Richard Overy. The Morbid Age: Britain Between the Wars London: Allen Lane, 2009. One I've been looking forward to getting my hands on! It's not a general history of the 1920s and 1930s, but more a history of ideas, with a particular focus on (as the title suggests) pessimistic ones. There are a couple of chapters on pacifism which look especially interesting. And while it's not profusely illustrated, the pictures are well-chosen: the one on the back cover of the Southwark Spain Shop ('Buy a tin of food! We will send it to Spain') is worth at least a thousand words.
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That's it for the phantom airship scare of 1909. It's been interesting for me, as I haven't looked closely at this material since I did my 4th year thesis some time ago (the 1913 scare made it into the PhD, but not 1909). It didn't last very long, only a couple of weeks. At first, the stories were presented as a curiosity, localised to East Anglia. It seems to have been the Conservative press which took most interest at this stage, though it seems to have been divided as to whether a British aeronaut was responsible or an airship flying off a German warship. It was only when two separate sightings of the airship took place in South Wales -- by dock workers at Cardiff and the Punch and Judy showman on Caerphilly Mountain -- that Liberal papers such as the Manchester Guardian started reporting it. It seemed that something was going on.
But almost as soon as the phantom airships became 'serious' news, scepticism set in. Percival Spencer announced that his family's firm had recently sold several small airships for the purpose of advertising. Even though he gave no actual evidence of any connection between these and the scareships, it seems to have been good enough for all the newspapers examined here (bar the Norfolk News): there are far fewer stories about the 'fly-by-nights' thereafter, and those that do appear are sceptical or humorous. And, to be fair, real evidence of a hoax did turn up, in the form of a crashed airship and a claim that Jarrott and Letts, purveyors of fine motorcars from the Continent, had been towing it around the Eastern Counties at night as some sort of advertising stunt (which I still don't understand, but never mind).
That doesn't explain the Cardiff sightings, of course, nor the Irish ones nor the North Sea ones nor the (possible) Belgian ones. I don't believe that there were actual airships involved in these cases, except perhaps the last two. No archival evidence has ever emerged of anyone flying airships over Britain at this time, whether homegrown or foreign, other than those which were well-known at the time -- Willows, Spencer, the Army. Maybe meteors, maybe fire balloons, maybe luminous owls. It doesn't much matter to me. What's more important is why various explanations were offered and why they were accepted (or rejected).
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This post is part of an experiment in post-blogging the scareship wave of May-June 1909. See here for an introduction to the series, and here for a conclusion.
Yep, me! On current plans, I'm flying in to Heathrow on 9 September and flying out on 1 October (if I'm not mistaken, on an A380 both ways). It's mainly for a holiday and to catch up with people, but I will also be attending the Bombing, States and Peoples in Western Europe 1940-1945 conference at Exeter. That finishes on the 12th, after which I'm thinking of heading down to Cornwall and then probably Wales. After that I'm not sure (maybe even a quick jaunt over the Channel?) but I'll probably be in London for a week or so at the end of September.
Exciting!
This post relates to my trip to England and Wales in September 2009.
Punch today has a number of phantom airship items (p. 379). They're quite amusing (to me, at least) and, in ironic vein, sum up the scare quite well. There's pride ...
We are getting on at last. In phantom airships Great Britain is now facile princeps.
... fear ...
Meanwhile, some surprise has been expressed that, although a German balloon which was taking part in the Hurlingham race attempted, in its descent, to demolish an Englishman's Home near Bow, not a single newspaper mobilised its war correspondents.
... and profit!
THE NEW TERROR.
Mr. Punch's Meteoritical Department has pleasure in recommending the following protective devices for use in connection with airships:--
- THE ENGLISHMAN'S DOME.-- You can walk beneath this portable roof -- light but strong, running on ball bearings, 3-speed gear -- and go abroad with perfect safety. Hang your luggage on the hooks in the dome, and save cab fares. A perfect substitute for the old-fashioned umbrella.
It will pay you to buy a Dome!
Mr. T. ROOSEVELT writes:-- "There are no airships here; but thanks a thousand times! The very thing I wanted! Close the bomb-proof door, and lions can do nothing with you. I fell off the cow-catcher last week, and wasn't hurt any. I shall never go out again without one of your Domes. Bully!"- A Cheaper Article -- THE PNEUMATIC HELMET -- for Glancing Shocks. Special arrangements for Heads of Families.
- Aviators should note this! THE SPRING SHOCK-ABSORBER. Powerful springs, held in place within our specially designed costume, extending instantly in every direction on being released. You can positively enjoy the sensation of the longest fall, and anticipate the inevitable bump with pleasure.
Unsolicited testimonial from Mr. WILBUR WRIGHT:-- "Say! I came an Orville cropper to-day, but I was all Wright. I wear your patent suit in spring, summer, and fall. Thought you might like these easy puns."- Absolutely indispensable! Our PATENT PARACHUTE TROUSERS. Expand as you descend. Air-tight seams. Rubber facings.
- Try our PATENT VERTICAL ACTION MACHINE GUN, and keep your rights to the Empyrean respected. Easy terms on the Maxim Hiram [sic] Payment System.
This post is part of an experiment in post-blogging the scareship wave of May-June 1909. See here for an introduction to the series, and here for a conclusion.
[Cross-posted at Cliopatria.]
It's just short of three years since I last hosted a History Carnival, so it's about time I did another. And here it is! Herein you will find such diverse topics as:
The Maltese dragon of 1608.
Anti-vaccinators of the 18th and 19th centuries.
The lives of disabled British children around the turn of the 20th century.
An innovation in plumbing from 1963 which never caught on.
Firstly, though, can you help these history bloggers?
Can you add any 19th century female utilitarians to this list?
Do you know any examples of medieval stained glass windows in film?
What Great War gesture is that?
When did violence in war become 'kinetic'?
Technology. We all use it, but maybe we could be using it more?
Why you should use Flickr.
Why you should not be scared of using Wikipedia.
Mashing up Google Maps and the British Library's sound recordings.
A heartwarming story of digital collaboration between archives in five countries.
An equally heartwarming story of digital aggregation within one country.
Medievalists and the early internet: a reminiscence.
Ideas. We all have them ... no, I'm not going to keep doing this!
How to get from Vietnam to Dungeons & Dragons.
When dinosaurs roamed the Earth alongside humans.
A freethinking biology textbook from the 1970s.
Interwar eastern Europe and speed.
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The new Fortnightly Review (actually a monthly, of course) is out today. Each issue opens with a review of 'Imperial and foreign affairs', which is usually written by J. L. Garvin, editor of the Observer and a figure of great influence in Conservative politics. Assuming that it is he who penned this Review's review, Garvin uses the scareship episode as an excuse to attack the Liberal government. It's part of a long excursion which takes in the recent death of novelist George Meredith (who, although a Liberal, supported conscription); the collapse of Britain's diplomatic position (somewhat at odds with the Foreign Secretary's opinion, it would seem); the deleterious effect of a lack of British military power on its seapower; Lord Robert's recent statement that the Army is 'sham'; and so on. Returning to Meredith, Garvin quotes (1006) his recent poem 'The Call' for its evocation of how weak Britain is without a real Army to defend it:
Under what spell are we debased
By fears for our inviolate isle,
Whose record is of dangers faced
And flung to heel with even smile?
Garvin goes on to show just how debased the British are, when instead of facing the 'real and immense dangers' facing the nation, with a 'silent and settled resolution worthy of a great people',
we bemuse ourselves with irrelevant hysterics about German waiters and phantom airships and secret squadrons hovering about our coasts.
Meredith would have known what to do, to steel the national nerve: introduce compulsory service!
Who can doubt that he was right, and that all the democracies of all the Britains must follow him if they mean to hold the Empire together by their united strength and severally to preserve their national liberties under a common flag.
As an indication of just how much defence issues have come to dominate the national press recently, the first five issues of the Fortnightly this year had at most one article on the topic (excluding Garvin's column). This month there are four: 'Our duty to our neighbour: the defence of France' by Cecil Battine; 'The Admiralty Board and the Army Council' by George T. Lambert; 'Do dreadnoughts only count?' by Navalis; and 'War and shipping' by Benjamin Taylor. Nothing about airships, though, it must be said.
This post is part of an experiment in post-blogging the scareship wave of May-June 1909. See here for an introduction to the series, and here for a conclusion.
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