...a postcard recording a record run

This postcard records the record run in a motor vehicle in 1913 by Ivan Beaucleck Hart-Davies from John O'Groats in Scotland to Land's End in Cornwall. This he achieved with his co-driver, and the assistance en-route of guides, in a record time of 34 hours 39 minutes to cover the 886 miles. He had achieved the same record two years earlier on a Triumph Motorcyle in 29 hours 12 minutes.

His average speed was twenty-five and a half miles per hour, and therefore in breach of the Motor Car Act of 1903 which set the maximum speed for motorised vehicles on the road at twenty miles per hour.

Hart-Davies joined the Royal Flying Corp in 1916, the precursor of the RAF, and was killed in a flying accident in England aged thirty nine, shortly before his intended transfer to the battlefront in France.

More information about Hart-Davies can be discovered online.

...a pencil sharpener fashioned as a medieval catapult

This little pencil sharpener is in the form of a medieval catapult. The topic of medieval siege engines is a fascinating one. There were various types. A Trebuchet used a large counter-balance to launch missiles - either solid stones or later cannonballs filled with gunpowder - over the battlements of castles or walled towns. Fireballs and dead bodies, especially diseased ones, were also sometimes launched into besieged places. A working reproduction of a Trebuchet can be seen at Warwick Castle, and proves it was a fearsome weapon. The Mangonel worked on a similar principle but was designed to strike and destroy walls, and thus had a lower and faster angle of fire. The Onager was probably nearest in type to the above, as it was a small engine that used twisted rope and springs, more like a catapult.

This pencil sharpener is capable of firing small balls of paper and plasticine.

...Cycling accessories booklet 1938

This pre-war booklet issued by the cycle manufacturer Holdsworth to its suppliers contains an eighty page array of cycling gear, with prices, in pre-decimal currency of course.

From clothing to bicycle parts, it is a comprehensive list of accessories available to the cyclist of that era, whether a racing biker or a casual tourer.

There were no plastics at the time, other than bakelite, so the items are mostly fabricated from metal, fabric, glass and leathers.

As an aid to happy cycling, please place your order now for an anti-rattle feeding bottle carrier.

Their name was Mud

The Flamingo Ballroom, Redruth, was a pop and rock venue in Cornwall, which saw some big names play there during the 1960’s and 70’s in what was a fairly modest building. See this link for more information and pictures.

 

http://kernowbeat.co.uk/flamingo.html

Passing through Cornwall in 1974 I saw a concert by the four piece pop band Mud, of which two members have since departed this world. Punk rock was still a year or two away, though the habits of its audience had begun to appear. A young lad near me started spitting at the band. After a while, another lad took exception, and told him to stop. Suddenly there was a fight, and it is surprising how much space can be found in a packed room when necessary. If I recall correctly, the defender of the band came off worst, and received a bloody nose. Like the orchestra on the Titanic, during the incident the band played on. That’s right, that’s right, that’s right, that’s right… 

...Bazooka Joe Bubble Gum

Bazooka Joe was an American brand of bubble gum, which was promoted by a cartoon character with an eye patch and, in the UK, by a Magic Circle club.

With each purchase, one got a small pink oblong of sugary bubble gum and a humourous cartoon on waxy paper roughly three inches by two inches, of which some examples below.

Laugh? I thought I'd never start!

...two censored postcards of the Great War

These two postcards were sent from the Front, presumably by a serving soldier, in the early part of the First World War, probably in November 1914.

Censorship of communications home was introduced for obvious reasons, to avoid information falling, however innocently, into enemy hands. The images here of St. Martin's cloisters and the Butter Market at Ypres in Belgium however would not tax the intelligence of any competent spy, despite the name of the town being struck through with blue pencil on the one card, and being clipped from the corner on the other. Especially as the name of the publisher, a Bartier of Ypres, appears on the back of one card.

The cards are nevertheless interesting examples of their type.

...General Science 'O' Level Exam Paper 1969

This was my General Science practical exam in 1969, and I challenge you to take this exam, though I admit it would be rather difficult without the apparatus in front of you. I recall that specimen F in question 4 was a kidney. 

I did pass the exam, though I forget what grade I obtained.

You have two hours starting...now.