East End Photographs and Drawings

[Cogidubnus]

I remember hard little 'sweets' called Parma Violets. They came in a roll, were quite small and hard and crunchy, and did indeed (to my childish imagination anyway) taste of violets (plus they were of course violet in colour).

Remember them well from way back when...You can still buy them, though they've grown in size...same flavour though and still a favourite!

Dave

[lynn cates]

cheapjack

Hello Bunny. Wasn't "cheapjack" also a slang term for "inferior goods"?

Cheers.
LC

[jason_c]

My thanks to Harry for posting the link with the old Thomson photographs of London street life.

I've been looking closely at the one showing a man selling items from a standing tray. It's a wonderful photo and I've meant to post it before, because a thought occurred to me regarding Liz Stride.

First off, note an interesting detail: the salesman has as an enormously tall orthopedic "elevator" shoe on his right foot to make his two legs the same length.

If you enlarge the photo and look closely, his tray reads:
Prevention Is Better Than Cure
Try Our New Cough Preventative
PEPPERMINTS
And directly below his tray a little banner reads: COUGH LOZENGES

I can't for the life of me figure out what the cloth hanging down below that is for...it appears to be a white cloth with something dark in the middle of it- any guesses?

OK, here's my Liz Stride tie-in: I couldn't help but wonder if there was any similarity between this kind of product- Victorian peppermint cough drops hawked by street pedlars- and the little "cachous" that Liz was holding in her hand when she died. (Peppermints would certainly make one's breath smell better than many of the rather bitter ingredients typically used in cachous.)

Early hygiene products were often marketed as having important "medicinal" qualities. That ploy convinced more people to buy them, because it justified their expense.

> How closely would the police have examined the "cachous" in Liz's hand to determine if they were actually peppermint-flavored cough drops, candies, etc?
Could "cachous" have been a more generic term than we tend to think of it today?

I wonder if Liz bought her little packet of "cachous" from a similar street vendor?

Thanks,
Archaic

Im assuming his right boot is for reasons of deformity. The other boot (mostly hidden) doesnt look as large.

[Bridewell]

I noticed the 'Poor Jo' poster too. It's a theater advertisement, probably for some inexpensive local theater. The poster says "Theatre" at the top, but can't make out the first word of its name. It almost looks like "Clark Theater", but that's just a guess and that name doesn't ring a bell.

Regards,
Archaic

Wasn't "Poor Jo" a character in Bleak House? "Cloud" Theatre? "Cloth" Theatre? Might the hanging cloth(s) be impregnated with menthol or something similar to ease congestion ?

Regards, Bridewell.

[Cogidubnus]

Theatre

I think it's the Globe Theatre, which had opened in 1868 and closed in 1902 - it was on Newcastle Street.

Dave

[Archaic]

Hello Bunny. Wasn't "cheapjack" also a slang term for "inferior goods"?Cheers. LC

Hi Lynn.

Yes; you're right. It's not hard to see how the slang terms for an itinerant peddler and for his wares could come to be the same. Impoverished peddlers must have sold very cheap and most likely "inferior" goods, because it would have been the cheapest stock for them to buy in the first place.

I suppose this would be especially true of the peddlers who traveled around, because once they had successfully disposed of their low-quality merchandise they could just move on. They didn't have to worry about developing customer loyalty or a regular customer base.

Cheers,
Archaic

[Archaic]

Little Jo & Oldest Dickens Film

Wasn't "Poor Jo" a character in Bleak House?

Hi Bridewell.

I suppose the show "Poor Jo" being advertised really could be about Dickens' little crossing-sweeper! Pathos certainly appealed to Mid-Victorian audiences, and small-time theaters were quick to cash in on popular topics or popular works.

I don't know if any of you saw this news story last month, but it appealed to me because I'm a Dickens fan. The oldest known Dickens film has been discovered; it's 111 years old and guess which famous Dickens character it features?

Poor Jo from Bleak House! It's only one minute long and well worth watching. Rob & Monty might like its portrayal of a policeman on his beat, shining his lantern in dark corners. Good article too.

1901 Dickens Film: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/c...-was-made.html

Cheers,
Archaic

[Beowulf]

That film was really interesting. Thank you for the upload. Wonderful to see something so early, gee, 1901.

For some time now I've wondered if there are any very early films of London that might show Whitechapel in earlier times.

Does anyone know if there are such ones? Of any sort?

btw, going to California for couple of days, my greatest regret is that I will not be able to sit here at my computer and pour over all this very interesting stuff on JTR.

But I will bring my book, Autumn of Terror.

[Archaic]

c.1900 Films of London

Hi Beowulf.

Here's a few old films from YouTube.

"Blackfriars Bridge (1896)": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fABILtla_lE

"Petticoat Lane (1903)" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=smXKyg0Qk0g

"Old London Street Scenes (1903)": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v-5Ts_i164c

Enjoy sunny California!
Archaic

[Beowulf]

Wow. Petticoat Lane was my fav, sure was interesting to see the faces of those who lived in that area at that time. Thank you.

and everyone of them mugging for the camera, lol.

Going to Morro Bay to see Hearst Castle, no castle by English standards but impressive all the same. I hear it's haunted (..) lol.

Wonder if there are any more films that people could find of Whitechapel itself...!

[Simon Wood]

Hi Beowulf,

Hearst Castle is a monument to obsession.

Orson Welles had it nailed.

You will be fascinated.

Regards,

Simon

[Bridewell]

The Film

Hi Bridewell.
I don't know if any of you saw this news story last month, but it appealed to me because I'm a Dickens fan. The oldest known Dickens film has been discovered; it's 111 years old and guess which famous Dickens character it features?

Poor Jo from Bleak House! It's only one minute long and well worth watching. Rob & Monty might like its portrayal of a policeman on his beat, shining his lantern in dark corners. Good article too.

1901 Dickens Film: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/c...-was-made.html

Cheers,
Archaic

Thanks for posting that. Did you notice that the light source for the policeman's torch beam wasn't the torch itself, but a spotlight shining onto the set? That must have been quite difficult to synchronise. The actor playing the policeman appears to have the leather stock (or a representation of it) which was worn around the neck to protect the officer from cut-throat attack.

Regards, Bridewell.

[Bridewell]

One Car

Hi Beowulf.

Here's a few old films from YouTube.

"Blackfriars Bridge (1896)": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fABILtla_lE

"Petticoat Lane (1903)" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=smXKyg0Qk0g

"Old London Street Scenes (1903)": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v-5Ts_i164c

Enjoy sunny California!
Archaic

Thanks for that.

It's quite astonishing to see how dependent we were on the horse, little more than a century ago. What must the horse population of London have been in 1903?
I think there was one car towards the end of the "Old London Street Scenes" clip!

Regards, Bridewell.

[lynn cates]

cheapjack

Hello Bunny. Thanks.

That kind of merchandise was made notorious through the sweating system.

Cheers.
LC

[lynn cates]

Sloppy Joe's

Hello Simon. Indeed. Cinema at its finest

Orson Welles knew precisely what he was about.

Cheers.
LC