The Korean War: 1950-53

As North Korea remains in the news it is worth reading up on the history of the conflict between North and South.

 American soldiers made up most of the UN presence in the War against the North. Here we can see them bringing back captured North soldiers.

Lots of amazing photos of the 3 year conflict available online to view. Here was can see a child distressed in the street, who knows the back story? but we can assume it has been effected by the war.

Soldiers taking time out for a Christian temporary place of worship. Looks like a densely populated wood/forest, very hot. Alot of the American troops spent years fighting in such conditions, humid, unknown terrain, a living hell for many.

Easter 1913: New York 5th Ave.

Easter throughout the ages has always been a special time and in New York in the early 20th Century was no different. A classic photo of the day, traffic, shops and lots of people! Nothing changed there then.

I would hazard a guess it would be quicker to walk on 5th ave then to catch a bus or use your own car. We can see the new shops along the street, blended in with the older church. Fashion at the time seemed rather formal to me, hat, suit etc. 

This photo was taken from http://theboweryboys.blogspot.co.uk/ which is a New York themed history blog, one I really enjoyed looking at.

Easter in the Past: Egg roll & Photo shoot

Easter is not all about Eggs! of course sitting in a basket with eggs makes an ideal photo opportunity?! only the 1920's Hollywood right. I don't think it would be such a fun game playing hunt the eggs when they eggs were bigger than the kids.

Again, this family/friends are posing with eggs on show. I am guess they are real ones and they will be used in some game. Hunter/Scavenger, rolling, eating as many as possible?

White House – boy holding hand of small girl during Easter egg roll, 1898. Apparently this has been a tradition since the 1870's where the President would invite lots of people to partake in an egg rolling event. Give me a good old fashioned Egg hunt any day!

WW1 Passchendaele: Stretchers & Bandages

We all know how grim Pashendale was during WW1, mud, total destruction and a cruel life for the soldiers in the trenches. Perish the thought you actually got injured there, because this would be a typical example of the treatment you got! 

Find a small bit of flat terrain to place a solider on. Get various bits of bandages you can find and place on given solider whilst smoking a well earned fag.  Gather a stick and wrap around soldier's broken or damaged leg so it don't move. Dodge incoming fire until you are stretchered off home.

Les Misérables the Movie

Exciting times, a cracking musical gets transformed into a movie with a brilliant cast and with Cameron Mackintosh at the helm this cannot go wrong!

Hugh Jackman is up for a lead actor Oscar nomination for this, it would be great to see him win as his talent and performance deserves it.

It was always going to be difficult making the movie, but it seems to be a hit with both the critics and public. To be honest not much chance of it failing with the A star actors hired for it, Anne Hathaway does particular well especially given the iconic "Dreamed a Dream" song she has sing.

Eddie Redmayne might not be well known across the pond but he is shaping up into a fab actor and not a bad singer. It is worth looking back as some of his previous work, especially the period drama's.

Trench Life WW1

Trench life was not easy for the troops, weather conditions, lack of basic food and water. So catching rats I guess must have been a fun pursuit, did they eat them?

Ring a Ding Dong, scattered across the trenches were posts that alerted the troops of incoming gas attacks, often the sound of the bell would mean getting on the gas masks and digging in.

WW1 Barbed Wire building!

Looking at the photo above from a WW1 battlefield one would assume it would be a little difficult to walk through or even over the Wire! A hardy solider testing out a plank on it to make sure it is not easy to do :)

WW1: Mobile messenger pigeon loft

WW1 Mobile pigeon loft! Must say I have never seen one of these before, but I guess it comes as no surprise they actually existed. Where these taken to the front? and sent with important tactical messages home?

Christmas 1894: Frozen River Thames

It's hard to imagine these days but in our recent history, most of the fast flowing rivers around the UK would completely freeze over in the winter months. Not only did this stop alot of the boats going up and down them it would mean a welcome activity for families and kids to play on the ice. Here was can see the Thames in 1894, exact spot unknown but one can speculate by the amount of people not far from London suburb. Even the dog seems to be having a good time.

Christmas Past: Boris Karloff, Ginger Rogers & a toy

Boris Karloff and Ginger Rogers at a gala Hollywood Christmas party - 1932. How about that for a dress? I wonder what colour is was? my guess is yellow. I do wonder what this photo was staged around. Here Boris take this toy dog. Woof.

Christmas Past! 1930's & 1920s

 Two women and their dogs in a car, taken by Zoltan Glass, c. 1933. I really liked this photo when I found it today. Something really iconic about it. Typical fashion of the day, with the must have dogs :) these days they carry their dogs in bags and carry them around.

 

Carole Lombard. Christmas, 1920s Very vintage photo, look at the style of the lady and the wavy hair, high heels and shorts. Wonder what Santa brought her that year? Shame Carole died so young, a great movie star at the time.

Christmas Soliders & Sparkles

 German soldiers celebrating Christmas in the trenches, 1915.

I am guessing this is from a movie in Wartime, one of this Hollywood spectatulars where the costumes take a life on their own!

Christmas War: Palestine 1941

Christmas in Gaza, Palestine, 1941. V.A.Ds (Voluntary Aid Detachments). Decorations in those days may look a bit different but you get the jist! Saying that the man in the bed behind the nurse seems too busy sleeping to notice :)

The curse of King Tutankhamun, Valley of the kings

 

Valley of the Kings: The entrance to Abu Simbel is the most amazing part, with four giant statues of Rameses II. Look at the scale of the statues! just grasp the size of them compared to the people walking by. How long did these take to make and how many slaves/workers did they use? nothing it seemed was beyond the realms of possibility when it came to the Egyptians and their tombs.

 In the late 1800's Howard Carter like many others went to Egypt to discover lost tombs and treasures from the past. With the backing of wealthy folk from back home we was able to spend years (literally 30+) searching for undiscovered tombs. In 1922 he hit the jackpot when he found King Tutankhamun's tomb. The amazing thing was it was completely intact, not robbed at all. The only tomb that has been discovered that had not been robbed.

As we can see inside Tut's tomb the lavish untouched chambers. The condition of the walls and artifacts were pristine. But the discovery of the tomb did come at a price. There was talk of a curse hitting the party involved in the expedition. Many died soon after but Howard Carter bucked the trend and lived to the ripe old age of 62. We don't get to see many photo's of inside tombs in the Valley of the Kings as it is forbidden, color on the walls would fade with people using camera's so only the official photos are available. Even more reason to go visit and see inside them yourself.

WW1 Officers Wat Wat!

Officers prepare to depart for the Channel coast and Dear Old Blighty. Looks like they wont see much trench action, although they have enough warm clothes on them to be OK in the trenches! I like the fact their trousers had enough tape around them to protect them from anything. As least they seem happy.