Aerial theatre

1910s, Aerial theatre, Books, Periodicals

Downward, inward persuasion — II

So, who was behind the drop of propaganda leaflets on the striking workers at Coventry in December 1917? Most of the press accounts in fact avoid identifying the aeroplanes involved or who was flying them. At least one, however, says they were ‘military pilots’ and this seems likely. While civilian flying didn’t stop entirely during […]

Hendon, July 1928
1920s, Aerial theatre, Ephemera, Pictures

Hendon in stereo

Above is a pair of stereo photos kindly sent to me by Tim Lees, who found them in his father’s collection. There’s a slight mystery as to the occasion. The label at the top reads ‘Hendon – July ’28’, which suggests they were taken at the RAF Display at Hendon in 1928, but that year

Major Kong
Aerial theatre, After 1950, Music, Pictures, Television, Videos

US AF

What could be more American than football, cheerleaders, and country music? According to Hank Williams Jr in 1989 [edit: more like 1996 — thanks, Robert Farley], only football, cheerleaders, country music, and air strikes on US national monuments (which magically transform them into symbols associated with football):

John T Collins, Aerial Pageant
1930s, Aerial theatre, Art, Australia, Pictures

Aerial Pageant

A drawing by an Australian, John T. Collins, perhaps as a student exercise. Unlike in Britain, there was no dominant ‘aerial pageant’ here but rather many local ones, so it seems like a generic advertisement. It’s dated to 1932 or 1933, but assuming the context is Australian then those would be Hawker Demons and it

War Savings Certificates leaflet
1940s, Aerial theatre, After 1950, Books, Ephemera, Nuclear, biological, chemical, Periodicals

This might have been a bomb

A bit of aerial theatre from Dan Todman’s (excellent) Britain’s War: Into Battle, 1937-1941: Newton Abbot, Devon, February 1941. The town is holding its War Weapons Week to promote the National Savings movement. It has been set the aim of increasing savings by £100,000 during seven days. To publicize the event, local organizers arrange a

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