Album Victorianum 1951

A gift from Guinness to the nation’s General Practitioners in the year of the Festival of Britain, 1951. Album Victorianum is a visual snapshot of Victoriana gently parodied through a mid-century prism. The layout and presentation is typical of publications like The Saturday Book in the whimsical combination of period fonts, steel engravings and toy theatres. The Guinness advertising agency, S H Benson conceived the theme, provided the text and commissioned the illustrations. Three artists contributed illustrations, Ronald Ferns, Eric Hobbs and Eric Fraser.

Mr Therm at the Festival of Britain

Following on from last week’s adventures we find Mr Therm drawing back the curtain on the Festival of Britain. He was master of all he surveyed in 1951 when public ownership of the economy was at its high point. Promises of a brighter gas-powered future went largely undelivered as the industry acquired a reputation for inefficiency and poor customer service. Its generally dismal performance made it a sitting duck when Mrs Thatcher began selling off state-owned industries. In the unlikely event that Corbynomics sweeps all before it, there just might be a future for an updated Mr Therm, complete with hipster beard, piercing and an ostentatiously tattooed flipper. A few more examples below of the kind of company Mr Therm enjoyed in 1951, including Siemens, making the very most of its British connections.