This must surely be the most heartbreaking tourist guide there is.
London for Everyman by William Kent was a guide to the sights of London, first published in 1933. By the 1944 edition, the Capital was forever altered by the Blitz, and pages of amendments were necessary to detail what no longer existed, what had been closed for the forseeable future, and what had been moved for safety.
London for Everyman, William Kent, 1944 edition
This edition belonged to one Private E. O. Leichman, number W/280854, who must have bought it for a look around London, while he was on leave.
A quick aside. If you’re a fan of Doctor Who (like what I am), old books have recently become a bit more exciting, thanks to Madame Vastra, Jenny and Strax – aka the Paternoster Gang.
This is because a lot of Victorian (and later) publications were printed in Paternoster Row, which was a centre of publishing up until the Second World War, when it was destroyed in the Blitz.
The Paternoster Gang lived at No. 13 so (in a very real sense) the publishers of the Mother’s Companion were next-door-but one at No. 9.
Mothers Companion, 1891
The Mother’s Companion knew what it was doing with this article – “Hints to Wives” by an anonymous husband. This is a “helpful critique” of wives and their activities, and reminds me rather of the famous Victorian phrase “Children should be seen and not heard”, except applied to women. In short, this is Victorian clickbait that probably inspired a fury of correspondence.
I’m imagining the lady readership of this magazine having a little water cooler moment with this article (equivalent – teapot moment?). Perhaps trying to guess the identity of the author, who vowed never to tell anyone that he had written it. I find this quite cheering – at least he knows he’ll be for it if his wife finds out.
Reading this with slightly amused scorn as I was, I became uncomfortably aware of how little some things have changed though. Basically – men don’t want to go shopping and aren’t too interested in domestic minutiae? Well, plus ca change….
(Please excuse the n-word here, it’s rather an occupational hazard with some of these publications)
Hints to Wives, Mothers Companion, 1891
A gently elegant riposte came in a later issue. Frankly, as far as I’m concerned, it’s game, set and match to her as soon as she makes the point that women’s lives were “imperilled” by having children. So stop moaning and bloody well hold the baby for a bit, eh?
