Chalk users

[caz]

Hi Archy,

Alfred was a photographer and portrait artist (and his wife Ellen died just before the ripper murders, so no doubt this will be seen as a motive and deeply suspicious ). He had a studio in Pimlico, and I have some family photographs with his studio details on the back. Curiously though, I don't think my father could have been aware of the "vanishing London" commission, because he never mentioned it to me, and it doesn't feature in the extensive family tree info, memoirs and unrelated stories he passed down to me. I only found out in recent years, as a result of my interest in this subject.

There are 120 photos in the series produced by Henry Dixon and the Bools for The Society for Photographing Relics of Old London. I think the Bools took about 24 of these, and I was able to view them in the archives of the Museum of London a few years ago.

Never thought I'd see one on a Graffiti thread.

Love,

Caz
X

[Archaic]

Hi Caz.

Thanks for the info, that's pretty cool! I've read about the Bools photographing "vanishing London". Isn't it wonderful that somebody thought to do it before the grand old buildings came down?

Were any photography-related heirlooms or stories passed down in your family?

(Or is there maybe a box filled with undeveloped glass plates in the attic? )

Thanks,
Archaic

[caz]

Here are a couple more Victorian London photographs showing graffiti.

The first photo is of the Oxford Arms, Warwick Lane, about 1875. The building looks ancient, but the graffito reminds me of a modern cartoon face...

Hi Archaic,

Having just caught up with this thread, I thought you might like to know who photographed the Oxford Arms. It was the Bool brothers, Alfred and John. Alfred Henry Bool was my great grandfather (my father's mother's father), and he and John were commissioned in the 1870s to take photos of some of London's endangered buildings.

Love,

Caz
X

[Archaic]

Hi Monty.

Did you use a particular type of chalk for your experiment?

Do you think both 'Prepared Chalk' and 'Common Chalk' might have been able to write on the original black brick?

Thanks,
Archaic

[Monty]

I found the following information about types of chalk in an 1874 book on the subject of Education.

"The indispensable article of chalk is of two kinds, common and prepared. The first sort can be bought at the druggist's, and may be cut into convenient pieces of the size of a man's thumb. Prepared chalk is sold by stationers.

I have known lecturers and teachers suffer much annoyance from not providing the right kind of chalk. The prepared chalk is best for a slate, and it is free from grit, but you cannot write upon a glazed board with it.

A wet spunge or cloth should be used only occasionally to clean the board or slate; the chalkings can be most readily removed with a common duster or piece of wash leather."

'Prepared Chalk' was both smoother and more expensive than 'Common Chalk'; it was the type sold at stationery shops rather than at the corner druggist's. It sounds like it was already cut into useable lengths. Apparently 'Common Chalk' was cheaper, came in longer cylinders (the way it came out of the mold), and could be cut to the desired length.

Question: The book states that 'prepared chalk' is unsuited to writing upon a "glazed board". I'm not sure what that is; do they mean it has a smooth ceramic glaze?

Was the black dado in Goulston Street a glazed surface?

Thanks,
Archaic

The bricks were back porous engineering brick however, around the 1920s, sepia glazed bricks were added to the entrances.

Now I experimented on these bricks and the writing came out extremely poor.

Monty

[Damaso Marte]

I just amused myself with the mental image of somebody getting dressed to go out a-murdering, and saying "oh, can't forget my chalk!"

But perhaps if the Ripper did write the GSG, it's evidence that he murdered on his way home from work, as I've seen suggested on these boards before?

[Archaic]

Types of Chalk Described In LVP Book

I found the following information about types of chalk in an 1874 book on the subject of Education.

"The indispensable article of chalk is of two kinds, common and prepared. The first sort can be bought at the druggist's, and may be cut into convenient pieces of the size of a man's thumb. Prepared chalk is sold by stationers.

I have known lecturers and teachers suffer much annoyance from not providing the right kind of chalk. The prepared chalk is best for a slate, and it is free from grit, but you cannot write upon a glazed board with it.

A wet spunge or cloth should be used only occasionally to clean the board or slate; the chalkings can be most readily removed with a common duster or piece of wash leather."

'Prepared Chalk' was both smoother and more expensive than 'Common Chalk'; it was the type sold at stationery shops rather than at the corner druggist's. It sounds like it was already cut into useable lengths. Apparently 'Common Chalk' was cheaper, came in longer cylinders (the way it came out of the mold), and could be cut to the desired length.

Question: The book states that 'prepared chalk' is unsuited to writing upon a "glazed board". I'm not sure what that is; do they mean it has a smooth ceramic glaze?

Was the black dado in Goulston Street a glazed surface?

Thanks,
Archaic

[PhiltheBear]

The sweep who cleans my chimney still uses the same system. The only difference is that the rods are no longer wooden.

Regards, Bridewell.

I sweep my own chimneys - you are right, the rods screw together and are now made of bendy plastic. I have yet to persuade any of my children to climb up the chimney though.

[Archaic]

Chimney-Sweeps

Hi Bridewell.

I was wondering why chimney-sweeps were considered "lucky omens" in Victorian times, since they had one of the worst jobs imaginable, and I found this very detailed Wikipedia article about them.

It contains excellent Victorian photos; one of an adult sweep and one of the young 'climbing boys' that assisted them. It's a bit off-topic, so I'll just post the link for those of you who might be interested:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chimney_sweep

Best regards,
Archaic

[Bridewell]

Nowadays

Hello Ken. You're very welcome.

Did you notice how the long handle of chimney-sweep's brush has been broken down into half-a-dozen bundled wooden rods?

Best regards,
Archaic

The sweep who cleans my chimney still uses the same system. The only difference is that the rods are no longer wooden.

Regards, Bridewell.

[Archaic]

Hello Ken. You're very welcome.

Did you notice how the long handle of chimney-sweep's brush has been broken down into half-a-dozen bundled wooden rods?

And my eyes keep going to the toes of his boots; they're bent back at the toe and all covered in ashy soot.

What an eye Thompson had! I wonder if he was thinking ahead to our day when he documented the sights of 1870's London?

Best regards,
Archaic

[The Grave Maurice]

Fantastic photos, Bunny. Thanks very much.

[Archaic]

Victorian Photos with Grafitti

Here are a couple more Victorian London photographs showing graffiti.

The first photo is of the Oxford Arms, Warwick Lane, about 1875. The building looks ancient, but the graffito reminds me of a modern cartoon face.

The second photo is by John Thompson in the 1870's. I find this one very intriguing. One bit of grafitto gives the chimney sweep a chalk "halo", but the grafitto beside it, just over his left shoulder, depicts a human skull... I've always wondered whether Thompson framed the photo like that deliberately?

I expect he did, because he was a photographic genius. And the cute little boy looks like he stepped out of a Charles Dickens novel.

Best regards,
Archaic

[Archaic]

Have to say this sentence is one of the funniest things I've read on the Casebook (and there are a few) causing me to burst out laughing as I lay in the dark, thinking of this column.

Hi Beowulf.

Here's hoping some people don't read that wrong.

Archaic

[Beowulf]

Mike:

"Maybe."

Ripperology in a nutshell!

The best,
Fisherman

Have to say this sentence is one of the funniest things I've read on the Casebook (and there are a few) causing me to burst out laughing as I lay in the dark, thinking of this column.