Donkey-stoning: a daily spectacle in working-class neighbourhoods in the 1950s.
Glamorous and lighthearted: Ruth Ellis and David Blakely at the Little Club in 1953. His murder by her in 1955 was the crime passionnel of the decade.
Working-class mothers taking a break from their chores, 1950.
The 1951 election campaign. Margaret Roberts tries to persuade a Dartford chimney sweep to vote for her. She lost, but from 1958 her political rise was unstoppable.
Despite the challenging image on its cover, this pamphlet stressed female submission and guile: 'Fan the flames of his ardour gently, but always leave him a little unsatisfied… '
‘I still can’t believe it’s true – a washing machine in MY kitchen!’ The family is enraptured, and the neighbour peers enviously from behind Mum’s kitchen curtains.
Dora Russell in 1958, setting off in her battered charabanc on the Women’s Caravan of Peace.
The last Palace presentation was held in 1958; four debutantes smilingly offer themselves up as upper-class wife material.