East End Photographs and Drawings

[Archaic]

More Life Magazine Photos of Old London

All are from the Life Magazine link: http://www.life.com/gallery/44681/im...640354#index/0

Best regards,
Arcahic

[Stephen Thomas]

Hi Stephen, I love the colorized postcard. Who needs rose-tinted glasses?

Hi Archaic

You say colorized and I say colourised so lets call the whole thing off . I should have mentioned regarding the Ludgate Hill postcard that the Old Bailey is just offstage bottom left and the Central News Agency just offstage bottom right. Thanks for the Life Magazine pics. I especially liked the Covent Garden one. The buildings in the background are still there now thanks to the efforts of preservationists against property developers who wanted to raze the area and build office blocks. A similar battle is going on right now with the ancient site of Smithfields meat market in the north of the City though there are no old buildings to save there. The developers want office blocks and the campaigners want a sort of villagey layout.

Stephen

[Celesta]

I like the Life Mag shots! I'm going to take a look at the link right now. Thanks, Archie.

[Jason]

the guy in the sidecar looks like Alec Guiness !!

[Archaic]

Life Magazine Photos

Hi guys, very glad you liked the photos. There have been so many wonderful photos posted to Casebook over the years that it's awfully hard to know if the photos one comes across are "repeats" or not, but I didn't recall having seen these and so was hoping they'd be new to others as well.

The first time I saw the c.1900 Pub photo I thought for a second that the two women behind the bar were conjoined twins!

The 1860's "bus" photo with all the men wearing those amazing top-hats still amazes me. The psychologist in me can't help wondering what the psychological attraction to the creation and popularization of such, uh, 'generous' and 'extensive' head-gear might have been... of course, I haven't a clue...

The same goes for ladies wearing those enormous, incredibly impractical hoop skirts. I guess they sold quite a bit of fabric. Tight corsets and the later bustles which 'enhanced the posterior' are a bit more obvious- and men were still creating the styles at that time, not ladies.

The photos on this thread always impress me with the fact that men wearing Victorian-era street clothing all look remarkably similar- as long as they were of a similar class, of course. It must have been terribly difficult for the various Ripper witnesses to tell individuals apart, especially under poor lighting.

Best regards,
Archaic

PS: Stephen, old pal, where exactly was the CNA located? Can you be more specific? Thanks.

[Stephen Thomas]

PS: Stephen, old pal, where exactly was the CNA located? Can you be more specific? Thanks.

Hi Archaic

It was about where the 's' in 'Thameslink' is in the centre of this modern map on New Bridge Street which leads to Blackfriars Bridge. There's a photo of it, I think somewhere on this thread, but I can't find it. Maybe someone else will be able to post it. Note Dr Johnson's House where he wrote his dictionary in the middle of the top left quadrant and Carter Lane at the top of the bottom right quadrant which is where I worked and Kosminski frequented.

[Paddy Goose]

Mediterranian sponges at the Cutler Street Warehouse

[Archaic]

Photo: Covent Garden Market Wagons c.1870's

Thanks Stephen.

Paddy Goose, I had no idea what that man was holding, so I'm glad you explained it!

I'm not sure if this photos has been posted before; apologies if it has. It's a photo of Covent Garden Mkt, c. 1870's. Here is the description as given by the website:
COVENT GARDEN, Westminster, London. This 19th-century view shows Covent Garden as a bustling fruit and veg market. A public house now occupies the gabled building with the balcony in the middle of the picture. Photographed c.1870s.

If you wish to purchase a copy of the photo without the watermarks, or see what else this site has to offer, here is the link:

http://www.mediastorehouse.com/low.php?xp=media&xm=1766203

When I see a photo like this, my focus always goes first to the condition of the horses to see whether they look well-fed and cared for. I also look at their legs to see how their knees are holding up to the double burden of hauling a heavy load and walking on hard cobblestones and paving setts- very bad for a horse's hooves and legs.

Notice that there are large 4-wheeled covered wagons as well as the small 2-wheeled carts called "traps" or "pony-barrows". The second cart on the left, the small one backed up to the curb with small wheels, is probably what Louis Diemschutz's pony-barrow was like.

Best regards,
Archaic

[Lechmere]

Where the door is with ZEST (or something) above it is a pizza/pasta/wine bar.
Roughly where the metal looking shed roof is (or just behind it) is a pasty shop.
The open plaza area is now used for street theatre (jugglers usually) – watched by drinkers in the balcony area above the gable end.

[Archaic]

Covent Garden Question

Thanks for that Lechmere.

You know, when I saw this photo it reminded me of the part of Covent Garden I saw when I was in London about 12 years ago. I remember a large square that had all kinds of street performers. It was June and packed with people. There was a large imposing Victorian-era building at one end of the square, and I wondered what it was. It looked like the kind of building that in the States would probably be something governmental, like a Courthouse or a Municipal building. I remember because it seemed a bit incongruous to see rasta musicians and street-performers right in front of it! There were cafes, pubs, etc around the square. I'm sure it was in Covent Garden and I'm almost positive that I found it shortly after coming out of a huge Doc Marten's store.

I wonder if the photo I posted could be of the same square I visited? Does anyone one know if Doc Marten's is in that area? Or are there other squares like this in Covent Garden?

Thanks and best regards,
Archaic

[Stephen Thomas]

[ATTACH]11751[/ATTACH]

Mediterranian sponges at the Cutler Street Warehouse

Hi PG

This is the man who crossed a potato with a sponge. It tasted terrible but it really soaked up the gravy. He also invented the double breasted cardigan.

Hi Archaic

Yes, you could only have been in Covent Garden.

There's nowhere else in central London like that

[Lechmere]

I was at St Patrick's Roman Catholic Cemetery in Leytonstone today and noticed this as I walked passed. I wasn’t certain if it was THE John McCarthy but the dates seemed possible so I took a couple of snaps. And it is the right one. I hadn't seen a picture of it before.


I also happened to be just off the Highway while the London Marathon was passing this afternoon and took this one of the end of Breezer’s Hill, one of Mary Kelly’s residences.

[kensei]

Lechmere,
There were some exchanges on Casebook a year or two back about a small laminated copy of Jane Coram's portrait of Mary Kelly that I left on Mary's grave in Sept. 2008. Someone posted some photos of it many months later and I was amazed that it was still there. Can you tell me if it's STILL there?
kensei

[Lechmere]

Doesn't look like it I'm afraid

[AdamWalsh]

Great shots! I see something has opened above the ten bells- lights on and people milling round on saturday-anyone know what it is?