On this day: an Air Display in London

The British Empire Exhibition ran at Wembley Park in London over 1924 and 1925, showcasing Britain’s might to any world leaders who thought to overpower them.

One of the displays was an air display simulating battle-like conditions, and featuring No. 32 Squadron in a show titled “London Defended”. The display was first shown on the 9th of May, 1925 and continued until the 1st of June. Part of the show involved blank ammunition being fired into the arena.

This display was a precursor to today’s Red Arrows, the Royal Air Force’s aerial display team that was founded in the 1960s and today still performs.

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On this day: Arthur Conan Doyle

British writer Arthur Conan Doyle, creator of Sherlock Holmes, is photographed here in New York City on the 10th of April, 1922.

Also in the picture are his second wife, Jean, and the children he had by her. Doyle, who was almost sixty-three at the time, married for the second time almost immediately after the death of his first wife.

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On this day: the birth of the Duchess of Northumberland

Photographed as a teenager in 1935.

Elizabeth Diana Percy, Duchess of Northumberland (née Montagu Douglas Scott) was born on the 20th of January, 1922, to parents the future Duke and Duchess of Buccleuch.

During the Second World War she served in both the Civil Nursing Reserve and the Women’s Royal Naval Service, and worked on the RMS Mauretania and in Australia.

She married Hugh Percy, 10th Duke of Northumberland in 1946 and went on to have seven children. Her husband ascended to the title after his brother, the 9th Duke, was killed in action in the war in 1940.

The Duchess outlived her husband, dying in Surrey, England in 2012.

Happy New Year – 1923!

Happy New Year from Florida, USA, created at the end of 1922.

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On this day: April Fool was released

The film April Fool was released in the United States on the 21st of November, 1920. The image below of Northern Irish actress Thelma Percy (younger sister of Eileen Percy), one of the stars, appeared in the Exhibitors Herald the day before.

Only a fragment of the film – a gag featuring a wallet – is known to have survived.

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November 1922

This photograph of the foggy streets of London was taken in November, 1922. The image was taken at Ludgate Circus in the City of London, not far from St Paul’s.

Vintage Queensland: Labour Day

Labour Day in Australia falls on different dates in different regions. In 2017 the 2nd of October is Labour Day for the Australian Capital Territory, New South Wales and South Australia.

These images show celebrations of the day in the state of Queensland.

The Fish Board: Eat More Fish – 1940.

State Butcheries: the People’s Business – 1920.

Brisbane in 1928

Preparing a float in Brisbane in 1940.