I like those books which show you two photographs of the same place separated by time.
For me it is often the pictures which are not so far apart in time which prove to be the most interesting. We expect that there will be lots of differences in say a picture of Wilbraham Road taken in 1880 and one of the same spot today. But what about if the time lapse is just say fifty or so years? Can things be so different? Well of course the answer is yes they can.
The cars look odd, the clothes outlandish and adverts on walls and hoardings quaint and a little unreal. I smile at the 1960s call, “to go to work on an egg”, and remember with pleasure the jingle of “Murray Mints, the too- good- to- hurry mints.” But they are as unfamiliar now as the trolley bus.
Which brings me to another of Peter’s pictures. You know the line by now, he paints the pictures I tell the stories. There are now lots of them about in Chorlton and you can also see them on his facebook site https://www.facebook.com/paintingsfrompictures
Well he has just completed this one of the Bar on Wilbraham Road, commissioned by Robbie the new landlord. Like all Peter’s paintings it bounces with colour and activity.
So contrast it with this photograph from 1959 by A E Landers who a long with a couple of other photographers walked up and down the roads of Chorlton taking pictures of each block of houses and shops. It is a priceless image of the new Britain, which has emerged from the dull grey days of the early 1950s, with their hangover of wartime rationing and make and mend. By 1959 we were having it as good as it got and his picture captures that sense of consumer well being.
The double fronted shop is packed with washing machines and televisions and on the window is the urgent exhortation to Buy! Buy! Buy! for just £3 deposit, and 11/’ a week. And of course this has been written with that white wash which butchers, green grocers and hardware stores used to advertise their instant offers.
But of all those electrical goods it is the television which most strikes me as old and of another time. These small screens in their walnut or mahogany cabinets would have those huge valves inside, and when turned off left that white dot to slowly disappear. Our first TV came with doors which would be closed when the thing was not on and frequently needed a repair man to come and fix it.
Equally odd today was the washing machine which came with an electric mangle and was loaded from the top. It even had to be filled via a hose attached to the kitchen sink.
It was a different country and we did seem to do things very differently from today. So the next time Peter buys me a pint in the Bar I will be able to tell him more long tales of the Xlent shop on Wilbraham Road which is now the Bar.
Pictures; © Peter Topping 2011 www.paintingsfrompictures.co.uk, and the Xlent shop by A E Landers, 1959, M18455, Courtesy of Manchester Libraries, Information and Archives, Manchester City Council
For me it is often the pictures which are not so far apart in time which prove to be the most interesting. We expect that there will be lots of differences in say a picture of Wilbraham Road taken in 1880 and one of the same spot today. But what about if the time lapse is just say fifty or so years? Can things be so different? Well of course the answer is yes they can.
The cars look odd, the clothes outlandish and adverts on walls and hoardings quaint and a little unreal. I smile at the 1960s call, “to go to work on an egg”, and remember with pleasure the jingle of “Murray Mints, the too- good- to- hurry mints.” But they are as unfamiliar now as the trolley bus.
Which brings me to another of Peter’s pictures. You know the line by now, he paints the pictures I tell the stories. There are now lots of them about in Chorlton and you can also see them on his facebook site https://www.facebook.com/paintingsfrompictures
Well he has just completed this one of the Bar on Wilbraham Road, commissioned by Robbie the new landlord. Like all Peter’s paintings it bounces with colour and activity.
So contrast it with this photograph from 1959 by A E Landers who a long with a couple of other photographers walked up and down the roads of Chorlton taking pictures of each block of houses and shops. It is a priceless image of the new Britain, which has emerged from the dull grey days of the early 1950s, with their hangover of wartime rationing and make and mend. By 1959 we were having it as good as it got and his picture captures that sense of consumer well being.
The double fronted shop is packed with washing machines and televisions and on the window is the urgent exhortation to Buy! Buy! Buy! for just £3 deposit, and 11/’ a week. And of course this has been written with that white wash which butchers, green grocers and hardware stores used to advertise their instant offers.
But of all those electrical goods it is the television which most strikes me as old and of another time. These small screens in their walnut or mahogany cabinets would have those huge valves inside, and when turned off left that white dot to slowly disappear. Our first TV came with doors which would be closed when the thing was not on and frequently needed a repair man to come and fix it.
Equally odd today was the washing machine which came with an electric mangle and was loaded from the top. It even had to be filled via a hose attached to the kitchen sink.
It was a different country and we did seem to do things very differently from today. So the next time Peter buys me a pint in the Bar I will be able to tell him more long tales of the Xlent shop on Wilbraham Road which is now the Bar.
Pictures; © Peter Topping 2011 www.paintingsfrompictures.co.uk, and the Xlent shop by A E Landers, 1959, M18455, Courtesy of Manchester Libraries, Information and Archives, Manchester City Council
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