Hello 1948..........

From Punch magazine; the artist is Joshua Armitage (1913-98), also known as Ionicus.

A happy 2014 to all who have looked in on my blog over the past year.

Phyllis Ginger

Phyllis Ginger (1907-2005) was a London-born artist and illustrator whose work included a contribution towards the Recording Britain project which was commissioned early during the Second World War; some 1500 pieces of artwork were produced to record the country before possible destruction, or, as was expected, invasion.

I recently picked up a copy of London, a very personal view by Mrs Robert Henrey, which is illustrated by a number of Phyllis Ginger's watercolours. This was first published in 1948, although my copy appears to be a 1955 edition with a 1970 dust jacket (the picture of Parliament Square has been actually stuck on!).

St Gile's Cripplegate

Piccadilly Circus

Leicester Square

Haymarket

Peek Frean biscuits for Christmas

Another name in biscuit manufacturer that is no more, at least in the UK, is Peek Frean. The brand goes back to 1857, amalgamating with Huntley & Palmers to form Associated Biscuits in 1921. It seems that the name lives on only outside the UK, in the USA and Canada at least, being now part of the Kraft empire, the factory in Bermondsey closing in 1989, by then owned by Nabisco.

These two colourful adverts appeared in Good Housekeeping magazines for December 1947 (top) and 1948.

Ronald Searle

A belated tribute to the late Ronald Searle (1920-2011), this from the May 1948 issue of London Opinion and The Humorist.

Austin & Rover

Two beautiful adverts scanned from issues of The Geographical Magazine published in 1948. That for Austin comes from the November edition and includes the 2-door A90 Atlantic model, at that time not actually in production. It was intended for the North American market, as part of the frantic post-war export drive, but was not a success; just 350 out of nearly 8,000 Atlantics actually crossed the Atlantic.......... Many ended up in the colonies or in Europe, whilst before long, they were being cannibalised for spares, their engines also being used in the Austin Healey 100. It is thought that only around sixty survive today. Dinky Toys also bought out a model of the car in various colours. The A70 Hampshire and the two Rover saloons look much more traditional.