Sepia Saturday 85 - MG Magnette Mark III

Inspired by Alan's great photo in this week's Sepia Saturday, I turned to my vintage magazines collection to help me out. I wasn't quite sure what I was looking for as I flipped through the March 1959 edition of Motor Sport magazine, probably something classic with bumpers, when I came across this. It's an advertisement of an MG Magnette Mark III, and one of the reasons for posting this was that I had never heard of it before. A quick bit of research revealed that it was received to mixed reviews, so I'm assuming not many were made. On reading the description of the car, it claims to be 'freshly styled from bumper to bumper', so met my posting criteria on that count also.

Advertisement of the MG Magnette Mark III, Motor Sport magazine, March 1959

More vintage magazines can be found on my web site

    

Vintage London Underground map, c.1924

I was leafing through a vintage guide book of London, searching for inspiration for a future blog post, when I came across a couple of maps that the book owner had obviously use to aid his/her trip around the city. The first was a cutting from the Daily Sketch newspaper from 1924 featuring a London Underground map. This one is A3 and quite battered so I'm still working out how to scan that one in. However, the second insert is a bit smaller, and although in 2 pieces and bigger than my scanner, I think I have managed to successfully merge the 2 parts of the map.

London Underground map, c.1924

What I love about this map, in fact all old maps, is looking at the places where the lines used to end compared to where they end today, where station names have changed, and also where stations have become disused. For example, the Highgate and Hampstead Line has been much extended, merged with the City and South London Railway, and has become the Northern Line. St. Mary's, Mark Lane, Brompton Road, Dover Street, Down Street, British Museum, Post Office, and Trafalgar Square, have all either been renamed, closed or merged with other stations. Some of these 'ghost' stations are still visible from passing tube trains whilst others are long gone. Keep a look out the window as you pass through the tunnels ... you never know what you might see.

    

Sepia Saturday 83: The Road to Sunshine

My plans for taking a day trip to the coast on Sunday seem to have been dashed by the weather forecast which appears to predict rain all weekend. Instead we'll probably end up going to London for the day and take in some museums. Depending on how many of the family come will depend on the mode of transport. Ideally I'd like to go by train as it's much less hassle, but the tipping point comes quite quickly when there's more people. Since a kid, I've always had a soft spot by railways but must admit to finding today's railways, stations and trains a little less romantic than when I was younger (although some of the recent restoration works at St Pancras and Paddington are looking impressive). But even the way train travel was described in the early part of the 20th century sounded idealistic and romantic. For my entry to this week's Sepia Saturday I'm trying to recapture some of that by sharing these vintage advertisements taken from a 1920's guide book.

As usual, more vintage magazines and vintage postcards on my web site

And it would seem that if the spate of recent TV programs and books is anything to go by, I'm not the only person who dreams of returning to the age of the train. Both Julia Bradbury and Michael Portilo have presented excellent TV series over the past few months. These are possibly still available on iPlayer, but if not the accompanying series books are readily available, and what's really excited me is that Bradshaw's 1907 Railway Map is also available ... all aboard.

;    

Something New in Motor Coaching

Whilst browsing through some vintage guide books, I came across this curious vintage advertisement. It's advertising something called the "Silent Guide" which boasts itself to be ...

A novel invention coupled with specially prepared itineraries for imparting and retaining information in a particular and pleasing manner about the many places of interest you may either visit or pass en route on your favourite motor coach tours.

I have tried to find some more information about this device, but have not managed to find anything at all. The perfect solution for not wanting to show one's ignorance of not knowing something, whilst at the same time not wanting to ask anyone.

Vintage advertisement, c.1922

    

More vintage magazines and vintage postcards can be found on my web site

Another installment of vintage advertisements

Following on from the positive response and great comments from my previous vintage advertisements post, I've decided to share a few more today. This is again from a vintage Picturegoer magazine, from November 1943. As with my previous post, the contrast between the advertisements is quite striking, with beauty products of the day along side war time austerity measures.

Picturegoer magazine, November 1943

    

More vintage magazines and vintage postcards can be found on my web site