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Archaeology of domestic life in early 20th century Britain

The aim of this blog is to publish data on early 20th century buildings, whilst this is still accessible. Much material of interest to the historian is being destroyed through 'home improvements' and DIY, and objects are increasingly being divorced from their context through dispersal after the death of their owners. By creating an easily accessible contextual record of material culture, it is hoped that those interested in this period of history may have a resource through which the details of domestic life might be studied.

If you have any artefacts of interest, or make discoveries during the process of your own investigations that you would like to share, please contact me!

Friday 2 December 2011

Empire advertising: national identity in the kitchen at Christmas

I've previously come across some interesting packaging & advertising (will dig out further links) released by the Empire Marketing Board that encourages the 1920s & 30s house-wife to purchase cooking ingredients from sources within the Empire. I'm considering the effects of such propaganda upon identities, but have much work to do yet on this topic.

For now, the National Archives have a rather nice (Christmas-focused) slide show that includes some of this advertising:

"The time for wrapping up warmly and preparing for Christmas is now upon us.
Colourful images from our vaults show that past traditions remain. Have you made your Christmas pudding yet? Our Empire Marketing Board recipe, originally printed as a poster might give you some tips. Goods from past Empire countries were promoted in Great Britain to embed global economic unity using posters and other campaigns."

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