Accept my love
The invention of a cheap and easy colour printing process, along with the Victorian tendency for sentimentality and the introduction of the Penny Post, all worked together to create a […]
Prices and places
Skip to: Prices (Decimalisation)Places (Postcodes) Prices: Decimalisation BRITONS GET 100-CENT HEADACHEA STORM of controversy was blowing up last night over plans published earlier for switching Britain to a Continental-style decimal […]
Number, please?
In the 100+ years of the telephone there’s been a number of changes to phone numbers and the way we dial them. These changes have enabled direct calling, increased capacity […]
Synthetics
Skip to: Timeline / Fibre info / Burn test / Finishing treatments / Sources The biggest revolution to take place in fashion was not one of style, but of fibre. […]
When the penny drops
Do you remember the elaborate charity collection tubs that would stand near the checkouts in most supermarkets? What fun it was to watch mum’s change zig-zag or spiral away. So […]
Born from the sea
As The Collector’s Companion enters its thirtieth year, we thought we’d mark our pearl anniversary by taking a look at some. Such is the history and beauty of pearls, they […]
Scenes of Japan
Utagawa Hiroshige was a prolific travel blogger who was also a success in the world of fast-fashion, with somewhere between 600 and 1000 designs for disposable hand-held fans. That’s to […]
In plentiful supply
You may be familiar with artist Ai Weiwei from the sea of 100 million hand-painted porcelain sunflower seed husks in Tate Modern’s Turbine Hall, his Lego portraits or perhaps from […]
Drinking games
I know of a person who would amuse himself by piercing a hole in someone’s can of Coke, causing an annoying dribble when they tipped it up to drink. You […]
Precious plastics
Back in the summer of 2022 (#106) we shared the paintings of artist Hermoine Burton. A keen amateur artist, her life’s works ended up discarded in a Bedford charity shop […]