Just when did ‘Brits abroad’ get their bad reputation? And when did the phrase enter the vernacular? In this special blog, we explore the shocking history of the ‘Brits abroad’ stereotype, and learn how although this group of badly behaving tourists got their name in the 1980s, the British abroad have a long history of causing upset on their travels. Last week, we looked at the rise of Brits travelling abroad using our newspapers, and this week, again using newspapers …
holidays
This August at the British Newspaper Archive we are taking a look at the history of holidays, and in particular, the history of British holidaymakers travelling abroad. Nowadays, the holiday season is synonymous with trips to the airport, with holidays abroad bookable at just the click of a button. Decades ago, however, travelling abroad was not that easy. With strict limitations on travel money, the difficulties of booking travel abroad, potential holidaymakers faced a range of challenges in getting away …
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This week sees the addition of 155,862 brand new pages to our collection, with significant updates in particular to national daily newspaper the London Daily Chronicle. Meanwhile, from Lichfield to Liverpool, from South Wales to Wexford, we have updated eight of our newspaper titles this week. So read on to discover more about all of our updated titles of the week, and also to explore what holidays were like one hundred years ago. Register now and explore the Archive Our …
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This week at The Archive has been an extremely busy one as ever – we have added 199,897 brand new pages as we continue to augment our collection of newspapers from across the United Kingdom and Ireland. Over the past seven days alone we have added seven brand new titles, from Finchley to Liverpool, from Glasgow to Skegness, whilst we have updated nineteen of our existing titles, with significant additions to some of our Nottinghamshire titles. So read on to discover more about all of …
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‘Up to about forty or fifty years ago travelling was a solemn act, not to be enterprised nor taken in hand unadvisedly, lightly, or wantonly,’ so writes the Belfast News-Letter in September 1888. But all of this had changed; from the inception of the railways ‘day excursions’ had become ‘entirely modern pleasures,’ the British seaside and countryside opened up to visitors who could travel there easily by train. This was the railway revolution, which opened up the seaside to ordinary, working class people. …
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In May 1844, the below advertisement appeared in the Cheltenham Chronicle: A Six Weeks Tour, by Steam, to Athens, Smyrna, and Constantinople, calling at Gibraltar and Malta – with the option of visiting, en route, Vigo, Oporto, Lisbon, and Gibraltar. The Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company’s well-known splendid Steam Ship ‘Tagus,’ 900 tons and 300 horse power, will start from Blackwall on Thursday, 20th June, for the above ports. Time occupied in the Passage, out and home, about six weeks …
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Illustration of Christmas tree unveiled at Windsor Castle in 1840s | The Tatler | 11 November 1955 
Gathered around the Christmas tree | The Graphic | 30 December 1911 
Christmas at Children’s Hospitals | The Graphic | 4 January 1908 
Tie-ups for the Christmas tree | Britannia and Eve | 1 December 1949 
Yuletides of the Allies | Britannia and Eve | 1 December 1942
O, Christmas tree! Today we ask, ‘how have trees been decorated in the past?’ Photographs and illustrations offer great insight into this, as well as articles on specific decorations and accounts of Christmas celebrations. No Christmas tree? No problem! Subscribe today and discover history as it happened
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We are now counting down the days until Christmas, and there are only a few days of shopping left. Many of us are looking for inspiration for that perfect gift. The newspapers found in The British Newspaper Archive can provide a number of gift-giving guides. We can see an increase in Christmas advertising and gift guides from the late 18th century as mass consumerism became a trend of Christmas. Before the days of social media, Pinterest, and Amazon wish lists, …
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This week for Easter, we took a look through our newspapers to find Easter traditions across the globe. The papers in the British Newspaper Archive report events from around the world as well as explore international customs and traditions. We found traditions in Romania, Russia, Bulgaria, France, and England. Easter Customs In 1933, The Sphere did a feature on Easter customs in many lands. In one image, you can see fishermen from Galilee, in present-day northern Israel. The caption tells us …