Publicity booklet from the tobacconist Bewlay's issued in 1967. Mostly drawings of historical types smoking pipes and taking snuff. They claim that Britain's first smoker was seen in Bristol in 1556 'he did walk in the streets emitting smoke from his nostrils…' He was chased through the town by an angry populace. This spirit is now returning. The 1967 image shows every single person smoking - even the women ('the fair sex have shown they are no longer willing to be excluded from one of the most exquisite pleasures of life.')

Conservative Political Centre pamphlet from 1968. A cultured speech quoting from Shakespeare and Sheridan and even the now slightly forgotten French writer Anatole France (who is quoted as saying 'I am not so devoid of all talents as to occupy myself with politics.')

Among the wrongs Margaret Thatcher identifies are too much government; government and its agencies had become too big and the mere man no longer counted. People had lost interest in politics, there was too much reliance on statistics and 'too little judgement…'

One significant line in her speech is 'Bribery and corruption, which have now gone, used to be rampant.' She mentions the case of a Lord Ashley who spent £12000 on 'refreshments' in order to win Dorset in 1831. Probably more than a million…

Based on a speech given 10/10/68 at the party conference in Blackpool. From the collection of Ian Gilmour (Baron Gilmour of Craigmillar 1926 – 2007) with his marginal linings. The owner of The Spectator in the late 1950s and a distinguished historian. Later he was an anti-Thatcherite Tory Cabinet minister (i.e. what Maggie called a 'wet.') Margaret Thatcher became P.M. 11 years later in 1979.

A 1938 Christmas article for W.H. Smith's own magazine The Book Window by Collie Knox. Knox was a much published journalist who also wrote lyrics. He was a friend of Chips Channon from whose collection this came. A potboiler of an article of the kind that could no longer be written. Some of the sentiment about books has recently been revived in the face of Kindle and the decline of  book reading among coming generations. The idea of coming back to a room full of books (even a study) is still attractive and trumps coming home to a thin grey slab...

Dreams for Sale

  CALL no man friendless while he owns one book.

  After your day’s work do you go to your home–large or small–where, ranged round your own particular room, are rows of books? It is to be hoped that you do so, for, once there are books within reach, you need never feel lonely.

  Most of us lead painfully hectic lives in this age of pace. So little time there is for peaceful–unhurried things. We dash home only to dash out again–to mingle with large numbers of strangers who have been bidden to meet at this or that social activity. Further and further away from us rolls that heaven-given blessing–“A quiet evening at home.”

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I remember seeing Aleister Crowley walking in Hampstead in the mid 1940s. He was pointed out to me by another boy called John Bunting.Crowley was staying with his father the writer and anthologist Daniel George (Bunting) in East Heath Road where it meets Whitestone Lane, an area now infested by oligarchs. As I recall he had a beard and was wearing a kilt and possibly carrying a sword stick with an entwined silver snake. I have heard of him wearing a kilt but seldom a beard and he is not known to have associated with Daniel George but I am certain it was him.

Later I met the writer and film maker Lance Sieveking who also knew Crowley. He told me that in the 1930s the Great Beast had involved him in marketing a scent he had concocted from musk and various spices and animal products. The idea was that a man wearing this scent could not fail with women. It appeared to have the opposite effect however and was a financial failure.

[Contributed by a Jot associate, now in his 80s. Many thanks! ]

The Time Machine by HG Wells.

Airmont Classics series paperback N Y 1964.

Interesting cover art by an anonymous artist envisaging a time machine as a type of flying oven. From the portentous introduction by Donald Wollheim:

'..if you have never read The Time Machine before I envy you the experience. It is a fascinating story you have awaiting you, one that spans all time until the last red rays of a dying sun shine down on a bleak and used up landscape. A story that will linger in your imagination…

Is it to be this way? you will ask. This is a vision of a future, but is it to be the future? We live in a pivotal century which may well decide what will happen to our children's children for a hundred generations. So, reader, the decision may well be up to you.'

Mass Observation was founded in 1937 by the anthropologist Tom Harrisson, the poet Charles Madge and the film-maker Humphrey Jennings. Their aim, stated in a letter to the New Statesman, was to create an "anthropology of ourselves" - a study of the everyday lives of ordinary people in Britain.

Harrisson team of observers, diarists and investigators first big project was their study of the life and people of Bolton (the Worktown Project). Investigators went into a variety of public situations: meetings, religious occasions, sporting and leisure activities, in the street, in pubs and at work, and recorded people's behaviour and conversation in as much detail as possible. The material they produced is a varied documentary account of life in Britain. A great deal of it is now held at the University of Sussex.

Mass Observation continued to operate throughout the Second World War and into the early 1950s, producing a series of books about their work as well as thousands of reports. Gradually the emphasis shifted away from social issues towards consumer behaviour and consumer research In 1949, Mass Observation was registered as a limited company.

Sussex University gives a key to various 'M-O' codes

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Moon the Loon is one of about a dozen books on The Who (once considered the third biggest group in the world after The Beatles and The Stones). Published in paperback by W.H. Allen (London 1981) and subtitled "The rock and roll life of Keith Moon -- the most spectacular drummer the world has ever seen." There are at least four books on the 'wild man of rock' Keith Moon. The hardest to find is Moon the Loon. Written in present tense 'mockney' (Chelsea/ Cockney) -  legend has it that Dougal Butler ghost wrote it 'to cover some of the debts he incurred working for Moonie'. The remaining members of The Who were furious with the writer - 'seeing the book as an affront to their dear departed drummer, and cut him off for years..' (Quotes from Amazon which has much background on this paperback.)

Another Amazon review notes; 'He appears to have written it in the same cheerful cockney/upper class gent manner in which Keith himself was known to speak.This begins to irritate after about two pages…' Covering the excesses of rock life it is said to have an undertone of pathos or sadness.  There is also Dear Boy: The Life of Keith Moon by Tony Fletcher - a hardback from 1998  which has interviews with Kim, his wife of eight years, and Linda, his sister and Annette Walter-Lax, his main girlfriend of the final years. Also interviewed are Oliver Reed, Larry Hagman, David Putnam, Alice Cooper, Dave Edmunds, Jeff Beck, John Entwistle and many others who worked and partied with him. Myths are exposed.

From an archive of material of the writer George Hutchinson relating to his time in Mass-Observation (M-O) - a profile of the 1941 Hornsey election far right 'independent' candidate Noel Pemberton Billing, who in an earlier incarnation in his journal, Vigilante, published a homophobic article, "The Cult of the Clitoris" which resulted in a sensational libel trial. Much on Wikipedia about him and the trial and his friend Lord Alfred Douglas.  It is covered in Philip Hoare's  Oscar Wilde's Last Stand: Decadence, Conspiracy, and the Most Outrageous Trial of the Century (1999)

In this report 'inv' = investigator. Note PB's odd clothes--a remarkable collar with points more than six inches long held together by an Air Force brooch. No tie and the monocle lead coming from the tie (see photo.) Also M-O notes his accent (that one would expect to be of the Terry Thomas school) but  which was in fact Cockney. He stood on a policy of aerial reprisals against Nazi Germany but only received a quarter of the vote and the Tory candidate Charles Challen was returned.

HORNSEY BY-ELECTION G. H. 28.5.41

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From an archive of material of the writer George Hutchinson relating to his time in Mass-Observation (M-O) this includes 38  letters from Tom Harrisson (some slightly argumental.) Originally a reporter for the Yorkshire Post, Hutchinson was a volunteer observer and later became a paid 'wholetime investigator' and was conscripted into the Navy during this time. He later became a journalist and wrote biographies of Edward Heath & Harold Macmillan.

This is a classic M-O report, honest, opinionated, dispassionate and with an eye for the telling detail. Later we will put up an M-O profile of the 1941 Hornsey election  far right 'independent' candidate Pemberton Billing, who in an earlier incarnation in his journal, Vigilante, published a homophobic article, "The Cult of the Clitoris" which resulted in a sensational libel trial.

KING'S NORTON BY-ELECTION G. H. 6.5.41

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This turned up with some papers about Cambridge University. Sadly there is a bit of loss as one side is burnt. The guide referred to is very likely to be 'The Roof-Climber's Guide to Trinity' by Geoffrey Winthrop (1900) Note: Edward Bowen, 'the famous Harrow master and athlete' wrote the hymn 'Forty Years On.'

Records of early climbs are lamentably [hard?] to seek . It is known that Lord Byron 'decorated' the statues on the Library, and was proud of the fact. But research has shown that the ascent was made by ladders,under use for repairs; and possibly also by breaking in and out of the staircase to the roof. On the first appearance of the 'Guide', Edward Bowen, the famous Harrow master and athlete wrote that he had been on the roof of Chapel and of Great Court, with friends. But the routes are unknown. This must have been in the 1850's. In the '70's, Dr Roger Wakefield, father of Wavell, Teddie and Cuthbert, reports that he, likewise, with friends, scrambled on the Great Court roofs. There were probably many such enterprises through the centuries. The definite records began in 1895: when G.W,Y (Geoffrey Winthrop Young) started the mountaineering exploration of the Roofs.
His companions were,at different times,-F.M.L.(Felix Martin Levi.Maths Scholar. Perhaps the most brilliant and lovable man of his time. Afterwards in I,C.S, and killed early in an earthquake.) - A.M.M. ( Sandy Mackay. Mor. Sci. Scholar.Internat.Lawn Tennis Blue,and now Scottish Law Lord) - J.F.D.( Professor Dobson,of Bristol,[Classic.Schol.,] Dean of the Classic Faculty) - C.K.C. ( Clague.Maths Schol. now H.M.I,the author of the happiest of quotations, on Lliwedd; and distinguished as an athlete for putting his knee out while playing chess) - More occasionally:-R.W. (Ralph Wedgwood,youngest of the admirable brotherhood.He died early in South America,) something of a genius - G.M.T.( Prof George Trevelyan.O.M.Regius Prof of History) - C.A.Wordsworth,Scho [ocho?] of Clare.- C.M.Jones;Saths Schol of T rinity. W.W. Greg.Afterwards Trinity Librarian,and Author.-E.H.Y. ( Sir E. Hilton Young ,brother of G.W.Y.)[penciled in]
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Goddesses Never Die by George B. Mair. (Jarrolds U.K. 1969) Dust wrapper by Michael Johnson. An espionage thriller with a lot of 1960s references. Rather rare - none listed on web book malls and this copy with a signed presentation from the author...

The dust wrapper blurb reads:

Set in the Himalayas, this seventh David Grant thriller has all the narrative power and exotic colour for which the George Mair has been acclaimed in five continents.

Hashish and LSD are the weapons chosen by the Mafia and Cosa Nostra to corrupt western society on a global scale and to promote a world take-over by permissive politicians assisted by hippies, beatniks and flower people. A remote Himalayan village controlled by a woman who was once a living goddess in Kathmandu's Kumari Devi Temple becomes a headquarters for organised world revolt – and David Grant, on leave from his duties as NATO's special intelligence agent, is drawn into one of the most dramatic episodes of his career.

A casual meeting with Harmony Dove – socialite, mystery woman and man-hunter – involves Grant in a fantastic battle of wits in which civilisation itself is at stake.

[Backflap, with pic of the writer aged about 50] George Mair specialises in creating drama from existing situations, and his intimate knowledge of over 70 countries enables him to write with authority – whether his  setting is the West Indies or Chile, the Soviet Union or the Sahara.

His scientific training also enables him to see the potential in weapons ranging from drugs to nerve gases while his instincts as a newsman guide him in choice of plot.

His fantasy is always close to 'what may happen tomorrow' and he is an expert in blending fact with fiction.

The Opportunity Course in Practical Selling. By Charles B Roth.(Chicago 1952) A correspondence course of a dozen (?) 4 page leaflets.

Handy tips on door-to-door selling. E.g. - 'always sell them through the eyes' -let the goods sell themselves by showing them and using the "eye lock" i.e. keep the buyers attention on the goods. As for looking at the prospect in the eye Roth advises looking at what he calls the "black dot" - an imaginary spot on the bridge of the prospect's nose - it is less embarrassing than looking the person directly in the eyes.

Selling begins before you actually get to the door… Roth gives details of the million-dollar walk.

The approach to the house begins with your walk. It can make the sale for you, keep you from making the sale, just the way you walk to the house. He talks of a seller who was failing to sell goods - saying to him "..you didn't deserve to sell. Your walk was wrong. I watched you. You were all hunched over. You walked like a man who expected failure, not success. Suppose you just made, or knew you were going to make, a million-dollar sale. How would you walk then?"

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An interesting example of ephemera from World War II, put out by the National Refugee Service (a 'constituent agency of the United Jewish Appeal for Refugees and Palestine') - it puts forward the example of a Jewish refugee, Private John Goetz, who has found 'home and freedom' in America after being 'tossed out' of Germany. He is now bravely fighting the Japanese - hence from their point of view Hitler has made a 'velly silly' move.

He won the Purple Heart and says that when he gets home from war he will have so many medals he will look like 'one of those doormen in front of a Russian night club...' His opinion of Japanese soldiers is very low.

Four books by Nelson Algren found at  Shakespeare and Co in Paris and bought reasonably from George Whitman. About 1990. Catalogued thus (and sold). All inscribed to Simone de Beauvoir - a reminder of this great literary triangulation.

65. ALGREN, Nelson: NEVER COME MORNING. Harper & Brothers, New York, 1942. Signed by Nelson Algren. The French translator's copy with copious notes throughout. The translation was begun by Guyonnet and Bost but worked over, completed and improved by de Beauvoir & Satre. This copy contains many notes in their hands. Many are about obscure American criminals and low-life slang. According to Algren's biographer Bettina Drew 'Sartre helped take the inadequate translation and along with Simone turned it into a good French novel'. When Algren met Sartre he expected they would confront one another like jealous adversaries but was struck by his warmth and charm. Fascinating association copy. VG 

66. ALGREN, Nelson: CHICAGO: CITY ON THE MAKE. Doubleday, New York, 1951.
Signed presentation copy to Simone Beavoir. 'For Castor Avec Amour from Nelson in the Forrest Ave. Nest, Oct. 1951'. Castor was a pet name used by friends. Minor wear else VG. 

67. ALGREN, Nelson: SOMEBODY IN BOOTS. Vanguard, New York, 1935.
Author's first book. Simone de Beavoir's copy with a coloured drawing on the rear endpapers of two rabbits and 'Madame La Tigresse' and 'Monsieur Le Tigre' written underneath in Algfren's Hand. Nelson Algren and Simone de Beavoir were friends and lovers from 1947-1960. An interesting association copy. A somewhat worn and rubbed but solid copy. G/VG.

68.  ALGREN, Nelson: THE NEON WILDERNESS. Hill and Wang, New York, 1960.
1st collected edition of 24 short stories. Signed presentation copy to Simone de Beavoir 'For My Own Simone For Keeps Nelson.' Wraps. VG 

Apparently there is reference to the occasion when Sylvie Le Bon de Beauvoir sold these and many other of Beauvoir's English language books in Mary Duncan's Henry Miller is Under My Bed. See also Bookride which has more on this and mentions that Algren thought Sartre looked like a shoe salesman...

Letter to the critic Raymond Mortimer from the artist John Banting (1902 -1972) from his White Rock Gardens, Hastings address (undated but late 1960s.) Discussing a high society book by Daphne Fielding and life in general. The book was almost certainly Emerald and Nancy: Lady Cunard and Her Daughter. (1968)

Dear Raymond and Paul – it is so reassuring (and so daunting) that you both look so splendid  still. I feel my face sliding with pink jowels but do not resent my filleted clown's nose (it is a change from the old one I had and bewildered strangers.) I hated the extracts from the book about Lytton – I hate all the necrophiliac messes.  They are not history they are gossiping provincial suburban muck.

Portrait of Nancy Cunard by John Banting

I am impatient for your review of Daphne's new book about the haute monde (and incidentally the 'weird' Nancy** whom we both loved). I refrain from boring you with my silly feelings about it – but all the anecdotes (fascinating -but who really cares that  the Prince of Wales thought that "cold salmon was common?" )  The complete exclusion of politics  and the arts is unfortunate for Daphne and places her upon a silly old fence as a gossip columnist.  Her several wild letters to me (never met her) are far better and one day she may make a book instead of trivial memoirs. She is just too commercial. She could be really good.

I feel ashamed to be amused by them  –  O Fuck I feel ashamed to be alive anyway. Please accept  (wishfully)  many enormous  paintings - of  all periods - and vast volumes and heavy chandeliers of Golconda diamonds (no crystal trash) pigeon blood rubies on rings and so on. And so many variegated regards John X

** Nancy Cunard, socialite, poet and rebel - a close friend. He shared her outrage at racial prejudice and stayed with her in Harlem, New York in 1932 and contributed to her Negro Anthology (1935).

He accompanied her on a three month visit to Spain during the Civil War (Oct. - Dec. 1937).

1945 book The Gag Bag by Harry Stanley, most of whose books - both as writer and publisher - were for magicians. This is specifically for magic acts. He writes:

Many years ago Professor Hoffmann pointed out that patter which fits the personality of one type of magician, is by no means certain to suit other types... Magic has long been following a distinct trend in the direction of comedy. Magicians today are usually less solemn than the wizards of Hoffmann's time…every successful conjurer now injects some humour into his work -here then are some 'injections' which will arouse an audience to laughter.

The first few pages are about a 'Comedy Mind Reading Act' -the rest of the book is devoted to patter - jokes to warm up an audience, to fill the gaps when the conjurer is preparing his act etc.,

Of course, I never dare let my people know I was a magician. It would shock them. They think I'm still in prison.

I used to be a wallflower, until I took up magic. Now everybody asks me out. The other night at a show, I had only done one trick, and I was asked out.

There are only two kinds of conjurer you can't trust – the ones with moustaches and the clean-shaven ones.

He is a magician. His brother doesn't work either.

[Spoonerist patter] – 'my next disaster piece' (masterpiece) 'my next misery' (mystery) 'I will now utter the tragic words' (magic words.)

Public house catches fire... 50 magicians homeless.

Will someone call out any number between 16 and 60? Thank you I only wanted to find out if anyone was still awake.

These blades are very sharp – we can't afford to have anything dull on this programme.

This is the best milk I could get (pass the bottle or jug of milk, across your face three or four times) – PASTEURISE.

I call this a heavenly trick – I do it the milky way.

(For quiet audiences.) I know you're out there, because I can hear you breathing.

I wrote to Ripley about the next act (or trick), and he wrote back – I don't believe it.

He met her in a revolving door, and they went around together awhile.

I can't sleep at night. Was advised to count sheep. Last night I counted sheep up to 120,499 – and then I found it was time to get up.

I hear a sound from the back, I don't think it's applause.

The publisher of this book was Harry Stanley (Unique Magic Studio Ealing) and most of his books were for magicians, especially books of 'patter' although these 'Heckler Stoppers' could be used by any comedian.

Heckler Stoppers

Please remember that the average audience will be on your side anyway and it should not often be necessary to use heckler stoppers... Use them only when interruptions are frequent and troublesome. Never lose your temper, and deliver these lines with a smile.

Why don't you crawl back into your nightmare?

Twice as many brains and you'd still be a half wit!!

How much you charge to haunt houses?

Don't worry folks he'll be gone in a minute - they're just cleaning his cage.

Is your family happy…or do you still live at home?

I don't know what makes you so stupid... But it works.

Is that your lower lip or are you wearing a turtle neck sweater?

You have a chip on your shoulder... Or is that your head?

Sir if I said anything to insult you... Believe me!

I'll name my next Breakdown after you.

Is your hair naturally wavy... Or does it go in and out with your skull?

2 jokes from the  section of 'TV gags' date this book firmly in the 1950s: 'My girls so dumb she thinks the English Channel is a Television Network' and 'Here's a real novelty breakfast food. In each packet we give you ninety plastic aircraft and a cornflake!'

Souvenir of a business trip to Biarritz in the mid 1990s - a 120 Franc plastic 'Telecarte.' At the time collecting these cards was very popular (possibly still?).  Collectors / dealers used to find the best ones abandoned in phone booths at railway stations and airports (favoured because these places often had older ones brought in by visitors who had bought them on previous trips.)

This one appears to be worth about 1 Euro now - with higher prices (up to 20 Euros) for examples still 'as new' in the plastic film and blue tear-strip in which they were issued. One Canadian site is selling 15 'Cartes téléphonique TÉLÉCARTE FRANCE usagées' for 100 Euros - these feature:

Catherine Deneuve
Romy Schneider
Simone Signoret
Roman Polanski
Jean Gabin
Jeanne Moreau
Johnny Depp
Claude Lelouch
Bernard Blier
Michel Piccoli
Christian Clavier
Michel Serrault
Gérard Lanvien
Jean-Louis Trintignant
Gérard Depardieu & Christian Clavier

The image on the card is from the 1994 movie Three Colors: Red (dir:Krzysztof Kieślowski) in which JLT plays a troubled judge who eavesdrops on his neighbours' private telephone conversations.  Were all the other cards related to phone scenes in movies?

[The hobby is called telegery and hobbyists (apparently?) refer to themselves as fusilatelists. The rarest phone cards are those produced in limited quantities to test the market but then discontinued before catching on. They started in Italy in 1975 and are now regularly traded on Ebay.]

A 1912 brochure from a stockbroker setting out terms of business. The first page has some interesting advice, most of which would hold true today (apart from being satisfied with "fair profits.") The last pages of the booklet have 'Golden Opinions' (testimonials from 61 bound volumes 'open to inspection.') This from Glasgow in 1891 hints at pretty fast profits. Not nano-seconds but good for 120 years ago...

Gentlemen. Your two wires received this afternoon are good reading; the smartest transaction I was ever interested in, 50% profit in 63 minutes. First wire 3.22pm advising purchase, 4.25pm advising sale. I am much obliged.

H.HALFORD & CO.

ADVISE YOU 

(whether you deal with them or any other firm)

To be careful to whom send your money.
To deal only with firms of known standing.
To insist on references, and when satisfied
To state your requirements fully and clearly.
To put up ample margin. 
To operate in stocks that have a free market.
To be satisfied with fair profits and
To leave something for the next man. 
To be prepared to face a loss. 
To average when markets are temporarily adverse. 
To cut losses smartly when on the wrong track.
To "hedge"  a risky operation.
To pyramid a promising deal. 
To remember "nothing venture, nothing gain." 
To never speculate backwards. 
To avoid buying when contangoes are heavy. 
To never "Bear" when a "Backwardation" rules
To "Stag" a promising issue.
To annually "spring clean" your investments 
To turn out the "bad eggs" and
To re-invest in securities  with good prospects.
To avoid unmarketable and hole-and-corner securities.

Note: Backwardation is a market condition where spot prices exceed forward prices. Contango is the opposite condition, where forward prices exceed spot prices.Terms still in use particularly in the crude oil market. Pyramid = To perform a series of transactions in which the speculator increases his holdings by using the rising market value of those holdings as margin for further purchases.

Short poem by Christopher Logue For Talitha 1941 - 1971 with illustration by Ralph Steadman. Issued in 50 signed copies. 'Talitha' was the wife of Paul Getty and daughter of the artist Willem Pol. One of the more beautiful of the beautiful people, she died young and rich in Rome. She can be seen in very small parts in a series of British 1960s movies like The System an Oliver Reed film where she plays a foreign student and briefly in Barbarella.  Logue, a London friend, writes:

Endlessly moving clouds
But no sign of you.

For three nights running
I have dreamt of you.

Thank you for coming.

Each time we split we said
tomorrow, love. Next day

something had been arranged,
that made us say:

tomorrow is the blind man's holiday.

Rain wets the town.
Skids end and drivers die.

I scratch my head.
I tidy up my room.

Living for ever is a kindly lie.
We will not quarrel in posterity.