Monday, March 19, 2012

Five Forgotten Gentlemen

I found a photograph today, nestled between pages 118 and 119 of a Victorian novel called 'The Old Helmet', by Elizabeth Wetherell. The picture was in such a dreadful state - torn, creased and discoloured - that I was tempted to throw it away.

But one hour later, after enduring the tedium of Photoshop Elements, the image suddenly came to life:



It looks like the 1890s to me. I should know - I was there only the other week.

I wonder what Creese's Oatmeal Stout tasted like?
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5 comments:

  1. lucy joy7:24 pm

    I bet it tastes nothing like WKD Blue.
    Should this picture appear on one of the gentlemen's Facebook pages, I wonder if the caption would read; "me + the boys getting warmed up for the stag do, LOL!"

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  2. Martin7:14 am

    Great photograph, Steerforth. Am I correct in thinking that Creese's brewery was in Hyde, Manchester?

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  3. Sarah9:15 am

    It's funny how they wore their hats sitting on top of their heads in those days, instead of over their ears.

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  4. Steerforth11:19 am

    Lucy - It's a nice idea. I've seen a retro 70s-style version of Facebook. Perhaps they should do one for the Victorians.

    Martin - I've just found this:

    "The brewery was founded in 1901 in Hyde and had 60 pubs by the time it was taken over by Walker & Homfrays in 1929; the site was finally closed in the 1960s."

    So it's the 1900s.

    Sarah - I'm also struck by the fact that they loved their moustaches. Imagine the stir a hatless, clean-shaven man must have caused.

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  5. Anonymous12:53 pm

    Men almost always wore a 'tache until after the Great War when so many were shaved off due to the lice they countered in the trenches etc.

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