A previous blog post had images of the Oldham's "Touquette" 3-cell rechargeable ARP lamp. Below is a 1941 advertisement from Oldham's wares including three styles of lamp: the aforementioned "Touquette", the "Toucan" and the "Sheltolite".
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In 1945 Harrap & Co. Ltd. published Stephen Spender's book "Citizens in War - and After". The book detailed the activities of a wide range of Civil Defence Services during the war years. The book also contained a forward by the Home Secretary / Minster of Home Security Herbert Morrison, as well as 48 colour photographs by John Hinde, a Fellow of the Royal Photographic Society and pioneer of British colour photography (he later became renown for his colour postcards that sold in the millions). There are some excellent studies of individuals and interesting shots of wardens and Incident Officers. One particular shot of a Control Centre in 1944 shows the main plotting board and map of the area being covered. A selection of these colour photos by John Hinde can be viewed on the Science & Society Picture Library. I am once again indebted to Jon Mills for the following images. Following on from the recent blog post about ARP Leaded Lights, Jon sent me details of Lizard Brand's "Safety Window Net" and "Sub-Glass".
The safety netting had water-based adhesive applied and the wetted curtain was stuck to the window. The sub-glass was a temporary measure if a window was already broken/missing. A rare ARP-related item popped up on eBay recently (sold for £75). One of the common sights of the war years was the use of three-inch wide gummed paper tape (sometimes called scrim) applied in an X fashion on windows (it was a voluntary measure by a householder). The idea being that if the windows were shattered by a bomb blast the tape would hold some of the glass together reducing the amount of flying glass. As with quite a few items produced pre-war, manufacturers would quick to update their products with the angle of them being useful for ARP.
It's hard to find out when and where this first started but it appears people living in Spanish towns and cities during the civil war in the 1930s taped their windows. How useful the measure was I have not been able to find out but I suspect if the bomb landed close enough, no amount of tape would help. This rare group of Regional Commissioner, Deputy Regional Commissioner and District Commissioner car pennants and the gold armband for the most senior members of the Civil Defence recently sold at auction in Scotland. The hammer price was £2,000 and the buyer would also have all the other premiums, such as VAT, added to that (at auction that can be quite substantial).
There was also a wooden stock for Mauser C96, which if original, would also have driven the price up. It was a mistake for the items to be bundled together like this; the holster should have been sold separate to the Civil Defence items. Whether we see the pennants reappear on the market is to be seen. See previous blog about a Regional Commissioner's pennant. |
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