Friday, January 6

The Odd Comparisons Between 1912 And 2012

The Odd Volume 1912

I have mentioned before that I like looking for old books at flea markets, car boot sales and so on.  One I picked up recently, The Odd Volume, was from 1912 so is exactly 100 years old. It's interesting to see the comparisons with today.

Strangely there was one subject brought up by someone on television the other night. The question was about multi-culturism in the UK and where had the 'English' gone in London.

There are similarities to a cartoon from 1912 - as per the picture below. The wording says: "WHERE ARE THE ENGLISH? Perplexed American: Say, officer, can you tell me whether there is any native quarter in this 'ere golden city?"


Humour back then was a little more gentle in 1912, though perhaps not so acceptable to the 'Softer Sex'. This is the 'joke' for the cartoon below: "The Sterner Sex: An awful affair! Fourteen lives were lost. The Softer Sex: How sad - fortunate it wasn't thirteen, thirteen is such an unlucky number".

The softer sex cartoon from 1912

But humour also had a meaningful touch on Romance and Reality. In the cartoon below, set on the beach: Effie (reading her Fairy Tale Book) "And so she met the Prince Charming of her dreams, as all girls do. Do they mother? Did you?" Mother: "Yes, of course. I met your father." That's him in the background.

Cartoon on the beach 1912

I like some of the adverts. Arthur Conan Doyle had a new book out in 1912 called The Lost World. On New Year's Day on UK television a new series started about Sherlock Holmes, brought up to date and set in 2012. Holmes was, of course, a Conan Doyle creation.

The Lost World by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

There are ads for such delights as 'Essence of Beef' for all 'Cases of Exhaustion' and a pretty girl is picking elder flowers for 'after shaving use.'

Adverts from 1912

And haven't we all found the dirty need to 'Zog it Off' now and again!

Zog it off

Some of the pictures, like this 'Little Stranger' by Willy Pogany encapsulate the differences between 1912 and 2012 ... or there again ...

The Little Stranger by Willy Pogany

... maybe not - as per this picture titled 'Life or The Simple Lifer', we still ponder about which path to choose today.

Life or The Simpler Life

Bookmark and Share

4 comments:

  1. Love the old cartoons and the reference to the softer sex. The picture on the cover is sad though. How our politically correct culture would rage against this now, and some quite rightly.

    ReplyDelete
  2. What fun this post is! I love the cartoons and the products. You'll get a kick out of this WV: taxes!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Life or the Simpler Life, that is the question of the day! :D

    ReplyDelete
  4. Suzie: You are right about the cover picture. It's title is 'A lot for the money.' i.e. the little boy.

    Trish: No doubt taxes would have been a bone of contention in 1912 as well.

    Therese: Life or the Simple Lifer is the quote but, whatever, it's a good question of the day.

    ReplyDelete