Image:London , Kodachrome by Chalmers Butterfield.jpg
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Personal Photographs
Photo was likely taken at 12:50 PM (or 1350 UMT) - note the clock on the extreme left on the jewelry store.
I think I can date the picture much more accurately than that. Those shiny cabs are circa 1940. But the big giveaway is the red omnibus. If you download the hires picture you can see on the front it is advertising the British airline - BEA.
Quoting that most excellent source Wikipedia we find: British European Airways, or BEA, was formed in 1946 by an Act of Parliament. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_European_Airways. The cab registration numbers suggest to me that this was taken around 1948 or 49. Further careful study will undoubtedly help us to pinpoint the date. Gareth Powell in Bangkok
--- If you look at the APOLLO theatre in the background, they are showing "treasure hunt" which based on this site http://library.kent.ac.uk/library/special/Programmes/APOLLO.HTM has this showing circa 1949, Also http://world-theatres.com/London%20Theatres.html has "Treasure Hunt 1949 (11 months)" so its more evidence to suggest 1949-1950
John Paul Lonie
--- Another clue: also under the APOLLO theatre, the names "Kay Hammond" and "John Clements" appear. Looking on imdb shows that they were in the 1948 production of "Call of the Blood".
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Here is some interesting info on the Eros News Theatre seen in the photo:
http://cinematreasures.org/theater/13073/
The Eros News Theatre was sold to a company that now exists as "Cineworld Cinemas Limited." Maybe, they'll have more info about the theatre. They can be reached at telephone number 0870 777 2775.
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Looking at the top photo, the america car (steering wheel) beside the first bus looks like a 1949 Hudson Super Six with fog lights... http://www.1motormart.com/gallery/49hud01.jpg
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I believe we can narrow it down from between September 14, 1949 and August 13, 1950 according to this site: http://web.playbill.com/news/article/72058.html
September 14th, 1949 is opening night of Treasure Hunt
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The fairly high angle of the sun suggests summertime (remember, London is a long way North), and the flowers in the window-box (I think they are calendulas) also suggest late spring or summer.
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The Little Hut opened August 23rd, 1950 in the Lyric Theatre (where Hammond and Clements name is)
I could see spring, don't think summer since everyone is wearing their coats. Either late fall or early spring is my guess.
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The bus with the BEA adverts has an unusual type of route display, what's called a single blind, but offset to the right. So it's likely a model SRT, introduced in April 1949, and withdrawn from central London by October 1949. It looks to be displaying route 10 (Victoria), which matches that limited use. See http://www.countrybus.org.uk/STL/SRT.htm Combine this with the Treasure Hunt reference and we have a quite narrow range of dates.
Comparing the modern and 1949 shots, it's clear that the modern camera shows a much wider angle of view, and was forward of the 1949 camera position. The apparent perspective of distant buildings is similar, but the building on the right is much closer to the camera in the modern picture.
- Not necessarily. The building on the right is the Trocadero, which was demolished and rebuilt taller in 1986, but with the 'same' facade to meet planning rules imposed to allow the redevelopment. It's carefully designed to look substantially similar to its predecessor, but is actually at least one storey taller. I'm not sure if the facade was demolished and rebuilt, or simply one or two storeys added above the original roof-line. See [1] WLD 17:05, 24 August 2006 (UTC)
David Bell, Lincolnshire.
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Is that Ring Round the Moon (red lettering, beyond the Apollo) which is playing at the Globe (sometimes referred to as the Old Globe, now the Gielgud) Theatre? It opened "in 1950", adapted by Christopher Fry, directed by Peter Brook, featuring Paul Scofield and Margaret Rutherford. There is a reference to it on 26.1.1950 here: http://library.kent.ac.uk/library/special/Programmes/PRG1950.HTM
Doug Dickinson, London.
Further to the note from David Bell, the bus with the BEA advert is actually a late 1940s RT rather than an SRT (the latter being an STL/RT hybrid which lasted from 1949 to 1954). It is on route 38 to Victoria (the 10 did go to Victoria but via London Bridge and Lambeth, not Piccadilly Circus) and the 'single blind' is the (for the period) standard one-piece display originated during the Second World War as an eonomy measure which gradually gave way to the intended three-piece displays from the early 1950s. The bus going out of camera to the right of the picture, with a Schweppes advert on the side, is one of 65 1946-vintage STD-type Leyland Titan PD1s and used, inter alia, on route 38A to Victoria from Loughton.
John Wagstaff, Croydon
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Does the person who posted this amazing photograph have any others to share?
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It's kind of ugly now. It looked so much better in the 50s.
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