The Collected Works

I always think that it would be possible to run an entire course in economic and social history based on nothing other than newspaper advertisements. From the perspective of 90 years into the future, I am not sure what is more surprising about this advert from the Yorkshire Evening Post of May 18th 1928. Perhaps it is that you could buy a boy’s suit for less than one pound, or maybe that anyone in their right mind was prepared to guarantee it against wear and tear for a year. But no, surely the most surprising thing was that the manufacturer was willing to give away a free pair of knickers with every suit sold! This is just the kind of thing that led to the downfall of the British Empire.