A fascinating aside into London business life in the 1880s is the assimilation of the telephone. Take this example: In a letter dated April 27 1885 from one large London solicitors, the firm printed its telephone number as part of its letterhead. The firm’s number was 1095 and genuinely there were another 1094 phones that… Continue reading It’s for you…
Month: February 2015
Royal Aquarium — no fish, a dead whale and hookers
Around the walls were 13 giant tanks for the fish. and under the floor were asphalt- and vulcanite-lined storage tanks for a total of 700,000 gallons of sea and fresh water. Not only was it to be an Aquarium, but it aimed to be a home away from home for visitors. It had a reading room with English and foreign papers, a telegraph office, cigar shop and offered even a division bell so that MPs relaxing beside the fish tanks could return to cast their votes in the House when needed.
History falls… to parking lots and shopping malls
Looking back, a chronicler of Victorian reminiscence, Donald Shaw remembered the Cremorne’s last years this way: “Cremorne in those days was a delightful resort, with an excellent band, and frequented by the most exalted of men and the most beautiful of women.”
“Her Majesty’s health was then drunk in ice water”
Early August 1851, the year of the Great Exhibition; you might be surprised the roast beef of old England was not enjoyed by absolutely everyone who could afford it and that ‘meat is murder’ was a philosophy that predated The Smiths. ‘Curious details’ of the often proximity of knackers’ yards to sausage makers is a… Continue reading “Her Majesty’s health was then drunk in ice water”