Peter Berthoud
Postcards of London Life in 1950 by Charles Skilton
A celebrated series of postcards depicting London Life by renowned publisher Charles Skilton crop up regularly on eBay and the like. The...
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Peter Berthoud
- Apr 8, 2018
High Suspense in Mayfair
This is what being a telephone engineer involved in 1930s London. Twice a year the steel wires which support London's telephone cables -...
Peter Berthoud
- Mar 7, 2018
Golf and Guns: London's Rooftop Playground in the 1930s
High above London, men and women were at play in 1938. Back then one could shoot guns and play golf on a rooftop. Here are some...
Peter Berthoud
- Feb 17, 2018
Hyde Park: Shepherd and His Sheep
In the 1920s and 30s a Scottish shepherd grazed his sheep in Hyde Park. George Donald travelled down each year from Aberdeen together...
Peter Berthoud
- Jan 30, 2018
1930s Advertising in Holborn
A selection of adverts from The Official Guide to Holborn 3re 1931 (published by J. Burrow & Co, Cheltenham). I enjoy the insights these...
Peter Berthoud
- Jan 27, 2018
Time Out London will be 50 this August
Time Out reaches its Golden Jubilee on 12th August 2018. On this day back in 1968 the first edition was published in London. A radical...
Peter Berthoud
- Mar 8, 2016
The Ugliest Statue in London?
Well, according to George Bernard Shaw, the famous “Wedding Cake” statue, part of the memorial to Queen Victoria, would be a contender....
Peter Berthoud
- Mar 26, 2015
Save the Porters Rest on Piccadilly
In 1861 this curious piece of street furniture was installed on Piccadilly. It stood there for over a hundred and fifty years. In the...
Peter Berthoud
- May 20, 2014
The Real Story of A-Z Maps by Phyllis Pearsall
The legend of Phyllis Pearsall, founder of Geographers' A-Z Map Company, has become controversial in recent years. The debate about...
Peter Berthoud
- Mar 13, 2014
America in London - Top Six Sights in the 1950s
In the early 1950s Charles Skilton issued a set of six postcards entitled "America in London" promising them to be "Of interest to all...
Peter Berthoud
- Mar 6, 2014
When Madame Tussaud's Tested A Commando
In 1947, 110 would be Royal Marine Commandos embarked upon a nationwide, five-day long, “personal initiative” test. Taking the initiative...
Peter Berthoud
- Feb 20, 2014
A Love Letter from Edwardian London in 36 Views
On November 18th 1904 Miss Gwen James of Glamorganshire received an unusually large quantity of post. Through her door at 22, Regent...
Peter Berthoud
- Feb 6, 2014
When Soho Local Post Issued Its Own Stamps
In 1971 the first national postal strike took place in the UK. In those days the Post Office had an absolute monopoly on the delivery of...
Peter Berthoud
- Feb 5, 2014
This is London: A World War II Souvenir That Wasn't For The Locals
In 1944 the British Council produced a souvenir photography book solely for overseas forces stationed in the UK - This is London. The 40...
Peter Berthoud
- Dec 16, 2013
A Forgotten Invention: World’s First Security Camera, London 1933
In 1933 Mr Norbury, an amateur photographer and chicken keeper, invented the world’s first security camera in London. His invention was...
Peter Berthoud
- May 14, 2013
Forgotten Images of Tower Bridge as it Might Have Been
Tower Bridge was designed to reconcile the conflicting interests of road and river traffic at a time when London was the world's most...
Peter Berthoud
- May 3, 2013
London’s Endangered Species Sculptures Saved
An eight month campaign to save Barry Baldwin’s Endangered Species sculptures at Allington House, near Victoria, London has ended. They...
Peter Berthoud
- Apr 2, 2013
Walking Every Street in Soho
I have been walking around Soho for many years and thought that I must have walked every street, I didn’t realise until very recently...
Peter Berthoud
- Mar 1, 2013
Endangered Species Sculptures in Victoria to be Saved
Barry Baldwin’s Endangered Species Sculptures at Allington House in Victoria have been spared from imminent destruction. Now they need a...
Peter Berthoud
- Jan 10, 2013
The Old Electricity Showrooms Shoreditch
The Electricity Showrooms in Shoreditch is now a bar but it was once part of a far-sighted Borough Council initiative. Eighty years ago...