Historical information
Scrapbooks and albums provide a unique record of individuals, families, organizations, and associations. This scrapbook was compiled for Raymond and Rosemary by their Aunt Gertrude. It was donated to the Society by Rosemary Vaughan-Smith.
Physical description
Illustrated cloth bound, hard cover album used as a scrapbook. On the inside front cover the creator of the scrapbook is identified in 'scrap' lettering as "Aunt Gertrude" and that the recipients were "Raymond [&] Rosemary". Each of the 80 pages in the scrapbook includes pasted monochrome or colour printed illustrations and or texts. Typically, there is one design per page. Most of the material used in the scrapbook is undated, however dates may be deduced from the style of individual items. Some of the illustrations date from the 19th century while others are clearly from the first decades of the 20th century. A number of the items included have their publication date included in the design, including British soldiers in regimental uniform (1914), and covers of popular magazines such as Punch (1924).
Many of the items include their original captions or the designer's name such as popular cartoons such as 'The Emergency Exit by W Heath Robinson, or 'Wheels and Squeals: A Study in Progress' by Alfred Leete. Illustrated advertisements for products such as 'O-Cedar Mop Polish', and magazine covers such as 'Passing Show' also provide opportunities for dating materials used in the book. In addition to the aforementioned types of material used, the scrapbook also contains sentimental, floral and religious illustrations, instructional educative materials, and patriotic content. The materials used would appear to be British in origin. Typical of many scrapbooks of the period, the album has a number of conservation-related issues, including foxing on some of the pages and illustrations. These may have resulted from the residue of sweat on fingers or from the glues used for pasting in some of the content.
