By 1953 the dance hall was the second biggest entertainment industry after cinema, with an estimated 200 million visitors per year. It was thought that up to 70% of couples met on the dance floor. Today, the dance hall is consigned to history, but for many from the 1920s through to the 1970s it was a weekly fixture, representing an escape from the monotony of daily life. In this special blog we take a look at the colourful story of …
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‘They name their dresses Tango, their hats Tango, their dogs Tango,’ so reports the Pall Mall Gazette in 1913 at the height of tango fever in London and in Paris. In this special blog, using articles and illustrations from The Archive, we explore the history of the tango, and how its popularity surged after its spread from along the Rio de la Plata in South America to the music halls, the stately homes and the dance floors of Europe. Origins …
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This week we have added 182,823 brand new pages to The Archive, meaning that we have now passed the 34 million mark! We are delighted with this achievement, and delighted to also welcome six brand new London titles to our collection, which span the first half of the nineteenth century, including the world’s first ever evening newspaper, the Star (London). Star (London) | 2 January 1830 Founded on 3 May 1788 by publisher John Murray, among others, the Star (London) was the world’s first ever evening newspaper. Published daily (bar Sunday), the …
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‘It is not proposed to make total war total misery,’ said the Home Secretary Herbert Morrison in 1942, as he announced in the House of Commons that dancing was not to be included in the ‘recreations that are to be restricted to prevent interference with the war effort.’ Indeed, for many, dance was synonymous with their experiences of life in the Second World War. American GIs brought over with them new and exciting dance styles, and dancing itself was a …
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This week we have added 96,038 new pages to The Archive. We have two brand new titles – the Sun (London), not to be confused with today’s tabloid publication, and the Colored News, the first British newspaper to publish colour images. For the Sun (London), we have so far have available the years 1801 to 1868. Published daily, bar Sundays, the newspaper is a fascinating resource for the tumultuous days of the early nineteenth century, a time of great political …
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Over eighty years since the first children were evacuated from cities across Britain, and as part of our history of childhood month here at The Archive, in this special blog we will take a look at how country houses were requisitioned by schools and their evacuated children. Want to learn more? Register now and explore the Archive The grandest of stately homes were not exempt from requisition, with some of the country’s largest and most famous houses, including Blenheim Palace, …
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This week we have added an impressive 147,928 new pages to The Archive, covering exactly one century of news. We have added five brand new titles this week, with four of these new additions being Scottish publications. Joining The Archive is the Alloa Journal, the Forfar Herald and the Dalkeith Advertiser, as well as the Clyde Bill of Entry and Shipping List. The latter title was published by the Custom House in Glasgow, and recorded the declarations of goods being imported and …
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By 1939 there were an estimated three to four hundred holiday camps established across the United Kingdom, with the smallest housing fifty beds, and the largest with six thousand or more. What was behind the surge in popularity? We explore the holiday camp phenomenon by delving into the pages of the British Newspaper Archive, using the myriad of advertisements, photographs and articles located there to discover more about this mainstay of the British seaside resort. In 1936 William ‘Billy’ Butlin …
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This week we are delighted to welcome 137,896 new pages to The Archive, with new pages spanning 128 years from 1871 to 1999. We have additions to eighteen of our existing titles, including extensive updates to the Walsall Observer, and South Staffordshire Chronicle, which cover the years 1873 to 1969 and number nearly 35,000 pages. This week also sees updates to six of our London titles, including the Acton Gazette, as well as three of our Scottish titles, with pages added to the Hamilton …
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This week we have added 113,786 new pages to the Archive. We have a bumper crop of new titles, which total six in all. We have added four new Irish titles, including the People’s Advocate & Monaghan, Fermanagh & Tyrone News, the North Down Herald & County Down Independent, the County Down Spectator & Ulster Standard and the Fermanagh Herald. These titles span the years 1876 to 1912. Another of our new titles this week is London publication the Acton Gazette, for which we have added just under 20,000 …