Leonard Bentley
Piccadilly Circus: 1914
This is a Lillywhite Ltd postcard showing a busy Piccadilly Circus looking east towards Coventry Street. There are several LGOC “B” type buses circumnavigating the Circus and discharging their passengers who all seem to be heading for the London Pavilion where there is a large crowd. I think that this is a Saturday in June 1914 and the matinee performance of a sketch called “Golfing” in a variety bill starring Wilkie Bard and Harry Tate will start at 2.00pm. Wilkie Bard was a northern singer and comedian, he had been appearing at the London Pavilion since 1899, he went on to great success in America after the first world war and appeared in several films. He appeared as dame in pantomime and popularised tongue twisters, his most famous being “She sells sea shells on the sea shore etc”. Here is a link to a YouTube clip where EMGColonel plays a medley of Wilkie Bard’s most famous songs.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=eSzak6Xyg1M
The Piccadilly flower sellers have a new umbrella or parasol kindly provided by the New Gallery Kinema in Regents Street. It appears that this was a tradition where west end theatres and cinemas would give umbrellas or parasols to the flower sellers which advertised the theatre, cinema or the play/film which was currently playing.
You guessed it, best viewed with the zoom feature.
Piccadilly Circus: 1914
This is a Lillywhite Ltd postcard showing a busy Piccadilly Circus looking east towards Coventry Street. There are several LGOC “B” type buses circumnavigating the Circus and discharging their passengers who all seem to be heading for the London Pavilion where there is a large crowd. I think that this is a Saturday in June 1914 and the matinee performance of a sketch called “Golfing” in a variety bill starring Wilkie Bard and Harry Tate will start at 2.00pm. Wilkie Bard was a northern singer and comedian, he had been appearing at the London Pavilion since 1899, he went on to great success in America after the first world war and appeared in several films. He appeared as dame in pantomime and popularised tongue twisters, his most famous being “She sells sea shells on the sea shore etc”. Here is a link to a YouTube clip where EMGColonel plays a medley of Wilkie Bard’s most famous songs.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=eSzak6Xyg1M
The Piccadilly flower sellers have a new umbrella or parasol kindly provided by the New Gallery Kinema in Regents Street. It appears that this was a tradition where west end theatres and cinemas would give umbrellas or parasols to the flower sellers which advertised the theatre, cinema or the play/film which was currently playing.
You guessed it, best viewed with the zoom feature.