Tag: http://schemas.google.com/blogger/2008/kind#post
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Saturday Snapshots of Privies and Prams!
This Victorian earth closet makes me think there;sa lot to be said for progress! This, as some of you probably know, is a picture of a Victorian ‘privy’ or ‘earth-closet’, with a couple of chamber pots stored on either side, and candles to provide some light. You’ll find this particular privy in the yard at Birmingham…
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Talking Trains with John Betjeman
The older I get, the more I like John Betjeman, especially his prose, and particularly Trains and Buttered Toast, an anthology of his radio talks, mostly from the thirties, forties and early fifties. The subject matter is varied, but his enthusiasms are apparent: Victoriana, seaside towns, great British eccentrics, churches. Despite his campaigns to preserve…
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Johnson According To Bainbridge
When I worked on the local paper in Lichfield I attended the Johnson Supper a couple of times, and covered the Birthday Celebrations, which involved a procession and service by his statue in the Market Square. Now I’m a volunteer in the city’s Oxfam Book Shop, which is next door but one to the Johnson…
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Beauty Tips From An Old Penguin
Looking beautiful in the 1950s must have been a full-time job for a woman. Even at night there was no let-up. You were advised to sleep with an elasticated band tied ‘fairly tightly’ under your chin and knotted on top of the head (to prevent a double chin), to don bed socks and cotton gloves…
The Book Trunk 