London Life In Photos: 1959-1967

~ beetleypete

Another random selection of old photos to take me down Memory Lane.

Fish Porters outside the Old Billingsgate Fish Market in 1959. This was not far from The Tower of London, and traded in fish from the 16th Century until 1982, when it was relocated. The porters wore special hats called ‘Bobbin Hats’, and they could carry many boxes of fish on their heads.

Street musician, 1965. It was not unusual to see such accordion players wandering around playing for the public in the hope of receiving a few pennies. If they found a lucrative spot, they might stay there all day.

A road repair gang posing in front of their lorry, 1964.

This studious small boy was an orphan, photographed in ‘halfway house’ accommodation in the mid-1960s.

A street trader in fruit and vegetables. He operated in Barking, East London during the 1960s. he would have had a regular ’round’ and customers would know when he would show up.

This immigrant family had been targeted by neo-Nazi racists of the National Front, in 1967. The house had been fire-bombed, and the sign ‘WOGS’ put on their door. That was a racist insult derived from the toy dolls called Golliwogs. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golliwog

An East London pub owner who famously adopted a rescue donkey. The donkey would stay in the bar during opening hours, and liked to drink beer.

Gypsy families living on Beckton Marshes, 1966. That area later became a huge new housing development.

This well-known East London street trader was photographed in 1967. He looks like it could have been 100 years earlier.

33 thoughts on “London Life In Photos: 1959-1967”

    1. Not much had changed since the end of WW2, Jennie. Immigration became an issue in certain parts of London, and there were a lot of racist attacks at the time. Those other characters were still very much Victorian in outlook.
      Best wishes, Pete.

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  6. (1) Overheard:
    Porter #1: “I’ll trade you a jellied eel for a honey-glazed salmon.”
    Porter #2: “Would ya please stop bobbin’ yer head, mate? I’m jes tryin’ t’think!”
    (2) Bobbin’ Williams is playing a fish market song: “The World Accordeon to Carp.”
    (3) Peter Lorre just passed by on a Moto-cycle.
    (4) Halfway to where? (I expect a full answer.)
    (5) If his horse is in Barking, in which Neigh-borhood would you find his dog?
    (6) WOGS – According to Moses, that stands for Wrath Of God Syndrome.
    (7) That beer drinking donkey should burro its head in shame!
    (8/9) That’s definitely not Gypsy Rose Lee. / There’s something rather unworldly about those little marsh’ians.
    (10) The photo of the East London street trader was taken in 1867, but it wasn’t revealed to the public until a hundred years later. #TimeCapsule

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  7. The picture of the little orphan boy is poignant. I love the fruit and veg man and his beautiful horse and of course I love the donkey. I would have gone in just to see him and offer a carrot. Have a great week off.

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  14. Another great crop of timeless pics. Some things have changed a lot, but, unfortunately, some don’t seem to change, or only superficially. I wish I could carry plenty of things on my head as well sometimes! Thanks, Pete, and happy Sunday!

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