What images are conjured up when we think of London in the 1920s? Perhaps one of a care-free frivolity, ‘flappers’, bob-cut women dashing about the shops, the jazz music-scene, and the era of the Big Bands, the above the knee dresses that were a practicality for dancing, the Art Deco-style buildings beginning to accent the city?

Yet, London was a city still recovering from the impacts of war and the influenza pandemic. The trauma of this experience pushed other pursuits, such as those mentioned above, to the fore. There was still much hardship, unemployment and poverty during this period and people sought help from the workhouse, or public assistance institutions as they came to be known LPA: 249396. Over 2,000 people marched from Bow to the High Court in 1921 as part of the Poplar Rates Rebellion against high rates LPA: 280249.

This reached a critical point in 1926 when a General Strike was called by the General Council of the Trades Union Congress. Oxford Street saw soldiers deployed to send a message to the crowds in this climate of fear of a Revolution LPA: 287539.

The decade saw a move through Liberal administration to a Conservative one and the first Labour government in 1924 with Ramsay MacDonald LPA: 302213, 301597, 302194, 302215.

The number of men that had been lost during the First World War meant that opportunities for women were increasing due to the employment women had undertaken in their place out of necessity LPA: 324540, 301566. The Representation of the People Act in 1918 had enabled some women to vote (over the age of 30) and a decade later in 1928 the Equal Franchise Act applied the vote to all women over the age of 21.

A great showcase for the events LPA: 301394 and daily lives of London people and its cast of characters during this era is within the photographs of George W.F. Ellis LPA: 301697. Ellis LPA:302799 is good at naming people on his photographs that might otherwise be left anonymous LPA: 301710.

New inventions are captured in the photographs by Ellis such as fitting shoes by X-ray LPA: 301707 and the early use of commercial passenger planes such as this flight with Imperial Airways LPA: 302694.
The British Empire Exhibition took place at Wembley in 1924 LPA: 302553. The idea behind it was to stimulate trade with 56 territory states taking part with displays and pavilions at the site LPA: 301749. The Empire Stadium later became Wembley Stadium LPA: 301688.

American consumer culture LPA: 125047 (seen here in Wrigley’s gum advert) had a large influence in Britain in the 1920s with shops like Woolworths. Hollywood film contributed to image ideals of ordinary men and women LPA: 301944, 301945. Early British cinema is evidenced in a poster advertising the comedy film ‘Not for Sale’ seen in this view of the Strand in 1924 LPA: 140192. The child star of Charlie Chaplin’s The Kid (1921), Jackie Coogan, appears in this photograph with a set of golf clubs LPA: 302109. The British Broadcasting Company was established in 1922 and an early image of a radio sound effects workshop at Marconi House is at LPA: 302670.

There was an expansion to suburban living made possible with improved transport links LPA: 36932 and the increased use of the motor car for leisure LPA: 301450. Slums were being cleared by the London County Council LPA: 266911, 257430 and the development of cottage estates like Becontree were on the rise as model dwellings LPA: 252418.

The foundations of the modern city during this decade were set down.