Jellied Eels and Zeppelins

Overview

As every year goes by…

… the number of people able to give a first hand account of day-to-day life in the early part of the last century naturally diminishes. The small but telling detail disappears. Ethel May Elvin was born in 1906; she recalls her father’s account of standing sentry at Queen Victoria’s funeral, the privations and small pleasures of a working-class Edwardian childhood, growing up through the First World War and surviving the Second. Anyone intrigued by the small events of history and how the majority actually lived day-to-day, will find this a unique and fascinating book.

Content

PART ONE 1909-1923
One Chocolates and Shoe Leather
Two Busbies, Prawns and Bing, Bing, Bing!
Three Inkwells, Laundry and Doh-Ray-Me
Four Cockles, Carts and Motor Cars
Five Jellied Eels and Christmas Time
Six Zeppelins, Dolls and ‘Spanish Flu’

PART TWO 1923-1939
Seven Hats, Coats and Cameras
Eight Lucky Dreams and Boyfriends
Nine Strikes, Frosts and a Total Eclipse
Ten Friends, Fun and Frolics
Eleven More Cameras, Pineapples and Nice Hot Rolls
Twelve Motor bikes and Primus Stoves

PART THREE 1939-1945
Thirteen Doodlebugs and Dugouts
Fourteen Roses and Wedding Cakes
Fifteen Boots, Bugs and Knickers!
Sixteen Rissoles, Swedes and Rhubarb Wine
Seventeen Big Bands and Booby Traps
Eighteen Fancy Dress and Fireworks
Nineteen Jews and Views

PART FOUR 1945-2003
Twenty Pinks, Pails, Bricks and Nails
Twenty-One Pigs, Teeth and Damson Jam
Twenty-Two Bombs, Buses and Dalmatian Bill
Twenty-Three Collections, Councils and Clubs
Twenty-Four Eating ‘Ats and Highway Codes
Twenty-Five Dutch Flowers and Scottish Lochs
Twenty-Six Secrets and Reflections

The author

Ethel May Elvin, born when Edward VII was King in 1906, is one of the few remaining authentic voices of Edwardian working-class life. She tells Sue Taylor about her father’s account of standing sentry at Queen Victoria’s funeral, the privations and small pleasures of a working-class Edwardian childhood, growing up through the First World War and surviving the Second.