Found - a city guide book from 1948 - the year of the London Olympics. The tone is upbeat. There is no mention of the war or austerity, there is even talk of one businessman commuting to work by helicopter. The guide was put out by a long defunct car hire company called Walter Scott, possibly named after the novelist…the guide book is a good snapshot of late 1940s London. The letters of appreciation from aristocrats and a 'world famous actress' are especially amusing.
GAD ABOUT GUIDE
busy people get about London quickly.
WALTER SCOTT
Car Hirers Since 1903
| SLOane 2131/2/3 |
214/8 Pavilion Road, Sloane Square, S.W.1. |
| MAIda Vale 0191 and 3431 |
109 Goldhurst Terrace, Hampstead, N.W.6. |
| PADdington 0164 | 5 and 6 Burwood Mews, Edgware Road, W.2. |
GADDING THROUGH THE AGES
Ever since Boadicea had an urgent appointment with a Roman general–not a rock's throw from the present Bank of England–the question of getting quickly about London has been uppermost in the minds of visitors (and Londoners alike) who value every minute of their time.
Our brass-hatted British Queen, on her way to sack the Roman garrison, solved her problem with a two-wheeled chariot with hollow-ground hub blades. In Medieval times, the horse-drawn litter, a kind of four-poster bed on shafts, carried the nobleman swiftly over the cobbles to his appointments. More comfortable, perhaps, was its descendant, the 16th century coach, though not without drawbacks. For its occupant journeyed in constant fear of an enterprising type of rogue, a spring-heeled spiv whose speciality was to leap on to the back of the carriage, slash open the canopy and snatch his wig, which might easily have cost two hundred pounds.
