Contents of a Middle-Class Preston Household, 1859

 

 

From the Preston Chronicle, February 26th, 1859.

 



Night Soil for Sale in Preston

 

 

From the Preston Chronicle, Saturday, February 26th, 1859

 

The address of Henry Ashcroft, Pottery Hill, was very close to the Wharf where this valuable manure of night soil* and street sweepings** was lying.  Unless it was well covered, the stench must have been appalling.

 

 

*Human excrement, collected by the 'night soil' cart from privies.

 

**Horse and other animal excrement.



J Franks - Preston Optician and Lens Grinder

 

 

From the Preston Chronicle, Saturday, July 11th, 1846



Intricate Memoriam Card

Edwardian Actresses in Gorgeous Dresses No. 2

Miss Jessie Bateman, posted in 1906.

Lily Brayton, posted in 1910.

Miss Gertie Millar, posted in 1905.

Miss Gabrielle Ray, posted in 1908.

The first 'Edwardian Actresses...' post can be found here.

Happy New Year!

 Posted December 31st, 1910.

If this is an aeroplane, it doesn't appear to have a cockpit, engine or propeller, so perhaps it's a type of glider. 

Pre-1914 card.

Pre-1914 card.

Posted in 1925.

Posted in 1908.

Posted from Brussels in 1952.

Happy Christmas No. 3

 c.1910-1920

c.1901-1910

Pre-1914 card.

Posted in 1913.

Posted from the Transvaal, South Africa, from A.J. Harding who was 'out here making a fortune'.

Ski-ing in (Vintage) Style

Happy Christmas No. 2

American card, I'm guessing pre-1920ish.

Sent Christmas 1912.

Pre-1914 card.

Pre-1914 card.

Sent Christmas 1911.

Pauper in Court for Giving Rations to Her Sister

From the Preston Pilot, March 5th, 1842.

This article took my breath away, it reads like an episode from a Dickens novel.

Happy Christmas No. 1

Pre-1914 card, it is likely that it was not produced as a Christmas Card but that the greeting was added later.

Posted December 24th, 1906.

Posted from Bergen, Norway, December 1958.

Facial Hair lost in Gas Explosion

From the Preston Chronicle, January 3rd, 1846.

 

Mr Gillibrand appears to have been relatively fortunate; other accounts of gas explosions which I have read so far often report a fatality.

The Perils of Third Class Travel

 

From the Preston Chronicle, August 17th, 1844.

 



A "Séance" at the Skating Rink, Preston 1877

 

From the Preston Herald, Saturday, February 3rd, 1877.

 

This show presented the effects created by so-called 'mediums' but here clearly defined as illusions, rather than results of interaction with the dead.





Fred Ryedale's Dainty Little Ladies

I haven't been able to find out any further information about this group.  I assume they were touring performers, possibly in the late 1910s or early 1920s.

Joubert Park, Johannesburg, 1909

Posted April 26th 1909 to Miss R.A. Dunn, Goodwood, Chichester, Sussex.

'Dear Cousin,

This is a very pretty park and some of the flowers and walks are magnificent.  We are just commencing our winter now.  Your affect. Cousin Will.'

Coded Message No. 3

A postcard posted in 1903 from Peckham.  Only part of the message is coded; I believe it's Morse Code, but suggestions and further clarification would be gratefully received.

Face of the card.

Reverse.

Home Sweet Home: Edwardians

The little boy is wearing quite an outfit!  The sign in the window says 'Howay Pianoforte Tuning Expert and Musical Instrument Repairer'.  Posted from Pulham in December 1908 to: Miss E.E. Holt, Woodlands, High St, Lowestoft, Suffolk.

The message reads:

'Dear E,

There is just a photo of our house with Pop standing at the gate.  How are you all fond love to Aunt and Uncle. Yours Jessie.'

The girls' dresses vary in their fanciness according to age - assuming that they are from the same family.  Note the female servant standing in the doorway.

The lady pictured is possibly 'E. Anderson' who has signed the reverse and has written: 

'To dear Clarrie with love and best wishes.

Each cloud has a silver lining,

Though we may not see its light;

The sun has not ceased its shining,

Though hidden awhile from our sight.'

The Perfect Figure: Corsets, Girdles and Rupture Belts

All adverts from Lancashire Life Magazine, Vol IV, Number 5, June, 1956.

This last product, in particular, looks extremely uncomfortable. 

Blackpool No. 2

Carnival, Tower Ballroom, Blackpool

Posted on 28th September 1926 with a large 'Say It By Telephone' postmark to: Miss Ivy Casson, 28 Hutchinson St, Stockton on Tees.

The message reads:

'Dear Ivy,

We are having a good time and it is nice weather.  We were in this place and saw some kiddies you would have liked it remember me to you [sic] Mother with Best Love Doris xxx from Anne'

Pre-1914 postcard.  A closer view of Maxim's Flying Machine is in this previous post.

Posted 19th July 1936 to: Master D. Wheway, Stanley House School, Bristol Rd, Birmingham.

The message reads:

'Arrived 11 o/c.  Leaving 12. tonight so shall have a good day.  Very blowy.  Much love M + D.'

I don't remember a lake like this in the 1980s, when we went to Blackpool for days out, but I do remember going on a ride called 'The Rafts' or something similar, which could have been constructed within the former lake.  

A photograph originally taken during daylight which has been doctored to present a night scene.  I'm not sure that all of the 'illuminations' added in were actually real, e.g. the spaces between the balustrade in the foreground.  Also, if you look at the 'illuminated trams' shaped like boats, it's obvious from the scale of the people standing right next to them that they are actually cars underneath the added paint!