In the lead up to the 80th anniversary of VE, Khaleda Brophy-Harmer (PhD Candidate at the University of Southampton), has gone through the archive’s collection of VE day materials to provide insight into how people experienced and wrote about VE day. – On the evening of May 7th, Prime Minister Winston Churchill interrupted radio broadcasting toContinueContinue reading “‘Ooh, the rumours!’: Mass Observation and VE Day”
Tag Archives: ww11
Celebrating Family Histories with Mass Observation
Last week Mass Observation shared the words of Carl and Bobbie in a moving festive event. Carl Ward was an American Quartermaster who found himself stationed in Dunmow, Essex during WWII. Whilst there he bet Halcyon Elliott (although she was known as Bobbie by friends and family). Mass Observation is lucky enough to be theContinueContinue reading “Celebrating Family Histories with Mass Observation”
Upcoming Event: The Carl and Bobbie Letters
“Hope that these letters do outdo the ones to Miss Elliott ‘cause after marrying her, I find her even finer and lovelier than I had imagined, so with so much more inspiration I should do better.” – Carl, 4 October 1944 We are delighted to announce our upcoming event, The Carl and Bobbie Love LettersContinueContinue reading “Upcoming Event: The Carl and Bobbie Letters”
“I am not Interested in the Coronation”: Similarities and Dissimilarities in Mass Observation’s 12th May Diaries from 1937 and 2023
By Emily Calcraft Introduction On 12th May 1937 a Day Survey Respondent from Oldham stated: ‘I am not interested in the Coronation and regard all the fuss as artificial and irrational’. In May 2023, the Coronation of Charles III led to a media frenzy that stirred up the ‘culture wars’, between Royalists and Republicans; theContinueContinue reading ““I am not Interested in the Coronation”: Similarities and Dissimilarities in Mass Observation’s 12th May Diaries from 1937 and 2023”