“ Now we get a whiff of the gutta-percha works; then comes a faint gust from some floor-cloth shed; next we dash through an odoriferous belt of bone-boiling atmosphere; and after that through a film of fetor rank with the fumes from the glazing of potteries; whereupon this is followed by bands of nauseous vapoursContinue reading “RKS Literature: The Train Ride from London to Clapham Common: Through the Suburban Stench (Henry Mayhew)”
Category Archives: history
RKS Literature: A Disgusting and Immoral Performance at a London Penny Gaff (Henry Mayhew)
“There was one scene yet to come that was perfect in its wickedness. A ballet began with a man dressed up as a woman, and a country clown. The most disgusting attitudes were struck, the most immoral acts represented, without one dissenting voice. If there had been any feat of agility, any grimacing, or, inContinue reading “RKS Literature: A Disgusting and Immoral Performance at a London Penny Gaff (Henry Mayhew)”
RKS Literature: The Scramble for a Living in London’s Street Markets (Henry Mayhew)
“Each salesman tries his utmost to sell his wares, tempting the passers-by with his bargains. The boy with his stock of herbs offers ‘a double ‘andful of fine parsley for a penny;’ the man with a donkey cart filled with turnips has three lads to shout for him to their utmost with their ‘ Ho!Continue reading “RKS Literature: The Scramble for a Living in London’s Street Markets (Henry Mayhew)”
RKS Literature: London as Seen from a Balloon (Henry Mayhew)
“…..to grasp it in the eye-to take, as it were, an angel’s view of that huge town where, perhaps, there is more virtue and more inequity, more wealth and more want, brought together in one dense focus than in any other part of the earth-to hear the hubbub of the restless sea of life andContinue reading “RKS Literature: London as Seen from a Balloon (Henry Mayhew)”
RKS Literature: The Spice Cover Up in Street Pies! (Henry Mayhew)
“The pies in Tottenham-court-road are very highly seasoned. “I bought one there the other day, and it nearly took the skin off my mouth; it was full of pepper’ said a street pieman, with considerable bitterness, to me. The reason why so large a quantity of pepper is put in is, because persons can’t tellContinue reading “RKS Literature: The Spice Cover Up in Street Pies! (Henry Mayhew)”
RKS Literature: Meow Meow and Woof Woof in Street Pies! DENIED! (Henry Mayhew)
“The pie dealers usually make the pies themselves. The meat is bought in ‘pieces’ of the same part as sausage-makers purchase- the ‘sticklings’- at about 3d the pound. ‘People when I go into houses’ said one man ‘often begin by crying “Mee-yow” or “Bow-wow-wow! At me; but there’s nothing of that kind now. Meat youContinue reading “RKS Literature: Meow Meow and Woof Woof in Street Pies! DENIED! (Henry Mayhew)”
RKS Literature: Why One Must Defect from the USSR (Vladimir Rott)
“An ordinary person in the USSR has no prospects except for being trapped in misery and trudging directly toward the grave. All of the friends and even casual acquaintances we talked to were in a bleak mood: there was nothing ahead, just emptiness. No goals to set, nothing to look forward to. We knew theContinue reading “RKS Literature: Why One Must Defect from the USSR (Vladimir Rott)”
RKS Literature: Timid Warrior Whalemen at Breakfast (Herman Melville)
“These reflections just here are occasioned by the circumstances that after we were all seated at the table, and I was preparing to hear some good stories about whaling; to my no small surprise, nearly every man maintained a profound silence. And not only that, but they looked embarrassed. Yes, here were a set ofContinue reading “RKS Literature: Timid Warrior Whalemen at Breakfast (Herman Melville)”
RKS Literature: “The Communist Manifesto”: Your Horror at the Communists’ Intention to Do Away with Private Property
“You are horrified at our intending to do away with private property. But in your existing society, private property is already done away with for nine-tenths of the population; its existence for the few is solely due to its non-existence in the hands of those nine-tenths. You reproach us therefore, with intending to do awayContinue reading “RKS Literature: “The Communist Manifesto”: Your Horror at the Communists’ Intention to Do Away with Private Property”
RKS Literature: The Distinction Between Nationalism and Patriotism (George Orwell)
“By “patriotism” I mean a devotion to a particular place and a particular way of life, which one believes to be the best place in the world but has no wish to force upon other people. Patriotism by its very nature is defensive, both militarily and culturally. Nationalism, on the other hand, is inseparable fromContinue reading “RKS Literature: The Distinction Between Nationalism and Patriotism (George Orwell)”
A Bird's Eye View of Fashion, Food, Travel, Culture, Beverage and Curiosity 