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Fairy Tales and Children’s Stories
by Lucinda Gosling December 19, 2023

Are you sitting comfortably? Then we’ll begin. Once upon a time, there was a little girl called Mary who loved books, and especially books with pictures. Lots of pictures. When she grew up she kept all the lovely books and they now live happily ever after on the shelves in the library named after her. … Continue reading Fairy Tales and Children’s Stories

The Importance of Being ‘Ernst’
by Anthony Lipmann January 17, 2023

One evening – it must have been the early 1980s – the phone rang at my flat in Walton-on-Thames. ‘Can I speak to Mr Dryden?’ the person at the other end of the line enquired.  At this point I was busy writing ‘Ernst’ Dryden’s biography and realised I might be getting too close to my subject. The ‘Mr Dryden’ in question had been dead for over forty years. Click here to read more ….

A Room with a View: Writers at Home
by Lucinda Gosling June 22, 2021

Lockdown may have shut down most things, but what it has opened up to us are other peoples’ homes. Whether you’ve enjoyed judging the general slovenliness of your colleagues’ living quarters during a work Zoom call, or have tuned in to television interviews with actors and politicians merely for a chance to scan their bookshelves and comment on their questionable taste in soft furnishings, we can all probably admit to indulging in a little domestic voyeurism over the past fifteen months. Click here to read more…

Women of the world
by Tom Gillmor and Luci Gosling March 4, 2021

A celebration of women around the world drawing from the incredible Grenville Collins collection of historic postcards. These twelve images represent a wider range of evocative images that document the costume, customs and cultural heritage of women across the continents. Click here to read more….

Continental Travel: Luggage in Tow
by Martyn Pring August 28, 2020

A new well-illustrated book by Martyn Pring Boat Trains: The English Channel & Ocean Liner Specials explores how European travel in the railway era was conducted. The book uses much unpublished research material and rare archival images with many again taken from the Illustrated London News collection housed here at Mary Evans. Click here to read more…..

A Working from Home (Historical) Style Guide
by Lucinda Gosling March 27, 2020

Even if you’re just a little bit interested in fashion, it’s very likely that, at present, you’re getting inundated with emails from clothing companies suggesting ways to be stylish in self-isolation, offering hand-picked suggestions for your WFH (working from home) wardrobe. Pity the poor fashion content writer who has to try to flog midi dresses in the midst of a pandemic. Click here to read more….

Tut-mania: When the world went Egypt mad
by Luci Gosling November 5, 2019

This weekend, the Saatchi Gallery opened its long-awaited exhibition, “Tutankhamun – Treasures of the Golden Pharoah”. As blockbuster exhibitions go, it’s up there with the best of them. Having recently closed in Paris, the exhibition became France’s most visited of all time with attendance of over 1.4 million and is the last opportunity to see 150 objects from the boy-king’s tomb before they become a permanent exhibition at the Grand Egyptian Museum, which is currently under construction. Click here to read more…..

The Man Who Ate Grass
by Lucinda Gosling October 25, 2019

Will Brexit happen?  When will Brexit happen?  But most importantly, if and when Brexit does happen, what on earth are we all going to eat? This of course, was a far more pressing question eighty years ago in the first few months of the Second World War, when memories of food control and rationing towards the end of the last war, meant most people were prepared for the inevitability of food shortages. Click here to read more….

Circle of Sisters – Madame Yevonde and her sitters
by Luci Gosling October 11, 2019

It’s International Day of the Girl today, and so it seems a timely moment to write about Madame Yevonde, one of the twentieth century’s most remarkable photographers.  Born in 1893 to a well-to-do family, she began her apprenticeship with the photographer, Lallie Charles, and soon set up her own studio in London’s Victoria Street in 1914, at the prodigious age of 21. Click here to read more….

Travelling in Style
by Martyn Pring July 17, 2019

This October sees the publication of a new illustrated book on luxury railway travel in Britain which features previously unpublished research material and rare archival images, many of them from the Illustrated London News collection housed here at Mary Evans. Luxury Railway Travel: A Social and Business History by Martyn Pring (Pen & Sword Transport, October 2019) chronicles the products and services shaped by railway companies and hospitality businesses for Britain’s burgeoning upper- and middle-classes in the interwar years. For our latest blog, Martyn explores the connections between women’s fashion and first-class travel. Click here to read more ….

Murray’s Cabaret Club: Discovering Soho’s Secret
by Benjamin Levy June 26, 2019

Benjamin Levy’s book Murray’s Cabaret Club: Discovering Soho’s Secret (published by The History Press, with a foreword by Dita Von Teese) is out next week, and tells the tale of a unique institution in the history of British entertainment. Here the author explains why Murray’s was so special, and introduces the hundreds of costume designs that lie at the heart of the book, images that are now available for licensing through the Mary Evans Picture Library website, courtesy of the collection of poster dealer and expert, Charlie Jeffreys. Click here to read more ….

 

How High The Moon
by Tom Gillmor June 24, 2019

Throughout history, the moon has held a particular place of importance throughout societies, sometimes as a God, sometimes a protector, sometimes the harbinger of change, sometimes a fantastic land of opportunity. As the 50th Anniversary of the Apollo 11 Moon Landing approaches, it seems an ideal opportunity to take a haphazard low-gravity leap into the varied and fascinating references to “La Lune” to be discovered amongst the picture collections here at the Mary Evans Picture Library and see how perceptions of our closest astronomical body have evolved over time. Click here to read more ….

Painting the Picture – Art of Feminism
by Lucinda Gosling June 18, 2019

ust over a week ago, I was invited to take part in a panel discussion at one of the Tate Britain’s ‘Tate Lates’ evenings.  Tate Publishing have recently brought out in the UK a new title surveying feminist art called, ‘Art of Feminism’ of which I had been one of the contributing writers, putting together the first section covering women’s art broadly from the mid-19th to the mid-20th century.  About a third of the images for the section came from our archives here at the library. Click here to read more ….

The Grit in the Pearl: Margaret, Duchess of Argyll
by Lyndsy Spence February 7, 2019

Next week marks the publication of a new biography of one of British society’s most infamous figures, Margaret, Duchess of Argyll.  Our archive has proved a rich source for material on the woman who was once the country’s most celebrated debutante in her 1930s heyday.  For our latest blog, we invited Lyndsy Spence, author of ‘The Grit in the Pearl’ (The History Press, 11 Feb 2019) to choose images that explore her subject’s rise – and fall. Click here to read more ….

Hankies through history
by Lucinda Moore January 22, 2019

Thought handkerchiefs were a bygone of yesteryear? Join the Inquisitive Archivist for a whistle stop tour of hankies through history and their many applications, via the pictures held in our fabulous archive. Click here to read more ….

Land Girls and Lumber Jills
by Luci Gosling June 7, 2018

In a year commemorating not only the centenary of women’s enfranchisement, but also the end of the First World War, the achievements of women in wartime deserves recognition, not least the efforts of the women who worked on the land through two world wars. A decade ago, in January 2008, it was announced that former members of the Women’s Land Army (WLA) and Women’s Timber Corps (WTC) were to be awarded a medal commemorating their vital contribution to the war effort during two World Wars. Click here to read more ….

The Story of Empire Day
by Luci Gosling May 24, 2018

In 1890, Reginald Brabazon, 12th Earl of Meath, was invited by a clergyman acquaintance to address the young men of his congregation. The boys had been lured by the promise of “a half-crown spread for a penny” and the vicar was anxious to find a speaker who might be interesting enough to hold their attention. In an age before the phenomenon of the teenager was recognised, he was having trouble connecting with his youthful audience. After tea and cakes, the Earl decided he would entertain them with tales he had himself enjoyed, of the men who had been awarded the Victoria Cross during the Indian Mutiny. Click here to read more ….

John Hassall – 150th anniversary of the Poster King
by Luci Gosling May 24, 2018

As a historical picture library, anniversaries frequently punctuate our working year, but there’s a significant anniversary this week which will probably pass most people by.  One hundred and fifty years ago, on the 21st May 1868, one of the most popular artists of the early 20th century was born – John Hassall. Click here to read more ….

Top Ten Royal Wedding Dresses
by Luci Gosling May 18, 2018

What do the names Reville & Rossiter, Handley Seymour, Molyneux and Maureen Baker all have in common?  It’s a quiz question that might stump the most ardent of royal enthusiasts, but add a couple more names – Norman Hartnell, David & Elizabeth Emmanuel or Sarah Burton at Alexander McQueen – and the penny might drop.  They have all had the honour of designing a royal wedding dress and, in some cases, such as Reville and Hartnell, they have answered the royal call more than once. Click here to read more ….

Pan’s People
by Luci Gosling March 29, 2018

On 15th January 1920, the Pan Ball was held at Covent Garden in aid of Bart’s Hospital. Among the attendees were the actresses Betty Chester, who came as a Bacchante, and sisters Iris and Viola Tree in the costumes of a futurist Pan and tree nymph respectively. The ball’s theme of Pan, Greek God of pastures, forests and flocks, was to be one which would dominate the early 1920s. Click here to read more ….

Suffragettes on the Road to Democracy
by Gill Stoker February 8, 2018

In 1817 Jeremy Bentham, the utilitarian philosopher, argued that women should have the vote. It would be another 101 years before they got it. Increasing the number of male voters was controversial enough. In 1831, when the House of Lords rejected a reform bill, there were riots in British cities, buildings were set on fire, and the effigy of a bishop was burnt in a Huddersfield street, before the First Reform Act was passed the following year resulting in a very small increase to the male franchise. Click here to read more ….

Motivational Posters from the Maurice Collins Collection
by Lucinda Moore December 29, 2017

As we look to the start of a new year, thoughts inevitably turn to New Year’s resolutions and self-improvement.  With the help of the fabulous Maurice Collins collection that we represent here at Mary Evans, we turn the clock back 90 years and take a look at self-improvement 1928-style, through the medium of workplace motivational posters. Never mind mindfulness, forget Feng shui – these posters channel bold, colourful imagery with pithy positivity for the workplace and beyond. Click here to read more ….

Answers to Correspondents
by Luci Gosling December 20, 2017

The agony column is not a new phenomenon. Back in the 19th century, earnest readers of The Girl’s Own Paper wrote in to the weekly publication under pseudonyms asking for advice on all manner of problems. It’s unlikely that many girls today concern themselves with pressing issues such as how to remove ink stains from ivory piano keys, the correct etiquette of visiting cards, or, thankfully, how to remove a boil from the eyeball. Click here to read more …

Searching for Jumbo – an Elephant in the Archive
by Lucinda Moore December 11, 2017

In honour of the recent documentary entitled Attenborough and the Giant Elephant, we’ve delved into the archive to share these lesser seen Jumbo gems. Click here to read more ….

Going Under: Diving Suits through History
by Philip Mowbray December 7, 2017

Serious exploration of the underwater world began in the early 17th century, when the first submarine was invented by Dutch physician Cornelis Drebbel.  Then, the environment beneath the sea was considered the most dangerous and mysterious on earth – long before the prospect of exploring environments, such as outer space, was even feasible. Click here to read more ….

The GREAT Mary Evans Christmas Gift Guide
by Lucinda Gosling December 6, 2017

Combing the archive to reveal this season’s best buys for all the family. We’re sorry but it’s becoming unavoidable.  There are just eighteen oh-so-short shopping days to go until Christmas.  As panic buying sets in the length and breadth of the country, FEAR NOT, for help is at hand. Click here to read more ….

Sprucing Up – The History of the Christmas Tree
by Lucinda Gosling November 17, 2017

On 23 December 1848, The Illustrated London News published an engraving by J. L. Williams of Queen Victoria, Prince Albert and their five children gathered around a twinkling Christmas tree at Windsor Castle.  The publication of the picture was to mark the defining moment for the Christmas tree and within a short few years, it had, despite Dickens dismissing it as, “the new German toy,” become a widely adopted and accepted part of festive celebrations in Britain. Click here to read more ….

Postcards from the nursery: the collection of Peter & Dawn cope
by Lucinda Gosling & Peter Cope November 14, 2017

The magical collection of postcards and ephemera amassed by Peter and Dawn Cope has been represented by us here at Mary Evans for almost eight years.  We quizzed its owners, the authors of ‘Postcards from the Nursery’ (Cavendish Publishing, 2000) on the origins of this incredible archive.  Click here to read more ….

Festive old Father Christmas
by Jessica Talmage November 9, 2017

Nowadays, Father Christmas and Santa Claus are a more or less interchangeable festive character, typifying the spirit of good Christmas cheer.

‘Twas not ever thus however. In Britain, the 19th century Victorian revival of Christmas customs reinvigorated a folkloric figure of old Father Christmas that owed much to mummers plays, the Merry England of Walter Scott’s 1808 poem Marmion, and Thomas Hervey’s 1836 Book of Christmas. Hervey’s Father Christmas is dressed in a long robe and wears a holly crown, while his followers include Roast Beef, Plum Pudding, Wassail, Misrule and the Lord of Twelfth Night. Click here to read more ….

The Tango Craze
by Lucinda Moore October 10, 2017

With a new series of Strictly Come Dancing on our screens, we’ve taken an in-depth look at the original tango craze of 1913. “Everybody’s doing the Tango, learning the Tango, talking the Tango or watching the Tango. Never, perhaps, has a dance become of such universal interest so quickly…” Thus opined The Sketch in November 1913, reflecting upon the incredible international popularity of ‘tango tea’ dance fever. Click here to read more ….

Top 10 spookiest photos in the archive
by Philip Mowbray October 3, 2017

It’s October, the spookiest month of the year and Halloween is only four weeks away.   At Mary Evans Picture Library we have plenty of images to give you a good scare, thanks to our collection of several thousand images on the subject of the ‘paranormal’. Click here to read more ….

The Last Curtsey – Debutantes & the London Season
by Lucinda Gosling October 3, 2017

If you’re passing through Bexley on the south-eastern fringes of London, then try to find time to seek out Hall Place, a Tudor hidden gem with extensive gardens a couple of minutes from the A2.  We’ve had connections with Hall Place for some time through Bexley Heritage Trust, whose archive we represent, but more recently we’ve collaborated with them on a new exhibition that opened just a fortnight ago, The Last Curtsey.  Inspired by one of Hall Place’s 20th century inhabitants, socialite Baba D’Erlanger, the exhibition aims to recreate the vanished world of that upper class phenomenon, the debutante. Click here to read more ….

A Transcontinental Metro and other dreams of the future – as illustrated in the past
by Philip Mowbray September 6, 2017

I always love delving into the unusual here at the archive and from spooky spectres to spoon-bending we have it all, but one area I’m particularly fascinated with is the collection of imaginative illustrations dating pre-1960 which fantasise on what the future may hold in the year 2000 and beyond.  These popular images regularly appeared in scientific and general interest periodicals, children books, collectables and magazines. Click here to read more ….

Open All Hours – 12 amazing shop front displays from history
by Lucinda Gosling August 25, 2017

We’re all familiar with the closing credits of ‘Open All Hours’ when Arkwright, played by Ronnie Barker, goes through the daily chore of dismantling his display of wares before shutting up shop for the evening.  Image then, if you will, the hours it might have taken to put together – and then dismantle – some of these shop fronts?  While the art of retail display might still be seen daily on our high streets, very few can match the level of extravagance masterminded by some Victorian and Edwardian shopkeepers, whose penchant for fussy and highly populated displays mirrored conventional tastes in interior design and fashion. Click here to read more ….

Fashion Fantasies – Elspeth Phelps, artist in dress
by Lucinda Gosling August 1, 2017

The Great War was an unexpectedly dynamic period for fashion.  While extravagance was frowned upon, there was also a social dislocation where for the first time women took the place of men in the work environment, and fashionable silhouettes changed in response.  Skirts shortened and widened; military details proliferated and there was a new found confidence in clothing as it moved away from the winsome, restrictive styles of the pre-war era. Click here to read more ….

Say It With Flowers — but mind your language!
by Gill Stoker July 4, 2017

The concept of flower symbolism goes back many centuries, and examples of it can be found in many countries. One theory for its origin is that in some countries where women were not taught to write they used flowers instead to convey their messages. Click here to read more ….

Wedding Lore
by Tess Hines June 12, 2017

“Married in month of roses – June- Life will be one long honeymoon”. The month of June, and the mind meanders towards thoughts of summer; to exotic holidays, to chaotic family day trips, and frequently to weddings, and all that they entail. Click here to read more ….

H. M. Bateman Does the Season – 10 cartoons by the 20th century’s greatest social satirist
by Lucinda Gosling June 2, 2017

It’s the Epsom Derby this weekend, one of the highlights of what was once widely known as ‘the Season’ – a round of social events beginning with the Summer exhibition private view at the beginning of May and ending with Cowes Week in early August.   Many of the key events of the Season still remain of course; the Derby, Ascot, Wimbledon, Henley, but equally plenty of traditions have disappeared.  Court presentations, when the daughters of the upper classes made their curtsey to the King and Queen, were stopped by the Palace in 1958. Click here to read more ….

A Snapshot in Time
by Lucinda Gosling May 2, 2017

In 1946, photographer Jean Straker formed a short-lived photographic firm known as Photo Union at 12, Soho Square in London. It specialised in the photo-essay, a form of pictorial journalism undertaken mainly with miniature cameras with lots of detailed images and bridging shots. Four years later, in 1951, the agency went into receivership when Straker sank capital into colour photography, which was to prove too costly. The archive, now at Mary Evans, consequently documents a particularly brief period of time but in many ways, it is all the more fascinating for it. Click here to read more ….

The Trainspotter’s Guide to Railway Enthusiasm
by Philip Mowbray April 5, 2017

A devout railway enthusiast at heart, I regularly enjoy any images here in the archive that celebrate the railways throughout history.  The library’s railway holdings span an eclectic array of subjects and media; from striking 1920s Art Deco travel and advertising posters, through to detailed technical drawings of early locomotives from the archive of the Institute of Mechanical Engineers.   The railway-themed content available at Mary Evans is wholly unique and ideal for publishing projects,  greetings cards and merchandise with that railway enthusiast in mind – a selection of my favorites you will find here. Click here to read more ….

Gone to the Dogs
by Lucinda Gosling March 23, 2017

The message on the home page of Love the Dogs, London Wimbledon Stadium’s website, reads, “sadly Wimbledon will be finally closing its doors on Saturday 25th March after 89 years of greyhound racing here at Plough Lane.” After the closure in 2008 of the doors of Walthamstow Stadium’s iconic art deco façade, the Wimbledon site, making way for AFC Wimbledon’s new football stadium, is London’s last dog racing venue. Click here to read more ….

A Brief History of Underwear
by Lucinda Gosling March 13, 2017

The first publicity slogan for underwear appeared in the window of a London corset-maker during the 18th century, promoting the efficacious results bestowed by her latest model of corset claiming it, ‘controls the large, supports the small, uplifts the drooping.’ Almost three centuries on, a quick stroll around the lingerie section of M&S suggests that we all still want pretty much the same results from our foundation wear, although admittedly, a medieval or even 18th century drapers would not have sold many pairs of knickers. Most people simply didn’t see the point of wearing them. Click here to read more ….

One Man and his Dogs
by Jessica Talmage March 9, 2017

Out of the myriad archives, books and prints acquired by our founder, Mary Evans, since the library’s inception in 1964, that which brought her the most personal joy was arguably the Thomas Fall Collection which came to the library in 2001. The name Thomas Fall is synonymous with the highest quality photographs of pedigree dogs, and Mary’s interest in the archive, the oldest of its kind in the world, was not only professional but born of a lifelong love of canine companions. Click here to read more ….

From Dagenham to Savile Row – Royal Couturier Hardy Amies
by Lucinda Gosling February 28, 2017

I was fashionably late to Valence House Museum on Saturday, arriving about an hour and a half before their 12-week Hardy Amies exhibition drew to a close.  This small, but perfectly formed show in an impressive local museum, has been celebrating the achievements of a man who was not only one of British couture’s finest exponents, but also one of Dagenham’s most famous sons. Click here to read more ….

Looking back to the future – robots in the archive
by Philip Mowbray February 22, 2017

Earlier this month The Science Museum in London opened their much-anticipated blockbuster exhibition ‘Robots’, the first of its kind in the world which charts a comprehensive history of robotics, from their early days right through to the robots of the future. I wanted to pick out some visual highlights from our archive, which show the diverse nature of how robots have been celebrated in visual media throughout the late 19th and 20th centuries. Click here to read more ….

Ladies to Love – A Valentines Top 10
by Jessica Talmage February 13, 2017

Those who remember our Valentine’s Day blog post of Handsome Chaps from History from last year will recall that we promised a similar list of ladies the minute we find an excuse. Well, that excuse has finally arrived, so on Valentine’s Day 2017 let’s kick off our Top 10 of Charming Chapesses. Click here to read more ….

The Brothers Robinson
by Lucinda Gosling January 20, 2017

The William Heath Robinson Museum opened in Pinner in October last year, the culmination of many years’ fundraising by the West House and Heath Robinson Trust.  Regardless of how familiar you are with the work of the so-called, ‘Gadget King’, this lovely museum is well worth the trip to the further reaches of the Metropolitan line.  Located just five minutes or so from Pinner station, the museum’s graceful modern building sits within the picturesque Pinner Memorial Park. Click here to read more ….

Bizarre Best Wishes – the Weird & Wonderful World of Victorian Christmas cards
by Lucinda Gosling December 12, 2016

For any student of Christmas festive facts, they will know that first Christmas card was designed in 1846 by John Calcott Horsley at the request of Sir Henry Cole, later Director of the Victoria and Albert Museum.  About one thousand hand-coloured copies were produced, printed by Mr. Jobbins of Holborn and published by Joseph Cundall of Old Bond Street.  The design incorporated two scenes of charity flanking a central picture of a typically Victorian family cheerily raising a glass to toast the recipient of the card. Click here to read more ….

Designing the Jazz Age – Gordon Conway & Mary Evans at the Fashion & Textile Museum
by Lucinda Gosling October 6, 2016

The Fashion and Textile Museum, a flamboyant landmark on London’s achingly hip Bermondsey Street, has been a mecca for fans of fashion history ever since it was opened by designer Zandra Rhodes in 2003. Click here to read more ….

Hell’s Belles – Bell Ringing & the Gender Question
by Lucinda Moore September 21, 2016

Following the news this month that bell ringing is facing a national recruitment crisis, bell ringer and picture researcher Lucinda Moore turns to the archive for a historical look at bell ringing, seen through the lens of the current ringer shortage.Even a quick glance through the wealth of bell ringing images on the Mary Evans website does reflect a historical gender bias in favour of male ringers, with many of our pictures showing bands of exclusively male ringers. Click here to read more ….

Cream of the Crop – the Pond’s Society Girls
by Lucinda Gosling September 7, 2016

Buy a glossy magazine today and you’ll be guaranteed to find at least a third of its pages are given over to advertisements. But this is nothing new. Advertising have kept the wheels of magazine publishing turning for over 150 years. Click here to read more ….

The English 4 x 100 metres relay team who won gold medals at the Stockholm Olympics in 1912. From left to right: D. Jacobs, H. M. Macintosh, W. R. Applegarth and V. D'Arcy. Note the high-waisted shorts and T-shirts emblazoned with a Union Jack. Date: 1912
Going for Gold – Britain’s sporting ambitions and the 1916 Berlin Olympics that never was
by Lucinda Gosling August 18, 2016

We are living through a gold rush.  At the time of writing, Team GB has scaled the Olympic Games medal table to reach the dizzy heights of second place.  We’ve dominated the rowing and cycling; there have been medals in track & field, equestrian events and sailing.  More have rolled in from gymnastics and diving – sports where we were once, if not the underdog, then barely a contender. Click here to read more ….

Finding Rupert Brooke – a forgotten photograph album at Mary Evans
by Luci Gosling August 5, 2016

Mary and Hilary Evans spent more than fifty years collecting the material that now comprises the library and we’re often asked by visitors what proportion of the analogue archive has actually been scanned. A finger in the wind guesstimate might find us suggesting 15-20%, but the truthful answer to this is we don’t really know.  But what we do know is that it is still possible to unearth incredible treasures containing images that have never made it near a scanner. Click here to read more ….

The Dancing World
by Gary Chapman July 29, 2016

As rumours begin to rumble over which celebrities might take part in this season’s Strictly Come Dancing, it seems an appropriate moment to highlight a high kicking new collection from Jazz Age cultural expert, collector and author Gary Chapman. Gary’s collection The Jazz Age Club, chronicling cabaret, nightlife, celebrity, fashion and society between the wars is represented by the Mary Evans Picture Library and he has recently acquired a magnificent run of 25 copies of the rare British magazine The Dancing World. Click here to read more ….

Photographer Robin Dale: Middlesbrough Then, and Now
by Philip Mowbray June 30, 2016

As a native of Middlesbrough, or ‘smoggie’, I am particularly interested in the work of photographer Robin Dale, who Mary Evans Picture Library represents. Dale documented Middlesbrough and the greater Teesside area during the 1970s in spectacular colour photography. Click here to read more ….

From corsets to culottes – A brief history of tennis fashion
by Luci Gosling June 29, 2016

For many, it’s been a tough week to be British, but with the arrival of Wimbledon fortnight, some semblance of peace and order can be found in the tennis enclave of SW19 with its carefully manicured grass courts, tinkle of ice in Pimm’s and, of course, the pristine white attire the All England club still insists is worn by all players. Click here to read more ….

Colouring in the Past – a History of Colouring Books, Then & Now
by Luci Gosling February 24, 2016

As crazes go, they don’t get much bigger than the current obsession with adult colouring books. Heralded as the new absorbing, therapeutic route to de-stressing and ‘mindfulness,’ colouring in is no longer just for the kids. Johanna Basford’s colouring books of intricate natural worlds, published by Laurence King since 2013, have sold a staggering 10 million globally. Click here to read more ….

Handsome Chaps from History – A Valentines Top 10
by Luci Gosling February 10, 2016

Valentine’s Day is this Sunday and with love in the air, and romance on the breeze, how could we not dedicate our latest blog post to the enduring theme of ‘amour’? To be perfectly honest, perhaps the theme is more lust than love. Let me explain. Over the last year, TV viewers have been treated to a feast of lavish historical drama, with, for some of us, characters who remain indelibly stamped into our consciousness forever more. Click here to read more ….

The Maurice Collins Collection
by Luci Gosling February 2, 2016

Mary Evans’ reputation as purveyors of the quirky and unusual was given a boost last year with the welcome addition of the Maurice Collins Collection to the library’s offerings. A cornucopia of gadgetry and bizarre inventions, Maurice’s unique collection is a celebration of technological advancement, manufacturing prowess and rampant consumerism over the 19th and 20th centuries. Click here to read more ….

The Dolly Sisters and Mr Selfridge
by Gary Chapman January 20, 2016

In the fourth and final series of ITV’s ‘Mr Selfridge’ currenltly showing on Friday evenings, two new characters are introduced – The Dolly Sisters. We’ve invited contributor Gary Chapman, owner of the wonderful Jazz Age Club Collection and biographer of The Dolly Sisters, to provide us with an introduction to this fascinating duo. Click here to read more ….

How to catch a ghost? Harry Price’s wondrous ‘ghost-hunting’ kit
by Philip Mowbray January 12, 2016

During the recent run of Christmas television, viewers were acquainted with the weird and wonderful world of Harry Price in the TV drama, Harry Price: Ghost Hunter, with the fine Rafe Spall taking on the role of the world-famous ‘debunker’ of the paranormal. Throughout the programme we were introduced to Price’s remarkable way of thinking and his persistent determination to find scientific reason behind so-called ‘paranormal occurrences’. Click here to read more ….

Black Bounty – the Mary Evans ‘Black Beauty’ Book Collection
by Luci Gosling January 6, 2016

A very warm welcome to our new Mary Evans blog: The Inquisitive Archivist. They say that every picture tells a story, and, working as we do among a cornucopia of original, historical material ranging from books and periodicals to scraps and cigarette cards, being distracted by the stories behind the pictures we supply is a daily hazard (or perk) of the job. And so it seems natural that we should combine our fabulous archive with our own insatiable appetite for history and bring you… ‘The Inquisitive Archivist’. Click here to read more ….