echoes today. Right now there is a half-hearted debate about what economists might call the moneytisation … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged 19th century, Corporate events, culture, London Zoo, parliament, society
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More from The Graphic
There was more on that same page of The Graphic dated August 17th 1895 than just a review of a pheasant shooting handbook (see below). Right beside it was the news that a man who wrote the songbook of the … Continue reading
The Unmet Need
Oil is a risky business. It is not surprising to hear a geologist predict that ‘peak oil’ has past. Oil’s future will be inexorable decline. It would not shock you unduly to hear them say oil is now just “a … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged 19th century, history, how oilchanged the world, industrialisation, leisure, oil, Rockefeller: Lord of Oil, society, work
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“The pheasant flies a great deal faster than he appears to do”
Reading this book review from 1895 will almost certainly anger practitioners of what is now called animal rights. It will cause bird protection societies to tut tut about how unfeelingly cruel were our ancestors. And of course the class warriors … Continue reading
These boots are made for… limping
On one of those million and one BBC websites there is a report of this singular phenomenon from the 19th century. The website claimed for a brief time there was a fashion among women to feign a limp in public … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged 19th century, Alexandra limp, history, Prince of Wales, Princess Alexandra, royalty, taboos
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Spare the rod
You have to hope this gathering worldwide storm of populism is not a glissando towards Nazi-ism. Sure, there is a quickening in the political pulse. The disconnected nomenklatura and all-too-connected social welfarists demand that the people get to eat cake … Continue reading
Posted in Not history, Uncategorized
Tagged 19th century, Nazi, parliament, punishment, society
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