tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11595690042238718012024-03-12T19:46:51.246-07:00Tatty JacketsA journey into old books.Vickyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11713978747815185893noreply@blogger.comBlogger46125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1159569004223871801.post-20708906717536772902019-02-20T09:36:00.001-08:002019-02-20T09:50:33.158-08:00Death in the 1820s and a walk in the park<div dir="ltr">
On Sunday I went for a walk in Philips Park near Prestwich, which was muddy and steep in places but enjoyably varied. You can go from overgrown former formal gardens, to woodlands, to open views, to canal paths in under an hour (photos below). The Philips family house no longer exists on the site although some other buildings still do, as does a memorial to two of Robert and Ann Philips' eleven children. The memorial states that Elizabeth and Jessy Philips were "both born 1808" and "both died 1824". It's not clear from the inscription whether the twins died from the same cause or even together in an accident of some sort (leading to some grim speculation as to whether they both fell out of the huge tree behind the memorial) so I decided I needed to stop my imagination running away with itself and find out more.<br />
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This led to an evening of searching the local birth, marriage and death notices from 1824. A straightforward search of digitised editions of The Manchester Mercury turned up one of them:<br />
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<i>11th May</i><br />
<i>On Saturday the 8th instant, after a lingering illness, at her father's house, at the Park, in Prestwich, in the sixteenth year of her age, Elizabeth Lucy, seventh daughter of Robert Philips, Esq.</i><br />
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So it wasn't an accident and they didn't die in the same week (at least, it would be strange to announce the death of one sister and not the other). I now wondered, somewhat morbidly, how much longer Jessy lived without her twin. Not one to leave a readily researchable question unresearched, I decided to read every death notice from 1824. Yes sir, I can Sunday.<br />
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The notice I was looking for turned up at around 2am our time and in the weekly edition dated 16th November:<br />
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<i>On the 2d inst. At Ash Grove, Great Malvern, Worcestershire, after a lingering illness, aged 16, Jessy Anne, daughter of R. Philips, Esq. Of the Park, near this town.</i><br />
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At least I found my answer, although there's nothing tremendously remarkable in this notice beyond the connection to a place I went for a walk. Why have I written this up at all? Well, here's the notice which immediately followed it:<br />
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<i>On the 3d inst. Mr. Wilde, brass-founder, Wigan, son of Mrs. Wilde, of Bolton. His death was occasioned by washing his feet in cold water, whilst in a state of perspiration.</i><br />
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Warm-water foot baths only, people, you have been warned! <br />
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You know how I said I went through every notice until I found what I wanted, and that didn't happen until mid-November? Of course I didn't do all that without taking a lot of notes. Here's a selection of other things which caught my eye.<br />
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<strong>1. This astonishingly detailed and grisly announcement of an aristocratic child's death and autopsy</strong> (I didn't find anything else like it). <br />
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<i>20th January</i><br />
<i>It is our painful duty this week to record the death of Gilbert Grosvenor, son of the Viscount Belgrave M.P. and the infant heir of the wealth and honours of the Noble House of Eaton. The lamented infant departed about half-past ten o'clock on Friday night, the 9th inst. To the great grief of his noble parents and relatives, whose attention and anxiety have been unceasing. The indisposition of the interesting infant had continued several weeks; and from the peculiar symptoms which had manifested themselves in the course of the disorder it was determined that an examination of the parts should take place, which was performed by Mr. George Harrison, surgeon, under the inspection of Doctor Thackeray. On opening the body, it appeared a considerable enlargement of the liver had taken place, which had assumed a whiter hue than is natural, and had become more dense. The abdominal viscera were much disordered, and apparently had been for some time, thus preventing the regular secretions; the bladder was completely gorged, and the lungs were slightly collapsed, but not more so than is usual after death. The brain presented the appearance of one in good health, as, with the above exceptions, did the body generally. On Tuesday morning last, the body was privately interred in the family vault in Eccleston Church. - The funeral was attended by Lord Belgrave, Earl Wilton, and the Hon. Robert Grosvenor.</i><br />
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<strong>2. Lots of people reaching a grand old age</strong>, leading to comments on the ages of surviving relatives, past events they provided a living link to, and occasional moralising (not all that different to modern reporting on people in their 90s and <u>100s</u>). <br />
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<i>10th February</i><br />
<i>On Tuesday the 13th ult. At North Meols, near Southport, Richard Houghton, who during the greatest part of a century has been better known by the name of "Cockle Dick," He was carried to his long home by his son, grandson, and two neighbours, whose united ages, together with that of the deceased, amounted to 355 years; the deceased being 98 years of age, his son 58, grandson 40, one of the neighbours 86, and the other 73.</i><br />
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<i>30th March</i><br />
<i>On the 22d inst. Nancy Froggatt, of Brierly-street, in this town, at the very advanced age of 103. - Much to her credit, she did not apply for parochial relief until about [sic] years ago, although she had a just claim, but remained satisfied with the free bounty of her neighbours and friends; a laudable example to those who fly to the Parish for pecuniary aid on the approach of every trying worldly circumstance.</i><br />
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<i>6th April</i><br />
<i>On Saturday week, in her 85th year, Elizabeth, relict of the late Mr. John Sidebottom, of Mill-Brook, near Mottram-in-Longdendale, and mother to the respectable firm of Messrs. William and George Sidebottom and Brothers, of Broadbottom. She was one of the few remaining characters who witnessed the incursions of the Scotch rebels into that part of the country, in 1745.</i><br />
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<i>13th April</i><br />
<i>On Friday week, at the advanced age of 81, Mr. Thomas Sharples, of the Higher Sun public-house, Church-street, Blackburn. He was the oldest publican in that town, having been engaged in that occupation about 51 years.</i><br />
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<i>21st December</i><br />
<i>On Friday week, at Altrincham, greatly respected, Mrs. Ellen Rowbottom, at the advanced age of 95 - She has left behind her a numerous progeny, having lived to see four generations in her own family. - She had a most excellent memory, and could relate, with the greatest exactness, any remarkable circumstance that happened during her long life :-- Among others, she was very fond of relating the circumstance of her seeing the Duke of Cumberland come through (Ringway?), when he was in pursuit of the rebels. - She was then 15 years old.</i><br />
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<strong>3. Another multi-part family tragedy.</strong> </div>
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<i></i><br />
<i>25th May</i><br />
<i>On Sunday week, after a long and severe confinement, Mr. William Washington, of the Golden Lion, Deansgate, aged 54 years.</i><br />
<i>On the 10th inst. Elizabeth, the daughter of Mr. Washington, of the Old Golden Lion, Deansgate, aged 25 years.</i><br />
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<strong>4. Also on 25th May, this account of the funeral of a teenager who died very far from home.</strong> I'd love to know more about these students, how willingly they came to Manchester, what they thought of their education in Christianity and a "useful branch of trade" and what happened to them all.<br />
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<i>On the 19th ins. At Leaf-square academy, aged fifteen years, Drinave, one of the five Madagascar youths brought over to England a few years back for the purpose of being taught the principles of the Christian religion, as well as some useful branch of trade, with the intention of returning to their native country to communicate their acquired knowledge. On Sunday last his remains were conveyed from the academy to the chapel, at New Windsor, preceded by Dr. Clunie and the Rev. J. Preddie, the pall supported by the four remaining Madagascar youths, and followed by the whole of the students of the academy, with black crape and white favours on their arms. Mr. Preddie delivered an address to the students on the occasion, which evidently had an impressive effect; and Dr. Clunie, in the evening, preached the funeral sermon - The scene was altogether solemn and impressive.</i><br />
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<strong>5. If there's one thing I know about the early 1800s, it's that people should never travel anywhere for the benefit of their health.</strong><br />
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<i>6th July</i><br />
<i>On the 8th July, 1823, aged 41, on board the convict ship, Competition, in lat. 39. 54. South, long. 59. 37. East, on his passage, as surgeon on board, to New South Wales, Mr. G. Clayton, late House Apothecary at our Infirmary, which situation it was advisable for him to relinquish from his declining state of health, to resume his valuable services upon the element which was deemed more congenial to the peculiar state of his constitution. - He was highly respected by an extensive circle of friends, by whom and his relatives his early dissolution will be much lamented.</i><br />
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<strong>6. Finally, this elderly gentleman deserves to be singled out from those above on the grounds of GOTH GOALS.</strong> <br />
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<i>7th September</i><br />
<i>At Bawdrip, near Bridgewater, aged 90, William Crossman. He had kept his coffin by him for 50 years, and used it </i><i>as a cupboard.</i><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj07WRU8pByt1yVtmU-G7pJGgYz_v966m5UyEPcvYve4UkDcP5L3kW12gUbp4T6DmCDJdcbnhCAEUJVE8gLwABzFmRb55_6lhv0SjG5Lafi9DUm51Q78ICgkYgqB9xs0TZhANPLSdN8M1Ew/s1600/IMG_20190217_142729.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Photograph of a wide variety of different shrubs, covering a large slope behind a stagnant-looking artificial pond." border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="1600" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj07WRU8pByt1yVtmU-G7pJGgYz_v966m5UyEPcvYve4UkDcP5L3kW12gUbp4T6DmCDJdcbnhCAEUJVE8gLwABzFmRb55_6lhv0SjG5Lafi9DUm51Q78ICgkYgqB9xs0TZhANPLSdN8M1Ew/s400/IMG_20190217_142729.jpg" title="Formal gardens" width="400" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsz3OdAOOXPiPswVZL4aRZksXTyK0AW7OjcpvVLxs3txsicXoQmS0zQhSNYOv7Q8cBQLEIKgoNVMcAVVQvCLMdVRhOp9eYJnRbOBKzUOuOVBMQOZPDq3YjutyjCE4Dxj1NqlsOR2-UPF78/s1600/IMG_20190217_144804.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="A long, level viaduct in the middle distance, showing 9 of its arches, with a flat expanse of grass and a modern electricity pylon in the foreground." border="0" data-original-height="1201" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsz3OdAOOXPiPswVZL4aRZksXTyK0AW7OjcpvVLxs3txsicXoQmS0zQhSNYOv7Q8cBQLEIKgoNVMcAVVQvCLMdVRhOp9eYJnRbOBKzUOuOVBMQOZPDq3YjutyjCE4Dxj1NqlsOR2-UPF78/s320/IMG_20190217_144804.jpg" title="Viaduct" width="320" /></a></div>
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Vickyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11713978747815185893noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1159569004223871801.post-39688202837584219492015-03-26T11:16:00.000-07:002015-03-26T11:16:43.949-07:00I finished! So, er, what now?This blog had to die for a while as I got stuck into the final write-up stage of the PhD and now that I've finished and the thesis has been examined and approved (woohoo!) I'm not sure what to do with it. I want to do... something different. It started as a way of motivating myself to make sense of odd sources I found at fleamarkets and so on, but I want to do more than contribute to the growing mountain of "content" and clickbait which does little more than say "look at this weird thing - isn't the past just soooo quirky".<br />
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I want to talk more about how sources can be manipulated and how we understand and work around the inevitable gaps in our evidence. I'd also like to talk about how we're increasingly coming to terms with gaps which were previously largely unacknowledged - the fact that there is such a lack of diversity in the most dominant voices, or the biases and assumptions that shape all accounts, primary and secondary.<br />
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I'm not sure yet how to achieve this in the short, nugget format of blog posts. I'm also frankly terrified of writing something that might come back to haunt me later on. While I'm fairly sure I've got the backbone to admit that I was wrong about something when presented with new information, I still want to make sure that everything I write has been thought through as best I can. Plus, now that I'm "done", I've got job-hunting, preparing things for publication, further job-hunting, additional research, figuring out which conferences I can afford to go to and yes more job-hunting to fill my time.<br />
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In short, goodness knows what will actually get done here but I'm going to have a proper crack at making it count.Vickyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11713978747815185893noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1159569004223871801.post-47131487502559239462014-01-15T02:17:00.001-08:002014-01-15T02:17:47.138-08:00Moritz visits the British Museum<br />
Today is the <a href="http://www.britishmuseum.org/whats_on/255th_anniversary.aspx">255th anniversary</a> of the opening of the British Museum to the public. The first few decades of tours were not without their problems, and there's a <a href="http://www.britishmuseum.org/pdf/8.pdf">great account</a> available on their website of the mounting discontent at delays in getting tickets and at the lack of information available to the visitors being hurried through the collections.<br />
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Twenty-three years after it opened, German writer Karl Philipp Moritz gave this account of his visit:<br />
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<blockquote class="tr_bq">
I have had the happiness to become acquainted with the Rev. Mr. Woide; who, though well known all over Europe to be one of the most learned men of the age, is yet, if possible, less estimable for his learning than he is for his unaffected goodness of heart. He holds a respectable office in the museum, and was obliging enough to procure me permission to see it, luckily the day before it was shut up. In general you must give in your name a fortnight before you can he admitted. But after all, I am sorry to say, it was the rooms, the glass cases, the shelves, or the repository for the books in the British Museum which I saw, and not the museum itself, we were hurried on so rapidly through the apartments. The company, who saw it when and as I did, was various, and some of all sorts; some, I believe, of the very lowest classes of the people, of both sexes; for, as it is the property of the nation, every one has the same right (I use the term of the country) to see it that another has. I had Mr. Wendeborn’s book in my pocket, and it, at least, enabled me to take a somewhat more particular notice of some of the principal things; such as the Egyptian mummy, a head of Homer, &c. The rest of the company, observing that I had some assistance which they had not, soon gathered round me; I pointed out to them as we went along, from Mr. Wendeborn’s German book, what there was most worth seeing here. The gentleman who conducted us took little pains to conceal the contempt which he felt for my communications when he found out that it was only a German description of the British Museum I had got. The rapidly passing through this vast suite of rooms, in a space of time little, if at all, exceeding an hour, with leisure just to cast one poor longing look of astonishment on all these stupendous treasures of natural curiosities, antiquities, and literature, in the contemplation of which you could with pleasure spend years, and a whole life might be employed in the study of them - quite confuses, stuns, and overpowers one. In some branches this collection is said to be far surpassed by some others; but taken altogether, and for size, it certainly is equalled by none. The few foreign divines who travel through England generally desire to have the Alexandrian manuscript shewn them, in order to be convinced with their own eyes whether the passage, “These are the three that bear record, &c.,” is to be found there or not.</blockquote>
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- <i>Travels in England in 1782</i></div>
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And here's a picture of by far my favourite exhibit in the museum, Hans Schlottheim's mechanical galleon.</div>
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Vickyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11713978747815185893noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1159569004223871801.post-907505026430398572014-01-05T01:51:00.000-08:002014-01-05T01:53:05.322-08:00Things I didn't know about Darwin<br />
I've been reading <i>The Voyage of the Beagle</i>, the account of his travels which rightly brought Charles Darwin fame and praise as a writer as well as a naturalist. He wrote for a non-specialist readership, but it's still not exactly light reading. It has however given me a completely different view of a man whom I usually picture sitting quietly in a Victorian study, peering at fossils over his enormous white beard. All the passages below are from 1832, when the Beagle was surveying the Eastern coast of South America, and due to the way he groups his observations, the locations given aren't always related to the events. Here he is, in the fine tradition of English tourists, failing to master an important local skill:<br />
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<b>Entry from July 26th</b>, travelling inland from Maldonado, Uruguay<br />
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The main difficulty in using either lazo or bolas is to ride so well as to be able at full speed, and while suddenly turning about, to whirl them so steadily round the head, as to take aim: on foot any person would soon learn the art. One day, as I was amusing myself by galloping and whirling the balls round my head, by accident the free one struck a bush, and its revolving motion being thus destroyed, it immediately fell to the ground, and, like magic, caught one hind leg of my horse; the other ball was then jerked out of my hand, and the horse fairly secured. Luckily he was an old practised animal, and knew what it meant; otherwise he would probably have kicked till he had thrown himself down. The Gauchos roared with laughter; they cried out that they had seen every sort of animal caught, but had never before seen a man caught by himself.</blockquote>
As well as the fish-out-of-water humour, Darwin gives his readers an insight into the sheer joy of discovery.<br />
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<b>Entry from April 19th</b><br />
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During the remainder of my stay at Rio, I resided in a cottage at Botofogo Bay. It was impossible to wish for anything more delightful than thus to spend some weeks in so magnificent a country. In England any person fond of natural history enjoys in his walks a great advantage, by always having something to attract his attention; but in these fertile climates, teeming with life, the attractions are so numerous, that he is scarcely able to walk at all.<br />
[...]<br />
Nature, in these climes, chooses her vocalists from more humble performers than in Europe. A small frog, of the genus Hyla, sits on a blade of grass about an inch above the surface of the water, and sends forth a pleasing chirp: when several are together they sing in harmony on different notes. I had some difficulty in catching a specimen of this frog. The genus Hyla has its toes terminated by small suckers; and I found this animal could crawl up a pane of glass, when placed absolutely perpendicular. Various cicidae and crickets, at the same time, keep up a ceaseless shrill cry, but which, softened by the distance, is not unpleasant. Every evening after dark this great concert commenced; and often have I sat listening to it, until my attention has been drawn away by some curious passing insect.</blockquote>
<b>July 5th</b>, travelling from Rio de Janeiro to Montevideo<br />
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As soon as we entered the estuary of the Plata, the weather was very unsettled. One dark night we were surrounded by numerous seals and penguins, which made such strange noises, that the officer on watch reported he could hear the cattle bellowing on shore. On a second night we witnessed a splendid scene of natural fireworks; the mast-head and yard-arm-ends shone with St. Elmo's light; and the form of the vane could almost be traced, as if it had been rubbed with phosphorus. The sea was so highly luminous, that the tracks of the penguins were marked by a fiery wake, and the darkness of the sky was momentarily illuminated by the most vivid lightning.</blockquote>
It isn't all pleasant reading, of course. His views on slavery are frustrating: humanity and self-awareness when describing personal interactions, but a general unwillingness to condemn the system.<br />
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<b>April 13th, </b>on an estate called Socego, Brazil<br />
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One morning I walked out an hour before daylight to admire the solemn stillness of the scene; at last, the silence was broken by the morning hymn, raised on high by the whole body of the blacks; and in this manner their daily work is generally begun. On such fazendas as these, I have no doubt the slaves pass happy and contented lives. On Saturday and Sunday they work for themselves, and in this fertile climate the labour of two days is sufficient to support a man and his family for the whole week.</blockquote>
<b>April 14th</b>, having travelled to "another estate on the Rio Macae"<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
While staying at this estate, I was very nearly being an eye-witness to one of those atrocious acts which can only take place in a slave country. Owing to a quarrel and a lawsuit, the owner was on the point of taking all the women and children from the male slaves, and selling them separately at the public auction at Rio. Interest, and not any feeling of compassion, prevented this act. Indeed, I do not believe the inhumanity of separating thirty families, who had lived together for many years, even occurred to the owner. Yet I will pledge myself, that in humanity and good feeling he was superior to the common run of men. It may be said there exists no limit to the blindness of interest and selfish habit. I may mention one very trifling anecdote, which at the time struck me more forcibly than any story of cruelty. I was crossing a ferry with a negro, who was uncommonly stupid. In endeavouring to make him understand, I talked loud, and made signs, in doing which I passed my hand near his face. He, I suppose, thought I was in a passion, and was going to strike him; for instantly, with a frightened look and half-shut eyes, he dropped his hands. I shall never forget my feelings of surprise, disgust, and shame, at seeing a great powerful man afraid even to ward off a blow, directed, as he thought, at his face. This man had been trained to a degradation lower than the slavery of the most helpless animal.</blockquote>
There's a useful-looking map of the voyage <a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/42/Voyage_of_the_Beagle.jpg/800px-Voyage_of_the_Beagle.jpg">here</a>.<br />
<br />Vickyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11713978747815185893noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1159569004223871801.post-49681681258203309332014-01-04T13:50:00.000-08:002014-01-05T01:17:24.434-08:00Would time travel make historians redundant?<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">This is a transcript of my first piece for the <a href="http://poddelusion.co.uk/blog/2013/05/24/episode-188-24th-may-2013/">Pod Delusion</a> podcast, back in May last year.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">________</span></div>
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Right then class, settle down please.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Now,
at the risk of making history unacceptably “relevant” and
“accessible” to you all, I'd like to start off this session with
a short creative exercise.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">If
you could travel back to any point in human history, to answer one
question, when would you go and what would you want to find out?
Personally, I'm as obsessed with the Tudors as the BBC seems to be,
so I'd use it to discover what Queen Elizabeth I was really like and,
in particular, ask what she thought of the possibility of using
artificial insemination to produce future heirs to the throne. But I
wouldn't - in fact couldn't - use it to complete my PhD in history
any quicker. Not just because I work on Nazi Germany, and the risk
assessment form for that trip would take months to complete.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">There
are many straightforward questions that we could answer with a time
machine. We could find out for sure who or what killed the princes in
the tower. With some very careful positioning we could establish if
there really was a female Pope. We could park it on the grassy knoll
and learn very little indeed about the assassination of President
Kennedy. These questions are intriguing and engaging but they are
not the sort of concerns that are central to academic history.
Establishing “what really happened” is only a tiny part of what
historical research is about. What really motivates the discipline is
why things happened, and what effects this had. The gathering of
facts can only take us so far in this. The real work lies in the
interpretation of source material, and in writing this up as a
coherent account which people can actually use.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">When
it comes to those really big events that every schoolchild (and all
of you) should know about – the French Revolution, for example –
sending a historian to observe things as they unfold would not
produce a definitive, completely accurate history. One person can
only do so much and what particular aspects they recorded would
depend on who we sent back and what they thought was most important.
The result would be just one more biased eyewitness account; more
useful for learning about the historian's own mindset and priorities
than those of eighteenth-century French citizens.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">What
really drives history are factors that can't easily
be observed from the ground, and only emerge with hindsight: tensions
between different groups in society, the ways that people measure
success in their lives, generational conflict, the extent to which
people trust authority; all of these have an impact on events,
arguably more so that the “great men of history”. This,
incidentally, is why I wouldn't use my turn at time travel to kill
Hitler, or even send a robot assassin after his mum; you can pull
down a lightning rod but it won't make the storm go away.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">So
maybe my future career as a historian is more under threat from
time-travelling social scientists?
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">I'm
still not worried, and not for boring, practical reasons such as the
fact that time travel is, sadly, impossible. No, the final, crucial
task of the historian, the task which is currently making me tear my
hair out and discover new, innovative methods of procrastination, is
the task of actually writing a history. Take something we have a lot
of information on: the riots that took place in London in 2011. We
could, from CCTV, camera phone and news footage, figure out pretty
much the exact movements of everyone involved, and we could also interview
them later about their motives. But how would we synthesise this mass
of data into a manageable, useful account? Which parts are open to
other interpretations? What's the actual story here? Does it lie in
the events themselves or in people's reactions to them? What bearing
might this have on future events, and what does all of this tell us
about our society and how much or little we've progressed since the
“olden days”? This is what the process of history research and
writing is all about, and, as I've hopefully made clear, every
resulting work of history has its own omissions and biases, and opens
up a world of questions for the next wave of researchers.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">And
so class, that brings me on to your homework. If you could put
together a time capsule to tell people hundreds of years from now
about the London riots, what would you include? Would you go for
camera footage, rolling news reports, police reports, witness
accounts, or testimony from the resulting trials? Would you consider
the reactions of people not directly involved to be at all relevant?
Would you include newspaper opinion pieces from the weeks afterwards,
or maybe from the one year anniversary? Would you go back to before
August 2011 and include information on social tensions, race
relations or maybe on modern consumer culture? Think through this
properly and you'll have a better understanding of what's involved in
the research and writing of good history than many of those
responsible for the survival of the discipline.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Class
dismissed.</span></div>
Vickyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11713978747815185893noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1159569004223871801.post-7793536350394809652014-01-04T12:54:00.002-08:002014-01-04T12:54:18.499-08:00Writing tips from Benjamin Franklin<br />
The following strikes me as a fantastic exercise for anyone who has some time to invest in improving their writing. I certainly have trouble expressing ideas in my own words when working from a set of lengthy quotes (which is unfortunately what most of my source notes and first drafts consist of). Based on the essays I'm marking at the moment, my students also struggle with finding "their own words", and either "string together" a "series of short quotes" which "roughly express" the idea they are "aiming at", or they plump for the most academic-sounding vocabulary and wind up making no sense at all.<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
About this time I met with an odd volume of the Spectator. It was the third. I had never before seen any of them. I bought it, read it over and over, and was much delighted with it. I thought the writing excellent, and wished, if possible, to imitate it. With this view I took some of the papers, and, making short hints of the sentiment in each sentence, laid them by a few days, and then, without looking at the book, try'd to compleat the papers again, by expressing each hinted sentiment at length, and as fully as it had been expressed before, in any suitable words that should come to hand. Then I compared my Spectator with the original, discovered some of my faults, and corrected them. But I found I wanted a stock of words, or a readiness in recollecting and using them, which I thought I should have acquired before that time if I had gone on making verses; since the continual occasion for words of the same import, but of different length, to suit the measure, or of different sound for the rhyme, would have laid me under a constant necessity of searching for variety, and also have tended to fix that variety in my mind, and make me master of it. Therefore I took some of the tales and turned them into verse; and, after a time, when I had pretty well forgotten the prose, turned them back again. I also sometimes jumbled my collections of hints into confusion, and after some weeks endeavored to reduce them into the best order, before I began to form the full sentences and compleat the paper. This was to teach me method in the arrangement of thoughts. By comparing my work afterwards with the original, I discovered many faults and amended them; but I sometimes had the pleasure of fancying that, in certain particulars of small import, I had been lucky enough to improve the method or the language, and this encouraged me to think I might possibly in time come to be a tolerable English writer, of which I was extremely ambitious.</blockquote>
<div style="text-align: right;">
- The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin</div>
<div style="text-align: right;">
(<a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Autobiography-Benjamin-Franklin-ebook/dp/B0083Z40N2/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1388868114&sr=1-1&keywords=benjamin+franklin+autobiography">Free Kindle edition</a>)</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
I don't normally go in for autobiographies but Franklin's is a thoroughly enjoyable read, containing a lot of useful pointers for getting people to cooperate in your schemes (in case any of you wish to set up a local militia, subscription library or fire service).</div>
Vickyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11713978747815185893noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1159569004223871801.post-42232610807574349442012-11-06T05:46:00.001-08:002012-11-06T05:51:44.668-08:00Old News, Nottingham 1862<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>From the<i> Nottinghamshire Guardian</i>, Friday Nov. 7th, 1862.</b></div>
<br />
GUY FAWKES DAY IN LONDON. - Wednesday being Guy Fawkes Day, collisions were expected between the Garibaldians and the Irish, but the weather being very wet, coupled with a dense fog, no disturbance took place.<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: right;">
<br /></div>
ELOPEMENT. - The greatest consternation has been caused in a very small village about three miles east of Market Harborough by the elopement of a young lady with a rustic butcher. An acquaintance had by some means or other sprung up between them, and on Saturday night last the lady, as usual, attended prayers in the family circle, and was with the family between 11 and 12 o'clock. While she was performing her usual household duties the gay Lothario went by train to Rugby, where they arrived in time for the mail train and proceeded to London. By 8 o'clock the "fast knot" was tied. A brother went after them in the evening and found them comfortably housed for the night.<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: right;">
<br /></div>
THE DISTRESS IN LANCASHIRE.- The distress in Lancashire has still further extended during the past week. According to the report of the Central Executive Committee, dated Monday, there are now in the twenty-four Unions of the Cotton Districts, 182,401 persons entirely out of employment, and only 58,638 in full work, the remaining 119,712 factory operatives being on short time. The loss in wages to the work-people suffering from the famine is estimated at £136,094 per week. [...] Englishmen in Egypt, Buenos Ayres, and Bengalore have also testified their sympathy with their distressed fellow-countrymen at home by sending handsome subscriptions; and other new sources of aid at home and abroad are also daily springing up. One of the most welcome and seasonable donations is a gift of 2,000 tons of coal, by three firms of colliery proprietors at Pendleton. The Ashton and Oldham colliery proprietors have also promised to contribute 3,500 tons of coal.<br />
<br />
<br />
A man named George Brown died at Ramsgate a few days ago at the advanced age of 101. For a considerable time past he had been in the habit of taking daily excercise.<br />
<br />
<br />
J. H. MORGAN THE CONFEDERATE GUERILLA [sic] CAPTAIN.- Morgan as a citizen in times of peace, maintained the reputation of a generous, genial, jolly, horse-loving, and horse-racing Kentuckian. He went into the Rebellion <i>con amore</i>, and pursues it with high enjoyment. He is about thirty-five years of age, six feet in height, well made for strength and agility, and is perfectly master of himself; he has a light complexion, sandy hair, and generally wears a moustache, and a little beard on his chin. His eyes are keen, bluish grey in colour, and when at rest, have a sleepy look, but he sees every one and every thing around him, although apparently unobservant. He is an admirable horseman, and a good shot. As a leader of a battalion of cavalry, he had no superior in the Rebel ranks. His command of his men is supreme. While they admire his generosity and manliness, sharing with them all the hardships of the field, they fear his more than Napoleonic severity for any departure from enjoined duty. [...] <i>Thirteen months in the Rebel Army. By an Impressed New Yorker.</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i>_ _ _ _ _ </i><br />
<i><br /></i>
NOTES:<br />
<span style="text-align: right;"><b>Guy Fawkes Day</b> - I like the term 'collisions' instead of 'clashes'. The burning of effigies on the 5th November seems to have been a focus for religious tribalism and violence for a lot longer than I imagined. At least most of the injuries these days are accidental, unlike what happened to <a href="http://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/cgi-bin/paperspast?a=d&d=DSC18700328.2.22.26">this little girl</a> in 1869.</span><br />
<span style="text-align: right;"><b>Elopement</b> - </span><span style="text-align: right;">Although it's a century too late to be a '</span><a href="http://www.georgianlondon.com/fleet-marriages" style="text-align: right;">fleet marriage</a><span style="text-align: right;">', I can't pass up this opportunity to link to John Southerden Burn's 1833 </span><a href="http://archive.org/stream/fleetregistersco00burniala#page/n1/mode/" style="text-align: right;">book</a><span style="text-align: right;"> </span><i style="text-align: right;">The Fleet Registers</i><span style="text-align: right;">, which is well worth a quick browse. It's a shame we don't know the age of the young lady in question; I wonder at which point newspapers started obsessively providing the age of everyone they report on..?</span><br />
<div style="text-align: left;">
<b>The Distress </b>- There's a short BBC article <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/local/manchester/hi/people_and_places/history/newsid_8461000/8461414.stm">here</a> on the riots in Stalybridge, one of the areas worst hit by the Cotton Famine caused by the American Civil War. </div>
<span style="text-align: right;"><br /></span>
<span style="text-align: right;">_ _ _ _ _</span><br />
<span style="text-align: right;"><br /></span>
<span style="text-align: right;">OBLIGATORY HORSE PICTURE:</span><br />
<span style="text-align: right;"><br /></span>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4c/John-Hunt-Morgan-and-horse.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4c/John-Hunt-Morgan-and-horse.jpg" width="204" /></a></div>
<span style="text-align: right;"><br /></span>
<span style="text-align: right;"><br /></span>Vickyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11713978747815185893noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1159569004223871801.post-62464868070221818692012-09-23T06:08:00.000-07:002012-09-23T06:08:56.145-07:00Interpretation<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjR173hsT8LHdbTKOW0jTzv4M1SOOitd08N7aKpVyO4d0t9knj342CDOSw_fAUaYKuc3yZlKt0yxlwyTcnKkfcBVLdBQltsklV7MU5X1cnDr6TbtZQ1sBYK85ho-4lHKPTNwEY6AVJrnB0/s1600/german+soldier+wtf.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjR173hsT8LHdbTKOW0jTzv4M1SOOitd08N7aKpVyO4d0t9knj342CDOSw_fAUaYKuc3yZlKt0yxlwyTcnKkfcBVLdBQltsklV7MU5X1cnDr6TbtZQ1sBYK85ho-4lHKPTNwEY6AVJrnB0/s400/german+soldier+wtf.jpg" width="277" /></a></td></tr>
<tr style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Image via <a href="http://tywkiwdbi.blogspot.co.uk/2010/06/wwi-german-soldier-with-cat-on-his-head.html">tywkiwdbi</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
This photograph clearly illustrates the feelings of emasculation felt by
many soldiers of World War One, as the encroachment of women into
traditional male territory quite literally meant that they were no
longer 'wearing the trousers' (<i>Hosentragend</i>). The expression on
the soldier's face is a mixture of pride and bemusement; something
experienced often by troops at the front line as they attempted to come
to terms with their role as defenders but also as killers. His pose is
carefully arranged, either by himself or the photographer, with bayonet
pointing down to pristine black jackboots, most likely in a conscious
foreshadowment of the street violence and extreme politics in which many
of their comrades were to be embroiled post-1918. The cat - it would be
naive to assume that it is by coincidence alone a <i>black</i> cat - is
a reference both to fate and to the increasingly fatalistic attitude of
the men, as the world they knew was crumbling
around them, while the photographer's decision to include the outhouse
in the background suggests a subconscious acknowledgement that the world
in which they moved at that time, similar to this analysis, was replete
with <i>Mist</i>.</div>
Vickyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11713978747815185893noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1159569004223871801.post-76324238958530650002012-04-01T16:02:00.006-07:002012-09-23T06:09:34.038-07:00Reading for the Reich<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; text-align: left;">This set of advertisements to promote reading was offered to booksellers by the </span><i style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; text-align: left;">Bund Reichsdeutscher Buchhändler</i><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; text-align: left;">. They're taken from <i>Börsenblatt für den deutschen Buchhandel</i>, February 1936, and I wish I'd taken better photos.</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2bT2Xagt6E7BAY9sPYspe2o2fYQAso_khUzn6URwZ24QBqjqzzF8oTnSHN6ggktzrmzrOurxhGIiaT-lYHOD8ZK2XxE6Gqq1STpDjGhr42NhCLnwOvf1wWaEy8qPPWo4Qa51S9FGRn934/s1600/read+more+07.jpg" style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: 100%; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5726573951587852642" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2bT2Xagt6E7BAY9sPYspe2o2fYQAso_khUzn6URwZ24QBqjqzzF8oTnSHN6ggktzrmzrOurxhGIiaT-lYHOD8ZK2XxE6Gqq1STpDjGhr42NhCLnwOvf1wWaEy8qPPWo4Qa51S9FGRn934/s400/read+more+07.jpg" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 243px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 400px;" /></span></a><br />
<div style="color: black; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2bT2Xagt6E7BAY9sPYspe2o2fYQAso_khUzn6URwZ24QBqjqzzF8oTnSHN6ggktzrmzrOurxhGIiaT-lYHOD8ZK2XxE6Gqq1STpDjGhr42NhCLnwOvf1wWaEy8qPPWo4Qa51S9FGRn934/s1600/read+more+07.jpg" style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"><br /></a></div>
<br />
<div style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: 100%;">"Your books are your best friends" </span></div>
<div style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: 100%;"><br /></span></div>
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWzVlqaUOW_2V-FXnl-9qtXf_QF_N7fT7ScpQP5_KMlrNFjg5FCRFNnX0qS8i2tr2j_au2xZjMsa98zSYrxbRFI0WF-9RElPNwhg8EWD6IIdyYxLPLIFVvDCmvnBK0cXFHpHSijbFbN79e/s1600/read+more+06.jpg" style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: 100%; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5726573948795642386" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWzVlqaUOW_2V-FXnl-9qtXf_QF_N7fT7ScpQP5_KMlrNFjg5FCRFNnX0qS8i2tr2j_au2xZjMsa98zSYrxbRFI0WF-9RElPNwhg8EWD6IIdyYxLPLIFVvDCmvnBK0cXFHpHSijbFbN79e/s400/read+more+06.jpg" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 180px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 400px;" /></span><span style="font-size: 100%;"></span></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2bT2Xagt6E7BAY9sPYspe2o2fYQAso_khUzn6URwZ24QBqjqzzF8oTnSHN6ggktzrmzrOurxhGIiaT-lYHOD8ZK2XxE6Gqq1STpDjGhr42NhCLnwOvf1wWaEy8qPPWo4Qa51S9FGRn934/s1600/read+more+07.jpg"></a><br />
<div style="color: black; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px;">"Benefit from the experience of others, read technical literature!"</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjf25g-MQMv9TrNP7vd47qbmb5qP-FdjC26xQcPsIM_dOQZerSj0FEk63jn5HHfgqYObzxHknJ9aXdrP9vlqVMD0TBHvWdcYjfgEzCakLPk8vDJQoOioRn8HCO_ndVRkrjOyPM6oPwP7DpB/s1600/read+more+04.jpg" style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5726573941775440130" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjf25g-MQMv9TrNP7vd47qbmb5qP-FdjC26xQcPsIM_dOQZerSj0FEk63jn5HHfgqYObzxHknJ9aXdrP9vlqVMD0TBHvWdcYjfgEzCakLPk8vDJQoOioRn8HCO_ndVRkrjOyPM6oPwP7DpB/s400/read+more+04.jpg" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 400px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 381px;" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWzVlqaUOW_2V-FXnl-9qtXf_QF_N7fT7ScpQP5_KMlrNFjg5FCRFNnX0qS8i2tr2j_au2xZjMsa98zSYrxbRFI0WF-9RElPNwhg8EWD6IIdyYxLPLIFVvDCmvnBK0cXFHpHSijbFbN79e/s1600/read+more+06.jpg" style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px;"></a><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px;">"Masters: let your apprentices read books!"</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px;"><br /></span></div>
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9OF11a7jev2M5wj5aAQHU28t4_X7PtxjtN_Ki08JCqqgLGe_yaPqmz8As88yl6JwHUAQC4Y5J2Yr6BLop5xROnzIuALHaLg_clx-AgO47oNTWVulfc_9NT9tiRT2HwYOCVQLejw4qjdGu/s1600/read+more+03.jpg" style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5726573935750662466" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9OF11a7jev2M5wj5aAQHU28t4_X7PtxjtN_Ki08JCqqgLGe_yaPqmz8As88yl6JwHUAQC4Y5J2Yr6BLop5xROnzIuALHaLg_clx-AgO47oNTWVulfc_9NT9tiRT2HwYOCVQLejw4qjdGu/s400/read+more+03.jpg" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 388px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 277px;" /></a><br />
<div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
</div>
</div>
<div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px;">"Books help you through life"</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px;"><br /></span></div>
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlEvsv5SPAfLn3Po5Zkg72qqLT2wC_gaf7_B_swTYz84P1Et31n0T49y59KCxFvwbWUhyphenhyphenILwV6wm-fDXKwdT6UR4iOIuhP3VtUkhAaN6zUX_pwo30iGYeQWn3X9ahorr1vsj96aEJhcc3k/s1600/read+more+02.jpg" style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5726573933112997458" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlEvsv5SPAfLn3Po5Zkg72qqLT2wC_gaf7_B_swTYz84P1Et31n0T49y59KCxFvwbWUhyphenhyphenILwV6wm-fDXKwdT6UR4iOIuhP3VtUkhAaN6zUX_pwo30iGYeQWn3X9ahorr1vsj96aEJhcc3k/s400/read+more+02.jpg" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 291px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 254px;" /></a><br />
<div>
<div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px;">"Use your free time, read a book"</span> </div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px;">Here's that last one as part of a display:</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px;"></span><br />
<div style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;">
<div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px;">And because no part of 1930s Germany was all sweetness and light, one poster is a quote from Hitler about how he benefitted from extensive reading: " Still, nice tablecloth they've got in that window huh?</span></div>
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Vickyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11713978747815185893noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1159569004223871801.post-17855276725089289052012-04-01T11:46:00.005-07:002012-04-01T16:02:01.467-07:00Do machines eat people?<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiascmQkmfgoO4QGbbKCkULHxl4NyuIS6CGWlE5VaXzFs3Bfzo0-GMEOwdNUHBblEWEZoZ4UbJZetNSxXZ7i_FMMdWrHY17pc9LYD65JhYTWEmQBB68GyzQOt7JVdOZ_rRWdzrS_x2JEGjt/s1600/SANY8261.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 279px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiascmQkmfgoO4QGbbKCkULHxl4NyuIS6CGWlE5VaXzFs3Bfzo0-GMEOwdNUHBblEWEZoZ4UbJZetNSxXZ7i_FMMdWrHY17pc9LYD65JhYTWEmQBB68GyzQOt7JVdOZ_rRWdzrS_x2JEGjt/s400/SANY8261.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5726506410218610594" /></a><div><div style="text-align: left;"><span><span><span><span><span>"Or are they freeing them from slavery? Walther Kiaulehn's hard-hitting book "The Iron Angel" provides a chronicle of inventions from the antique to the modern age, a moving history of the spirit which created the machines, a cultural history of human work and power, a thoroughly optimistic philosophy of technology."</span></span></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span><span><span><span><span><br /></span></span></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span><span><span><span><span>Book advertisement from "Börsenblatt für den deutschen Buchhandel", January 1936.</span></span></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div></div>Vickyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11713978747815185893noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1159569004223871801.post-40822302723605624212012-03-19T02:30:00.002-07:002012-03-19T02:35:01.576-07:00The 1920s Office<div>Office machinery from "Meyers Lexicon" vol. II, 1925. </div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgff5UVQOtOZFNIMf0UJqNGbldN-XVCA7PunHh3U6R_ff8MZ9VG6OtuJmcBNdBrWP2hEau_H2aevUy_BqzwUwZdxkQT3FlOxOQvoBLRrksvsN53jVZbgvP6Ushin_VXt8J9B_LFt7eZX3IZ/s1600/SANY7551.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgff5UVQOtOZFNIMf0UJqNGbldN-XVCA7PunHh3U6R_ff8MZ9VG6OtuJmcBNdBrWP2hEau_H2aevUy_BqzwUwZdxkQT3FlOxOQvoBLRrksvsN53jVZbgvP6Ushin_VXt8J9B_LFt7eZX3IZ/s320/SANY7551.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5721539048320367490" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCj2TV4Fc6chSQqW4-m6lt1MdlR4xx4ExboBxWs4HqTK6u0_IGT8qD9Lp3JMQDDjFM4ClF5-Eus0IKf-H97jj1n5CqWBusr1h9MjopuQwZ706-QekKeCz2mVMRwyWr7eEbav7RM60o44yX/s1600/SANY7549.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 193px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCj2TV4Fc6chSQqW4-m6lt1MdlR4xx4ExboBxWs4HqTK6u0_IGT8qD9Lp3JMQDDjFM4ClF5-Eus0IKf-H97jj1n5CqWBusr1h9MjopuQwZ706-QekKeCz2mVMRwyWr7eEbav7RM60o44yX/s320/SANY7549.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5721539040541886210" /></a><div><br /></div><div><br /><div><br /></div><div><br /></div></div>Vickyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11713978747815185893noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1159569004223871801.post-64393550195200967352012-03-17T14:58:00.002-07:002012-03-17T15:06:00.638-07:00Monsters! And light bulbs<div>From "Meyers Lexikon", 7th edition, 1928. </div><div>(Follow-up to <a href="http://tattyjackets.blogspot.de/2012/03/modern-electricity-1901.html">these</a>.)</div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjONdqpDh-oHQg_eUaAdhyCQNqVk5my9ZfSpBv39AQgMvLANPTpcR20PI08cLxPekX7z7f41wIVkDKvgg1edhSvTwrcUdZRXOyyFtOqH4f9G4bCpw-AYCi6VHhYTn5RzHETsj3tgIcrH7uu/s1600/SANY7510.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 238px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjONdqpDh-oHQg_eUaAdhyCQNqVk5my9ZfSpBv39AQgMvLANPTpcR20PI08cLxPekX7z7f41wIVkDKvgg1edhSvTwrcUdZRXOyyFtOqH4f9G4bCpw-AYCi6VHhYTn5RzHETsj3tgIcrH7uu/s320/SANY7510.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5720989685316278242" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSMbA_DE8shF1GmpOp3eCAC2BEu3WHygjTOgjJzFRv8tykuucsBJrAlpXnkycsBKs6RbaCcUtXirxpv0vIBeSce7Y-EIPMdyb87mICis2zYuDwhh0d6QhXha3bPNrxPiCkGhs4XOK79u7U/s1600/SANY7508.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 162px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSMbA_DE8shF1GmpOp3eCAC2BEu3WHygjTOgjJzFRv8tykuucsBJrAlpXnkycsBKs6RbaCcUtXirxpv0vIBeSce7Y-EIPMdyb87mICis2zYuDwhh0d6QhXha3bPNrxPiCkGhs4XOK79u7U/s320/SANY7508.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5720989676462519266" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjb2l-vS329fcIadvrWzgPABsfn-RYdw5IPBWpq3PpvQQLQlOElqvNR1c9fZmFgNH0CNKYGxLCFV9oVI7rtEy-JEDWSFMnGh-Y95b1Ea-7XvQrnsLdXzE2ZZ9bgnbpnDx5waB48r0dKRP55/s1600/SANY7507.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 244px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjb2l-vS329fcIadvrWzgPABsfn-RYdw5IPBWpq3PpvQQLQlOElqvNR1c9fZmFgNH0CNKYGxLCFV9oVI7rtEy-JEDWSFMnGh-Y95b1Ea-7XvQrnsLdXzE2ZZ9bgnbpnDx5waB48r0dKRP55/s320/SANY7507.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5720989670804156786" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgdirfsD-ss1Lwk4HFX2_03Po7wyBGTah0cF0IqPgoR3YBqP_i-R_3Y-efrwy1jBT_XRdh52-2GljW1c_unCZgC-MLtWK7N-hy5w4GXkhDIlGMA2K5HNijaoqcU4fTa_zdrK8ecTXSxCrP/s1600/SANY7506.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 216px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgdirfsD-ss1Lwk4HFX2_03Po7wyBGTah0cF0IqPgoR3YBqP_i-R_3Y-efrwy1jBT_XRdh52-2GljW1c_unCZgC-MLtWK7N-hy5w4GXkhDIlGMA2K5HNijaoqcU4fTa_zdrK8ecTXSxCrP/s320/SANY7506.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5720989665935593074" /></a>Vickyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11713978747815185893noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1159569004223871801.post-53285283076374450452012-03-12T14:54:00.005-07:002012-03-12T15:41:28.057-07:00Power from Mt. Vesuvius, 1939<a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d1/Joseph_Wright_001.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 512px; height: 354px;" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d1/Joseph_Wright_001.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><div class="im" style="text-align: -webkit-auto; "><div class="im"><span>The following is a translation of<a href="http://zefys.staatsbibliothek-berlin.de/dfg-viewer/?set%5Bimage%5D=7&set%5Bzoom%5D=default&set%5Bdebug%5D=0&set%5Bdouble%5D=0&set%5Bmets%5D=http%3A%2F%2Fzefys.staatsbibliothek-berlin.de%2Foai%2F%3Ftx_zefysoai_pi1%255Bidentifier%255D%3Dddda0248-7642-4358-9ca0-24dd1482b985"> an article</a> from the Deutsche Zeitung in Nordchina (German Newspaper of North China) from 3rd October 1939. I've also found two further articles (<a href="http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=hWExAAAAIBAJ&sjid=ZyIEAAAAIBAJ&pg=5066%2C564653">here</a> and <a href="http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=F9FeAAAAIBAJ&sjid=AQMGAAAAIBAJ&dq=vesuvius%20power&pg=4530%2C3915129">here</a>) from American newspapers in 1940, which talk about a plan to generate power by heating water over fissures near the summit.</span></div><div class="im"><span><br /></span></div><div class="im"><span>What struck me most about the German article is the way that the <span style="color: rgb(34, 34, 34); ">technical language seems to take second place to the idea that this </span><span style="color: rgb(34, 34, 34); ">powerful giant is being made to bend to man's will, in an impressively </span><span style="color: rgb(34, 34, 34); ">futuristic (but suspiciously undetailed) undertaking. I would imagine that the reason for its appearance in a German paper in North China is to show the ingenuity and future self-sufficiency of one of Germany's allies, as well as being an engaging and inspirational piece of "news" in itself.</span></span></div><div class="im"><span style="color: rgb(34, 34, 34); "><span><br /></span></span></div><div class="im"><span style="color: rgb(34, 34, 34); "><span>Many thanks to Tom for his help with the technical bits.</span></span></div><div class="im"><span style="color: rgb(34, 34, 34); "><span><br /></span></span></div><div class="im"><br /></div><div class="im" style="text-align: center;"><span></span></div><blockquote><div class="im" style="text-align: center;"><span>Vesuvius Power Station Planned. Italian Engineers' Bold Project.</span></div><div class="im" style="text-align: center;"><span><br /></span></div><div class="im" style="text-align: center;"><span>By (Engineers) B. and H. Römer, Munich.</span></div><div class="im"><span><br /></span></div><div class="im"><span>Modern science and technology is constantly engaged in the pursuit of new sources of energy and it is therefore not surprising that the question of using volcanic power has come in for consideration. In the country of Italy, which is not rich in coal, people are thinking earnestly about harnessing the gigantic amounts of energy which are stored in Naples' fire-spewing mountain, Vesuvius, energy which for the moment puffs uselessly into the air.</span></div><div><div><span><br /></span></div><div><span>According to this latest project, a power station should be built in Atrio del Cavallo, the valley which extends between the 1186m high Vesuvius and the neighbouring 1120m high Monate Somma, in which the volcanic power can be put to use. From this position, man will attempt to assail the mountain and tame its fantastic, internal powers.</span></div><div><div><span><br /></span></div><div><span>From its flank, a system of pipes made from fire-proof, unmelting material are to be inserted into Vesuvius' depositional cone, to reach the chimney of the volcano. This will divert those highly pressurised gases and vapours which accumulate due to the influx of flowing magma. With the introduction of the appropriate chemical processes, these gases will be made combustible and highly exothermic and will be used to fuel gas engines. It may also be possible to collect the vapours which circulate freely about the inside wall of the crater, to direct these through superheaters, and to use them to power turbines. These turbines will in turn move dynamos, which will generate electricity for a multitude of purposes. Italian researchers have calculated that the quantity of heat Vesuvius releases into the air every year is equivalent to the heat from over 1 million tonnes of coal.</span></div><div><span><br /></span></div><div><span>Until now, it was only tourism which gave the famous Vesuvius a certain economic importance. However, through the exploitation of the gigantic, still untamed volcanic power, the mountain could gain the highest significance for Italy's energy industry. The project may today appear utopian, but one day man's ingenuity will make even this bold plan a reality.</span></div><div style="color: rgb(80, 0, 80); font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; "></div></div></div></blockquote><div><div><div style="color: rgb(80, 0, 80); font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; "><br /></div></div></div></div>Vickyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11713978747815185893noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1159569004223871801.post-83894342346323867562012-03-03T12:51:00.003-08:002012-03-03T13:03:54.278-08:00Modern Electricity, 1901<div>I feel there's something wonderful and steampunky to be done with these illustrations, but can't yet think what. They're all taken from "Die Moderne Elektrizität", by engineer O. Multhaupt (Berlin, 1901).</div><div><br /></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3XSRmdeo-4wDBofoFEh1LbBZ-GJsUxjZGvG9HdpyeQ_RKsm_Q-LKzM98BRk6mh-t8LlCBgEK3nA-4B7_Xi6invOigxlG8lJm6VdfOM-SGKx9JLA-A7v-TNiN69aJqWhw99NXFQHInzc5q/s1600/SANY7375.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 173px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3XSRmdeo-4wDBofoFEh1LbBZ-GJsUxjZGvG9HdpyeQ_RKsm_Q-LKzM98BRk6mh-t8LlCBgEK3nA-4B7_Xi6invOigxlG8lJm6VdfOM-SGKx9JLA-A7v-TNiN69aJqWhw99NXFQHInzc5q/s320/SANY7375.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5715778349578201170" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJxTX0GZn94pp_rSgV4YplRV107DZX1uGbOf27tijhxjg3vGCNfeONYBfh6AZcs7TkEtdJgXs7WqV8MhEJReBeokif7U4UpfNm7yFtY8vLqlLJC_RDuoivr0uaXuddxKEnNU_5oyHqrhl7/s1600/SANY7374.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 246px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJxTX0GZn94pp_rSgV4YplRV107DZX1uGbOf27tijhxjg3vGCNfeONYBfh6AZcs7TkEtdJgXs7WqV8MhEJReBeokif7U4UpfNm7yFtY8vLqlLJC_RDuoivr0uaXuddxKEnNU_5oyHqrhl7/s320/SANY7374.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5715778344487820418" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfY-e2KGNXlpxwArRH01RY7ANo8SjzEiwv1CHPEeCvPnuA6Oe6qOmZXGf9p3fY3QI6LQFz_AdCMTOptTYrEBksx4iCg_Vw954re6-82tTlwuevsEcn7hg7Alzo91hkdPMXrj496GftvGzt/s1600/SANY7373.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 208px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfY-e2KGNXlpxwArRH01RY7ANo8SjzEiwv1CHPEeCvPnuA6Oe6qOmZXGf9p3fY3QI6LQFz_AdCMTOptTYrEBksx4iCg_Vw954re6-82tTlwuevsEcn7hg7Alzo91hkdPMXrj496GftvGzt/s320/SANY7373.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5715778340394986498" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9DEArqTLV4Ecxp3XRYTrh_krFHtTrFirqRjdGgehQoTR9HOZIgvNfQHr4y3Sgf83T5z7G64PRZjeUbiD8zbjG9EnykGBQz1cENOtj-D8ErVRILFPUF5by5u1bLntNcRbG4xOHWvM3TXpL/s1600/SANY7369.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 267px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9DEArqTLV4Ecxp3XRYTrh_krFHtTrFirqRjdGgehQoTR9HOZIgvNfQHr4y3Sgf83T5z7G64PRZjeUbiD8zbjG9EnykGBQz1cENOtj-D8ErVRILFPUF5by5u1bLntNcRbG4xOHWvM3TXpL/s320/SANY7369.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5715778328021717474" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhK0cUOONBhGklgic-DvVYkHfx2d7x9gaLs7m6PwnGmsw0ywH9G8KKJFo0iISm8USPFRwDko2y8LDwDZbpZBGedHSZpEp-2PZ24YsFeFjSSch9dpnFZP0Kibd_b1yzyAugUIQsnKetDeJC4/s1600/SANY7368.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 274px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhK0cUOONBhGklgic-DvVYkHfx2d7x9gaLs7m6PwnGmsw0ywH9G8KKJFo0iISm8USPFRwDko2y8LDwDZbpZBGedHSZpEp-2PZ24YsFeFjSSch9dpnFZP0Kibd_b1yzyAugUIQsnKetDeJC4/s320/SANY7368.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5715778321425384642" /></a><br /><div><br /></div><div><br /></div>Vickyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11713978747815185893noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1159569004223871801.post-74617674613439347122012-02-04T09:56:00.000-08:002012-02-04T16:14:04.140-08:00Hitler wasn't racist either, but...Having written a bit about the problems of "trivialising" the Nazis last time, I hope I'm not going to come across as too flippant here. On the other hand, I didn't want to shy away from quoting Adolf Hitler directly*, as it's important to know what he said and what effect this might have had on his audience, rather than treating his words as though they'll conjure up demons. I'm not particularly satisfied with this translation, and have included the original at the end of this post for easy reference.<div><br /></div><div>Although I found in difficult to render the crucial sentence (here in bold) in English, I was struck by how similar it is to sentiments expressed quite freely in Britain today; that there is nothing wrong with other races and cultures, but that they should exist seperately and the culture and rules of one should not be forced upon another. In this case, parallels are being drawn between British rule in India and Jewish "imperialism" in Germany. Nowadays, the fact that the European way of doing things was being exported long before the (alleged) attempted introduction of, for example, Sharia Law to European countries, tends to be ignored.</div><div><blockquote>Our attitude towards other races is that of objective disinterest. Just as with the Indian people, the German people is made up of several races and tribes. The Indian people, with its four-thousand-year-old culture, has developed its own racial laws, which cannot easily be translated into a European context. Dr. Goebbels is quite right to say that it is incorrect to speak of races of lesser value. No race is inherently inferior to another; at most, the different races which populate the earth are of differing value. This applies also to the Jewish race. <b>The Jew is not inherently inferior within his own environment, but his outlook is not a good fit for the German people, and can in fact be damaging.</b> For that reason, the Jews must endeavour to live as a separate people. Each race must find within themselves their own world and this is why we are quite right to defend ourselves against another race's attempts to force their peculiarities upon us, as the Jews have done in Germany.</blockquote><div>What I want to get across here is that fact that almost nobody wants to admit to being racist. Everyone knows that racism is unacceptable. However, there are many ways to twist the definition of racism so that it happens to exclude the views that you hold and the policies you are advocating. This goes for people even as unashamedly racist as the leaders of the Nazi party, if they were called upon to account for their views: they had nothing against other races, you understand, they merely recognised that different races have different strengths and weaknesses, and will thrive better in their own habitat. They were worried that combining more than one in the same place would inevitably cause damage. Every race has the right to an area which belongs only to them and not to have alien laws and habits forced upon them. If a race such as the Jews have no place where they belong then one can be found for them but really this is their responsibility. And, partly for their own good, they can't be allowed to take up space which belongs to another race. Of course they have nothing but our good wishes, so long as they conform to this natural order, but due to the difficulties involved and their unwillingness to cooperate then if they were to... disappear from this scheme it would greatly benefit the world in years to come. But none of this is "racist"; it's just recognising the nature of things. See?</div><div><br /></div><div>There are very few self-confessed racists in the world, BUT... people still die purely because they are considered to belong to the wrong race for the bit of earth they're standing on. That fact should be what we reach for, when getting lost among the excuses.</div><div><br /></div>*These words are from official notes taken of an interview between Hitler and Indian journalist Dr. Sinha, 6th December 1935. They are quoted in an article by Johannes H. Voigt: 'Hitler und Indien' in <i>Vierteljahreshefte </i><i>für Zeitgeschichte, </i>vol. 19/1 (Jan. 1971) pp.33-63. It is not clear how accurately they record Hitler's specific phrasing.</div><div><br /></div><div><i>"Unsere Einstellung zu anderen Rassen sei die einer objektiven Desinteressiertheit. Genau wie das indische setze sich auch das deutsche Volk aus mehreren Rassen und Stammen zusammen. Das indische Volk mit seiner vieltausendjährigen Kultur habe sich eigene Rassengesetze gegeben, die auch nicht ohne weiteres auf europäsche Verhältnisse zu übertragen seien. Dr. Goebbels habe ganz recht, wenn er es als unrichtig bezeichne, von minderwertigen Rassen zu sprechen. Keine Rasse sei an sich minderwertig; die verschiedenen Rassen, die die Erde bevölkern, seien höchstens untereinander anderswertig. Das gelte auch für die jüdische Rasse. Der Jude sei an sich nicht minderwertig in seinen Anlagen, aber seine Auffassungen paßten nicht für das deutsche Volk, sie seien vielmehr geradezu schadlich, und deswegen müsse der Jude dafür sorgen, daß er für sich allein als Volk leben könne. Jede Rasse müsse ihre Welt in sich finden, und darum wehrten wir uns mit Recht dagegen, daß uns eine andere Rasse ihre Eigentümlichkeiten aufzuzwingen suche, wie es die Juden in Deutschland getan hatten."</i></div>Vickyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11713978747815185893noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1159569004223871801.post-44929937464040683322012-01-27T06:34:00.000-08:002012-01-27T08:27:43.027-08:00Holocaust Memorial Day: Thoughts and ComplicationsI wasn't going to write anything in particular for today because this isn't something I find easy to put into words in a little white box on my computer screen. It's on the one hand too complex a topic to say anything concrete about it at all (we still don't know, as an indisputable historical fact, how many people died, how, and on precisely whose orders*) but on the other hand it can be summed up quite simply: long-running prejudices, left largely unchallenged, led to the systematic murder of millions of people. However, living in Germany and studying Nazi cultural history means I think about this a lot and in connection with many other topics, and I might as well commit some of those thoughts to paper.<div><ul><li>The Holocaust is not just Nazi history and Nazi history is not just the Holocaust; although neither can you extract one from the other. An accusation often more of less explicitly levelled at historians of "every-day life" in the Third Reich is that we (I guess I'm one of them too) are "trivialising" the Nazis, particularly when trying to trace broader continuities in cultural history. By looking at what people read or cooked or how they spent their days off, we're reducing the crucial question of "how could such evil have come about?" to just one of many sideshows. The counter-accusation is that of fetishising the Holocaust; by studying it only in a certain way, sealed off from other historical currents, we run the risk of draining it of all real meaning. Detaching the events from the physical and cultural worlds in which they took place - denying that they were a product of normal humans, and normal political processes - is to make them intangible and incomprehensible.</li><li>Related to this is the issue of "learning the lesson", of "never forgetting" and of "the message". If you ask someone what that message is, they will probably say something along to lines of "never again". Probe any deeper, and everything suddenly falls apart. What shouldn't we do again? Give governments control over life and death? Allow them to remove people from next door without paying attention to where they're going? Happily let much of the popular press print story after story, systematically demonising a particular religion or minority group? Vote for a man with a small moustache?</li><li>Sometimes, it seems that the main "lesson" to be learned is not to dress up in Nazi uniform or have any kind of fun while invoking that particular set of shared associations. I agree with Jennifer Lipman (who wrote<a href="http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/jenniferlipman/100132897/what-school-textbooks-cant-tell-you-about-the-holocaust/"> this</a> in the Telegraph today) that it would be nicer all round if people didn't do that kind of thing, and that it is a probable indication of a general lack of awareness. However, returning to my first point, the Nazis were not *only* mass-murderers. As a group they were also self-important, deluded, frustrated, crowing, bullying, pathetic... humans. They built themselves up as something greater than everything that had gone before and as the fathers (and mothers) of a new, better world order but, in the end, they were wrong and they were human. They deserve ridicule, not that hushed, fearful awe which so easily morphs into respect. The more people making fun of the mere idea of them, the more they can be kept spinning in their graves, and the less easy it is for groups wanting to emulate them to gain any kind of traction**. I'm not worried about people playing Nazi-themed games on a skiing holiday. I'm worried about people very carefully planning to plant home-made bombs in areas with high immigrant populations and paint neo-Nazi slogans on the resulting headstones. I doubt there's much overlap.</li><li>The other thing which the above article displays is the emphasis on visits to former concentration camps - primarily Auschwitz - as the best method of "understanding" the Holocaust. There's an assumption that if you haven't been there then you won't "get it", and that making people go will make them somehow "experience" "it" and (as I feel Lipman is implying) change their behaviour in accordance with this increased respect and understanding. I've never visited the Ground Zero of the Holocaust or any of the other former camps. I'd definitely learn something if I went - I'd have a greater understanding of the spaces people moved in, of the numbers, of the lack of privacy, of the dehumanising impact of the surroundings. But the Holocaust was not just in the camps. It was on packed freight trains, station platforms, on trams and on foot; it was in every city, town and village in Germany and occupied Europe. It was in the empty houses the victims left behind and the tragically hopeful letters they sent to their relatives. It was in every aspect of life from the laws which people supported and the brief economic prosperity they enjoyed, down to the desperate fugitives in their neighbour's attic and the second-hand clothes they received when their houses were bombed. The Holocaust was everywhere and in everything, and it certainly can't be "got" by a group of warmly-dressed, well-fed tourists looking at a gas chamber, before putting into practice their legal right and physical ability to turn around and walk away.</li></ul><div><div>I have no way to conclude all of this except to say that I could spend my whole life studying the Holocaust and would still never claim to understand it. Nor would I criticise anyone for spending less time studying it than whatever is generally considered to be sufficient for a historically-aware citizen. Every one of the myriad factors and processes leading to the Holocaust is still in existence today in some form and in many different combinations. They are unavoidable aspects of humanity. We need to constantly be aware of them and prevent them from combining in such a way as to cause discrimination, suffering and death on anything like the same scale. The Holocaust is an example of what can happen; arguably the worst of many examples from history. To those with no personal connection, that's all it ever can be.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>*Too many, horrifically and unnecessarily, and on the orders of people whose politics should never, ever be re-adopted.</div></div></div><div>**Making fun of fascism is not a worrying new trend but has happened for as long as there have been fascists to make fun of. Was Charlie Chaplin or the designer of <a href="http://www.oddee.com/_media/imgs/articles/a55_redarmy.jpg">this poster</a> guilty of trivialising events? It's only wrong when we assume that people are doing it out of ignorance or a lack of empathy, which really isn't for anyone else to judge.</div>Vickyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11713978747815185893noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1159569004223871801.post-32618259872459181452011-09-14T14:37:00.000-07:002011-09-14T15:20:34.724-07:00Snippets - Seaside Fun in 1830s Lytham<div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div>The local history I was taught at school in Lytham St.Annes seemed to consist of a flood, a lifeboat disaster, and the building of a church in the middle of a lot of sand-dunes. They never told us about the fun, frolics and nutty stunts. These stories are all taken from the <i>Preston Chronicle</i>.<div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><br /></span></div><div><div></div></div><blockquote><div><div>Walking Backwards. - On Tuesday last, at Lytham, George Edwards, a man of colour, walked backwards a distance of 10 miles, in one hour and 49 minutes, on a piece of ground half a mile in extent. He has also performed the task of taking up with his mouth, from the ground, 100 potatoes, one yard distance from each other, in forty-three minutes and 42 seconds, returning with each potatoe to the starting place. (Saturday July 30th, 1831)</div></div><div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "></span></div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><br /></span></div><div><div>Swimming Feat. - On Tuesday last, Dr. Bedale, of Manchester, in compliance with his previous anouncements, exhibited in presence of several hundred spectators, some of his peculiar and surprising feats in the waters of the Ribble. Soon after twelve o'clock, he appeared in a boat a short distance below Penwortham bridge, and having provided himself with a suitable garment, his legs were tied together, and he was thrown headlong into the stream, from which he soon rose and floated in different postures with the apparent lightness of a log of wood, and without any perceptible exertion. In this manner, and afterwards in a variety of postures, he swam and floated towards Avenham and returned with t</div><div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "></span></div></div><div>he ebb, to the gratification of the curious. In the afternoon he proceeded to Lytham to confer a similar gratuitous treat upon the visitants to that place, where he would find a wider scope for his skill in "wrestling with the ocean wave." (Saturday August 13th, 1831)</div></div><div><br /></div><div><div>Bathing Exploits. - Sunday last, being one of those midsummer hollidays, with a high tide, of which the lovers of country excursions and salt water usually take advantage, a vast number of both sexes, and of all ages, set off for Lytham at an early hour, in carts and other vehicles, as well as on foot, "to lave their lim</div><div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "></span></div></div><div>bs in ocean's briny flood." About 60 individuals however, with greater pretensions to taste than to seek locomotion, by these every day-means, resolved to enjoy an aquatic excursion to the same destination ; and sweating, and puffing under a load of finery, they embarked, full of glee and expectation, at the Marsh end, on board the Lytham Packet and stood down the river. All appeared to betoken a day of genuine pleasure ; but, as fortune would have, it the Captain of the Packet and his mate had newly taken command, and not having sufficiently studdied Hamilton Moore's navigation ; while following their vocation of "spinning yarns," in this town ; being, in other words, fresh water sailors, before they had completed a third of their voyage, they ran the vessel upon a sand-band, to the g</div><div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><br /></span></div></div><div>reat alarm and chagrin of the passengers. There she stuck as fast as the obelisk, and after numerous attempts to gether off, which helped to bed her the deeper in the sand, the gay assemblage had but the alternative to stay aboard for the next tide, or submit to the dreadful necessity of making their way on shore, upon Longton Marsh, in the best way they could. The latter was, after a sage council of war, preferred, - and some of the females waded, and some were carried on shore, to the infinite detriment of their holliday garments. One lady in a lutestring dress was fairly soused under water, without having had the trouble to go so far as Lytham ' and divers were the mishaps to shoes, stockings, bonnets, and their etceteras. Even after landing they had new perils to encounter. The sea had left large pools and slimy ditches in the Marsh, over and through which they were force to push on as they could: they had next to scramble over dikes </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div>and hedges, and experienced "hair breadth scapes" and "moving accidents, by flood and field," before they reached the village of Longton, where they had leisure to ruminate on their adventures, and wisely come to a resolution to make the next trip to Lytham upon Terra Firma. (Saturday August 4th, 1832)</div></div></blockquote><div><div></div></div><div><img src="http://www.fashion-era.com/images/Victorians/swimearlyvics400new.jpg" border="0" alt="" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 497px; height: 400px; " /></div><div>Photo: bathers in 1834. There's more on wonderful nineteenth-century bathing suits from <a href="http://blog.modcloth.com/2010/04/20/a-brief-and-modest-history-of-the-bathing-suit/">ModCloth</a>, <a href="http://www.threadforthought.net/2010/07/06/bathing-suits-morals-technology/">Thread for Thought</a> and <a href="http://clancysclassics.blogspot.com/2009/05/bathing-costume-1834.html">Clancy's Classics</a>. </div>Vickyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11713978747815185893noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1159569004223871801.post-42371206487555162932011-08-02T14:04:00.000-07:002011-08-02T14:57:46.312-07:00History MisrememberedThese sentences are taken from "English as She is Taught", a collection of answers given by American schoolchildren, published 1887. The whole thing is available in various formats <a href="http://www.archive.org/details/englishassheista00leroiala">here</a>. These are simply the ones I liked best.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Longevity</span><br />Alfred the Great reigned 872 years.<br />Elijah was a good man who went up to heaven without dying and threw his cloak down for Queen Elizabeth to step over.<br />Luther introduced Christianity into England a good many thousand years ago. He was once a Pope. He lived at the time of the Rebellion of Worms.<br />Julius Caesar is noted for his famous telegram despatch I came I saw I conquered.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Technical Terms</span><br />Greece is divided into periods.<br />The history of Rome is wrapped in antiquity.<br />The Middle Ages come in between antiquity and posterity.<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Animals in History</span><br />Gorilla warfare was war where men rode on gorillas. [Wishful thinking?]<br />The Celts were driven out of England into Whales.<br />Queen Mary married the Dolphin.<br />The only form of government in Greece was a limited monkey.<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Personalities</span><br />Columbus knew the earth was round because he balanced an egg on the table.<br />Benedict Arnold was greatly regretted by the Americans as well as by the English.<br />Rufus was named William on account of his red hair.<br />The Britains conquered Julius Caesar and drove him ignominiously from his dominions.<br />Cromwell was only a parallel with Bonaparte.<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Did You Know..?</span><br />The Puritans found an insane asylum in the wilds of America.<br />The Habeas Corpus Act said that a body whether alive or dead could be produced in court.<br />Slavery was caused by the admission of Missouri into the Union.<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Floundering (or </span><span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">How to Answer a Question with no Information</span><span style="font-weight: bold;">)</span><br />William Penn was born in Boston in 1607. He was the first white man who founded Pennsylvania. He founded Pennsylvania because his name was William Penn.<br />Gen. Washington is famous for the Washington Monument.Vickyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11713978747815185893noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1159569004223871801.post-69162101657849635182011-06-28T16:52:00.000-07:002011-06-28T17:44:15.736-07:00Cuttings - Lancaster - June 1811<div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Two stories of military misconduct from the Lancaster Gazette, June 1811. The best thing about these for me is the presence of the words "sennight", "grazier" and "whither". Every day's a school day. Bear in mind that these events take place in the middle of the Napoleonic Wars.</div><div><br /></div><div><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7VBUbxrnVunKgFVgGwovHbDn3xtFRMC_PmIt5IkI4xBjIk2aJO-kmMkKo12WKt9BXyOpc-q8LWUCviJOKyK1EA4ckQTPW6VfbUvYB6THMkm2P7BZmXSackFDl-MUwTMZ-n8ZDQaG3aN33/s400/Lancaster+Gazette.jpg" style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 45px;" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5623424509811788434" /><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div><div></div><blockquote><div>On Friday sennight, a court-martial was held at Boston, on a private in the Local Militia assembled there, named Bilton, for having absented himself from duty, and behaving insolently to his officers - The Court sentenced him, for these offences, to the months imprisonment in the county gaol, - the first and last fortnights of the time in solitary confinement: and the man was accordingly taken under guard to Lincoln on Saturday, and delivered into custody at the castle.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div>A Lieutenant in the above regiment resigned his commission on Monday, rather than undergo a court-martial on his conduct for appearing in town to be married, at a time when he was availing himself of the excuse of illness for not joining the regiment this year. He is a considerable grazier at Pinchbeck; and when on the point of leading his intended bride into Boston church, was arrested by order of the Colonel, and taken into the field of exercise; whither, in a short time, the lady (albeit, not remarkable for modesty) followed, and demanded her gentleman; and it was with difficulty she could be scared away.</div><div><br /></div><div><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgS_v2wSHN-N5HH7-9Mb1HbG9BozfJZRN51Zu3KajfwEa-9rx_uZTKK2jvjFz39VksM7aavs0ugrJdeursSXwGRwrBO4n2sltGEfwGqSEXgcsRmNSjcsC-wgTXBOGc6kx7eXHOtILm493_W/s400/Soldiers+1815.jpg" style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 205px;" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5623434886234036162" /></div><blockquote style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Butler_Lady_Quatre_Bras_1815.jpg">The 28th Regiment at Quatre Bras</a></blockquote></blockquote><div></div></div></div>Vickyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11713978747815185893noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1159569004223871801.post-67050323413517970992011-06-25T10:16:00.000-07:002011-06-28T16:50:43.672-07:00Cuttings - Wrexham, April 1894 - Part III<div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><span class="mini"><div><span class="mini">Final clippings from the <i>Wrexham Daily Advertiser</i>, with the loose connecting theme of "cures which are clearly bonkers".</span></div><br /><br /></span><div><span class="mini">Extract from "<b>Our Ladies' Column - By one of themselves</b>", </span><span class="mini">April 28, 1894<br /><br /></span></div><div><span class="mini">"I had a paper sent to me from Cannes the other day by a doctor who is resting there on his return from the Medial Congress at ROme, and in it I find that both the "Lancet" and the "British Medical Journal" have submitted this "Champagne sans sucre" to exhaustive analysis, and they both declare that it supplies a long-felt want to the medical profession, who hitherto have been afraid to prescribe champagne to their patients because of the sugar ordinarily contained in it, but that this "Laurent Perrier sugarless Champagne" removes the objection, and in addition it is assisted in its reviving effect by the introduction of a proportion of coca leaf extract. Of course, all champagne is a rather costly and luxurious beverage, but taken in moderation, and by those thos are exhausted through illness or overwork, I do not think it will be found to be an extravagant remedy, and it certainly is a pleasant one. All these restorative luxuries I mention for the benefit of my readers, though I hope they may not require them."<br /></span></div><div></div><div></div><div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="mini"><br /></span></div><div><br /></div></div><div>Advertisement from the front page of the same edition:</div><div><br /></div><div><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVTlHd1NyJOlcCqJELGZSeXNX9-7AFXQTG2ARKD4hHFQT4dt3A0OT77Q_ln0zC9sTzLOSCMsvwekuAzo3ZfUtLxOLSJbJ6rBI4y2mhJO9jTR7kqGOUjycPF1Yh4MuACWc92A12L_hzBkBI/s400/Cigares+de+Joy.jpg" style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 364px; height: 366px;" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5621898479670484962" /></div>Vickyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11713978747815185893noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1159569004223871801.post-52630898648684574462011-06-22T01:48:00.000-07:002011-06-22T02:03:57.061-07:00Cuttings - Wrexham, 1894 - Part II<div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><span class="mini"><div><span class="mini">Following Monday's revelations of a FRAUDULENT NUN in Glasgow, the editor respectfully submits to her readers' attention further extracts from The Wrexham Advertiser and North Wales News.</span></div><div style="font-weight: bold; "><span class="mini"><b><br /></b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;font-weight: bold; "><span class="mini"><b><br /></b></span></div><b>ART AND SCIENCE, </b></span><span class="mini"><span class="mini">April 14</span><br /><span class="mini"><br /></span></span><div><span class="mini"><span class="mini">"Professor Fleming, the great authority upon electric lighting, is lecturing on the subject at the Royal Institute. He points out that in 1879 a Select Committee of the House of Commons reported that there was no reasonable scientific grounds for believing that the electric light would ever be a practical success. There are now 260 miles of mains in London, and quite 400 miles in the provincial towns."</span><div style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold; "><span class="mini"><b><i><br /></i></b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;font-style: italic; font-weight: bold; "><span class="mini"><b><i><br /></i></b></span></div><b>LOCAL NEWS</b>, April 07</span><div><div><div><div><br />"THE PHONOGRAPH - We invite our readers' attention to the phonograph which is at present on exhibition in the Blossoms Hotel Yard, Charles-street. Mr Garner, the proprietor, has a fine instrument, and the records are of a very superior kind. We have listened to several and can testify that they are exceptionally good. Mr Garner takes most of his own records, and has one of a cornet solo by Mr Lloyd, of the Blossoms Hotel. The proprietor takes more than an ordinary interest in the instrument, and his conversation concerning it shows he thoroughly understands it. No one who has an opportunity should fail to hear this marvellous invention."<div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><span class="mini"><b>FOOTBALL</b></span><span class="mini">, April 21</span></div><div><br /><span class="mini"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTHXckXfzP39_DsMOn_ecy3NlBTMzXHn0mMnlEZFeEPin7H2Krlo0o1WdMMVPsaoWyKV4fW7A4tflZ3oMTS2EoDRH2v19fywuvwQjFjBmGReHSyr8tS9Mo1JRhAAem9fp7uqjyYcNvw8z_/s400/Local+Football+Notes+1891.jpg" style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 341px; height: 205px;" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5620966316460174210" />"STOCKPORT COUNTY V. NANTWICH. - At Stockport, on Saturday. The home team, who were assisted by a stiff breeze, completely overplayed the visitors in the first half, and goals were obtained by Leigh, Smith, Hewitt, and Upton. At half-time Stockport led by four goals to none. After the interval McCoombe put on another point for Stockport. Nantwich then played up much better, but were unable to score, and retired beaten by five goals to none."</span></div><div><br /></div></div></div></div></div></div>Vickyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11713978747815185893noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1159569004223871801.post-53765287163726565022011-06-20T08:10:00.000-07:002011-06-20T08:23:44.692-07:00Cuttings - Wrexham, 1894 - Part 1From the "General News" section of the four April editions of The Wrexham Advertiser and North Wales News, 1894. I'll post cuttings from "Arts and Science", "Local News" and "Football" on Wednesday, followed by advertisements and other bits on Friday. If I get some positive feedback, hopefully I'll make this a regular thing.<br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdAUF67oLTtQejT3taXICxsOMne8Kxw-SzqFdrW6VrstTMLvuiZkEmaIgv5AgBcqy_rnM2h5YtZC_gkZqk18BJUNFzbr8Onp0FduzrhYGGLyZFwVgLIqtzRsuB4co2B4UGkN8Ly16wIrki/s1600/Wrexham+Advertiser.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 66px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdAUF67oLTtQejT3taXICxsOMne8Kxw-SzqFdrW6VrstTMLvuiZkEmaIgv5AgBcqy_rnM2h5YtZC_gkZqk18BJUNFzbr8Onp0FduzrhYGGLyZFwVgLIqtzRsuB4co2B4UGkN8Ly16wIrki/s400/Wrexham+Advertiser.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5620320835757703138" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">April 7th</span><br /><br /><span class="mini">"Alexander Douglas, <span style="font-style: italic;">alias</span> Donaldson, was sentenced to four years' penal servitude at the Old Bailey, on Monday, for bigamously marrying Annie Crump, a young woman living at Birmingham, who advertised for a husband, and from whom he obtained a number of goods and £80 which she had saved. The prisoner, who is an ex-convict, pleaded in extenuation that his victim had shown great indiscretion, but the judge remarked that the prisoner in making this statement aggravated the offence."</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">April 14th</span><br /><br /><span class="mini">"On Sunday afternoon, Mr John Hutton, twenty-three years of age, Great Orton, near Carlisle, went for a ride on his bicycle and returned after a couple of hours' spin. On dismounting he fell dead. He had been suffering from influenza, and was under orders not to do any cycling for a month or two."<br /><br />"It is announced from Berlin that in spite of the prohibition of the police, experiments have been made indoors with the bullet-proof coat invented by the German tailor Herr Dowe, who himself wore the coat and was shot at. The bullet-resisting property of the garment is said to have been proved. Herr Dowe sustained no injury."</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">April 24th</span><br /><br /><span class="mini">"The Bishop of Manchester, writing to the author of a pamphlet entitled, "A Few Plain Words to the Bishop," says that he "lives as plainly as any working man," works harder and more hours than nine out of ten of the working men, and yet is compelled by the expenses incidental to his office to spend £1,000 a year more than his official income."</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">April 28th</span><br /><br />"At Glasgow, on Monday. Sarah McCormick pleaded guilty to falsely representing herself to be a converted nun from Lanark Convent, and inducing the public to pay to hear her recite alleged shocking revelations of convent life. She was sentenced to seven days' imprisonment. A charge against "General" Evans, of the Gospel Army, of aiding in the deception, was dismissed."<br />(Also appeared in the <span class="mini"><i>Birmingham Daily Post</i> Tuesday, April 24, 1894)<br /></span>Vickyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11713978747815185893noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1159569004223871801.post-53819907817911858722011-05-31T19:16:00.000-07:002011-05-31T19:52:49.903-07:00On the cliquishness of minorities<div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div>Two quotes, out of what I assume is a huge number of similar examples. The first is Frederick the Great surveying his new Polish territory, quoted in Vejas Gabriel Liulevicius, <i>The German Myth of the East: 1800 to the Present</i> (Oxford, 2009), pp.37-8:</div><div><br /></div><div><blockquote>In 1772, he wrote to Voltaire of the Poles as the 'last people in Europe'. Likewise, he expressed dissatisfaction with the Jewish presence in the towns of the frontier provinces, concluding however that they were necessary 'on the Polish border because in these areas the Hebrews alone perform trade. As soon as you get away from the frontier, the Jews become a disadvantage, they form cliques'.</blockquote></div><div><br /></div><div>The second is from David Cameron's recent speech on immigration (which I blogged about at the time, <a href="http://violettacrisis.blogspot.com/2011/04/what-i-would-like-to-hear-in-speech-on.html">here</a>). The<a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-13083781"> full text</a> of this is on the BBC website:</div><div><br /></div><div></div><blockquote><div>In one case, an applicant applied as an 'Elite Chef' for a fried chicken shop. The main qualifying criterion was the rate of pay. So in this case, his sister, who owned the shop decided to pay him exactly the amount that allowed him to qualify. There was nothing the authorities could do and he was allowed in.</div><div>So it has fallen to this government to sort out the system - and we are completely changing the way it works so it is truly geared to the needs of our economy.</div></blockquote><div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div>Rather than suggesting that Cameron is the reincarnation of Frederick the Great, the point I'm trying to make is this: Minorities have often been attacked on the basis that they band together to help each other, excluding the majority population, and therefore securing advantages for themselves. If this does happen it's because the majority, especially in boom times, don't need to forge such close networks to deal with problems. It makes more sense to move away from home to somewhere you can find a job you want to do, which you stand a good chance of getting because you're fluent in the right language and fit in with the dominant culture there. You may not need to be around to take care of parents, elderly relatives, younger siblings and cousins, because they have full access to state services. Immigrant communities have stronger bonds because they need them. Partly as a consequence of this, and in turn causing it, groups of such workers can be very useful to the national economy, as shown by both of the above quotes.</div><div><br /></div><div><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8lcvd7rfGn6iTzsL-MgMioROpR3LiXFX2yW7_fLwjEkbkrWBqVhtAFdM9nepEfkrI_mnpub9GS8y9x4dctu2WbS3UD1h8Y6oSoAgXQ90A2PKfJ1mc_Whfw0KQKCFuDntgHGQ2xF772Kxd/s400/Freddy+and+Dave.jpg" style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 210px;" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5613078091999869842" /></div><div style="text-align: center;">No resemblance: David the Great and "Just Call Me" Freddy</div><div><br /></div><div>The problem comes when the economy contracts again, and everyone needs to fall back on their support network. Minorities may then seem to have an unfair advantage, because they are used to dealing with hardship and have informal systems in place for helping everyone in their community to scrape by. Similar to people failing means tests because they have spent twenty years in work carefully putting a little money aside each month, minority communities may end up punished for their previous organisation, thrift and hard work.*</div><div><br /></div><div>The best historical example of this would be the fate of Jewish communities in Europe. Legally barred from other professions, they came to specialise in finance and in the trade in second-hand goods. During the economic crisis following the depression, most people existed in a world of torture and deprivation, defined by these two industries. On the one hand life-savings became worthless and interest on new loans was crippling. On the other, possessions had to be sold off cheap, and essentials such as clothes and shoes bought after a lot of haggling and pleading. Because of the ways they had had to deal with previous discrimination and hardship, Jewish communities seemed to be easily profiting from Germans' misfortune. Coupled with the pervasive myth that it was a worldwide Jewish conspiracy that had caused the crash in the first place, this was a very toxic mix.</div><div><br /></div><div>Immigrants and other minorities make naturally easy targets. Politicians should be wary of criticising them, however subtly, for those same patterns of behaviour they have been forced to adopt. When stuck between a rock and a hard place, it's natural to want to give each other a leg-up.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" >*That isn't to say that majority white communities in Britain have not undergone extended periods of hardship. There are countless examples, particularly in former industrial or mining towns. My focus here is on communities who are easily distinguishable from a majority population who consider themselves to have been in that area longer.</span></div>Vickyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11713978747815185893noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1159569004223871801.post-53313297571160048422011-05-28T15:48:00.000-07:002011-05-28T15:52:49.056-07:00Sehr geehrter Herr Hitler...Fascinating latter from Hitler to a British newspaper, declining their offer to publish his thoughts on the economic crisis: <a href="http://www.lettersofnote.com/2010/06/yours-faithfully-adolf-hitler.html">http://www.lettersofnote.com/2010/06/yours-faithfully-adolf-hitler.html</a><br />I'm especially impressed by the translation, which has maintained the pompous, slightly rambling style of the original.Vickyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11713978747815185893noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1159569004223871801.post-8119459907465587272011-05-17T13:31:00.000-07:002011-05-17T13:36:38.379-07:00Find the fifth pigI'm developing a bit of a side-interest in the propaganda war that took place in the occupied Netherlands during World War Two. Consequently, coming across <a href="http://www.planetperplex.com/en/item/where-is-the-5th-pig/">this</a> via a comment under a <a href="http://www.fivechinesecrackers.com/2011/05/sun-your-super-soaraway-source-for-crap.html">Five Chinese Crackers post</a> kind of made my evening.Vickyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11713978747815185893noreply@blogger.com0