Category: Random History

HALIFAX WAKES WEEK

Browsing through the Halifax Courier from 70 years ago you might be tempted to think that little has changed. The headlines deal with a possible train strike and worsening relations with Russia. Look inside, however, and you get a sudden reminder of how some things do change, because 70 years ago today it was the … Continue reading HALIFAX WAKES WEEK

History, Economics, And The Price Of A New Suit

This Halifax advert from 1922 proclaims “the pound buys more at Pinders this Spring!" Such words are unfamiliar to us living at a time when the pound buys less and less. But economics is a strange science - falling prices can be as bad as rising prices. My late, lamented Uncle Frank used to record … Continue reading History, Economics, And The Price Of A New Suit

Water Is Best

An article in the Illustrated London News of the 13th August 1859 reminds us of the gift of a water fountain to the people of Halifax by Joseph Thorp. The fountain was erected in People's Park, where it stands to this day. Whilst such a gift, two or three centuries earlier, might have been mainly … Continue reading Water Is Best

A Commercial Death

A strange coincidence brought together a photograph and a story. The photograph was one of my own, and was taken over fifty years ago, just a mile or so from where I now live. It shows Huddersfield Road as it emerges from the town of Brighouse and the junction with Aire Street and Lords Lane. … Continue reading A Commercial Death

On This Day : Clogs Fund For Halifax

CLOGS FUND FOR HALIFAX TO RELIEVE SERIOUS SITUATION Education Department To Administer You would shudder if you knew how many children in Halifax possess neither boots, nor clogs worthy the name of protection. The brightness of school is something that counts in many of these lives, but, however eager they are to go, their footwear … Continue reading On This Day : Clogs Fund For Halifax

Expectation And Warning

All photographs capture time: old photographs capture history. This is a random image from my "Lost and Found" box - I know neither man nor dog, neither time nor place. There was a pencilled caption on the reverse of the tiny print which said "D and Louchs", but which is which I have no idea. … Continue reading Expectation And Warning

Compressed History : Down The Pit

Is it possible to compress more history into such a small space as with cigarette cards? These tiny illustrated cards were given away free with packs of cigarettes back in the mid-twentieth century, so all the family could benefit from the tobacco trade: mum and dad could smoke themselves to death whilst smiling children stuck … Continue reading Compressed History : Down The Pit

Scented Ink And Typewritten Confessions

I don't know about you, but I seem to be surrounded by adverts. The magazines that drop through my letter-box seem to be almost exclusively adverts for dentists, plasterers and barbers. If I attempt to reach out to the rest of the world via the wonders of social media, my browsing is constantly interrupted by … Continue reading Scented Ink And Typewritten Confessions