Thursday, September 1, 2005

100 years ago

It was hoped that in about a fortnight or three weeks the stone for the steps and the remainder of the panels of the Yorkshire War Memorial, in Duncombe Place, York, to the 1,459 natives of the county who gave up their lives in South Africa during the Boer War, would be obtained from the Cumberland quarries, and this part of the work completed. The agreement between the Memorial Committee and the Blake Street Improvement Committee, who gave the site, was that a similar fencing to that already around the grass plot was to be placed around the memorial. Mr G F Bodley, the architect, considered that the effect would be very much marred if this was carried out, and the Blake Street Improvement Committee had considerately permitted the Memorial Committee to place a low railing with a pair of gates around the footpath as an experiment, and notices would be placed requesting the public who used the footpath to close the gates after them, so as to prevent stray dogs from getting in, and they would also be requested to refrain from injuring the grass plot.

50 years ago

If you wanted a fashionable bargain, then you would do well to remember that for both trimmings and complete garments, fur was the fashion note for the winter. Fur fabric was available in York, 72 inches wide at 9s 6d a yard. There were six different furs to choose from including brown and grey Persian lamb, and beaver. They were made from wool and mohair, and were beautifully soft and even more importantly hard wearing. A good idea would have been to have an old coat dyed or cleaned, and lined with the fur. Little striped collars and bows were very attractive when worn with a plain white dress or a white blouse and skirt. They were available in several colours at York stores; red, green, navy and pink seemed to be the most popular. Prices were around 3s 11d for bows and 6s 11d for collars.

25 years ago

Words that never touch paper were about to change our lives dramatically. They were part of the information revolution; electronic text that sent words flying free of paper around the world to be displayed or stored in profusion. The changes that electronic text could bring about were examined in Horizon on BBC-2, which was beginning a new season. Anthony Smith introduced a film, which suggested that the cultural effects of this new technology would be just as dramatic as when the printing press was invented 500 years before.

Updated: 16:44 Wednesday, August 31, 2005