Dr Michael Lambert, Lancaster University m.lambert3@lancaster.ac.uk @GrandCamouflage The current erosion of welfare state institutions – the National Health Service (NHS), social services, and schools – caused by years of underfunding and political intervention exposed by the pandemic, mean that many hark back to a time when things were different. A time when there was a … Continued
Dr Lorinda Cramer, Australian Catholic University lorinda.cramer@acu.edu.au Some consider them a symbol of modern masculinity: a marker of business, power and authority. Others call them a uniform. More still see them as stuffy and overly formal. I’m referring, of course, to men’s suits. Suit-wearing has a complex and fascinating history across the twentieth century, so … Continued
Mary Fraser, writingpolicehistory.blogspot.co.uk @drmaryfraser My new open access article for Cultural and Social History develops the surprising and, to date, untold story of the release of policemen across Britain to help farmers plough the fields. Britain faced starvation in March 1917 due to the German blockade which sank increasing numbers of ships bringing essential foodstuffs. … Continued
Jon Verriet, Radboud University Nijmegen j.verriet[at]let.ru.nl ‘A fiercely antifat culture’, is how the LA Times described U.S. society in 1976. In the corresponding article, the founder of the activist Fat Underground, Vivian Mayer – then known by her radical name Alderbaran – was interviewed about prejudice against people with high relative body weight. At the … Continued
Jasmine Kilburn-Toppin, Cardiff University Kilburn-ToppinJ@cardiff.ac.uk There are few heritage sites as iconic as the Tower of London. For most twenty-first century Londoners and tourists, the Tower is associated with famous prisoners, grisly executions, and the Crown Jewels. To the early modern mind, the Tower had a more varied range of associations. As well as being … Continued
Professor David M. Pomfret, University of Hong Kong pomfretd@hku.hk In the 2001 Hong Kong movie ‘My Life as McDull,’ an animated pig named Mrs Mak dupes her son into thinking he is on a much-anticipated trip to the Maldives. Mrs Mak cannot actually afford such a trip so instead she buys tickets for the leading … Continued
Dr Andrew McTominey, Leeds Beckett University @123McTom Water has been in the news a fair amount recently. The torrid rains of February 2020 have once again highlighted the inadequate nature of flood defences across the country. Similarly, the partial collapse of Whaley Bridge Dam, Derbyshire in December 2019 reminded us of the fallibility of Victorian … Continued
Dr Fanny Louvier, University of Oxford fanny.louvier@balliol.ox.ac.uk In the first half of the twentieth century, domestic service was one of the main occupations for women in both France and Britain. We often imagine these women wearing black dresses, white aprons and white caps on their heads. This popular image is not too far from the … Continued
Dr Christine Grandy, University of Lincoln cgrandy@lincoln.ac.uk Peter Mandler’s piece, ‘The Problem with Cultural History’, published in Cultural and Social History’s inaugural issue, did what all good methodological interventions in the field should – haunt the historian for years. His use of the term ‘throw’, as an elegant analogy for the transmission of cultural knowledge, … Continued
In April 1947, the Canadian Jewish Congress (CJC) was authorized to bring 1000 young Holocaust survivors to Canada through the War Orphans Project. The Canadian federal government required all young newcomers to be placed in foster families. This led the CJC to set up a campaign to find potential foster parents. Bringing together scholarship on … Continued
