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Description
Bill Purdue, Staff Tutor in History at the Open University, considers the growing economic and political significance of the lower middle and working class around 1900. He looks at their incomes, l...ife style and leisure tastes and examines the hostile and often frightened responses of the ruling class.
Bill Purdue, Staff Tutor in History at the Open University, considers the growing economic and political significance of the lower middle and working class around 1900. He looks at their incomes, l...ife style and leisure tastes and examines the hostile and often frightened responses of the ruling class.
| Module code and title: | A309, Conflict and stability in the development of modern Europe c.1789-1970 |
|---|---|
| Item code: | A309; 04 |
| First transmission date: | 1980 |
| Published: | 1980 |
| Rights Statement: | |
| Restrictions on use: | |
| Duration: | 00:24:03 |
| + Show more... | |
| Producer: | Patricia Hodgson |
| Publisher: | BBC Open University |
| Subject terms: | Social classes |
| Footage description: | The programme starts with stills and archive footage of crowds of football supporters in Britain in the early 1900's. Herrick reads in voice over a statement by the Liberal politician Charles Masterman on the new "civilisation of the crowd". Portrait of Masterman, then further stills of football crowds. The growing concern of intellectuals with increasing lower class wealth and mobility is described. Film of the Edwardian rich at the Henley regattta then film of working people at a fairground. Both photographs and film depict lower class shopping districts and crowds in London. Gladstone's view of the masses is quoted and the general European increase in wealth and mobility in the late 19th century described. Photographic portraits of lower class people over which the commentary contrasts their facial appearance with that of the upper middle class. Numerous stills of working class people over which the many gradations of status and income within this class are described. Stills of lower middle class workers, then of factory workers. Stills of craftsmen and miners then industrial workers. The differences of social status are emphasised. Photographs show French artisans. The organisation of the French workforce is contrasted with that of Britain. Stills of office workers in France and England. The rise of white collar workers is described. Film of London suburbs and commuter lines over which the movement of the lower middle classes into suburban districts is described. Shots of East End working class terraced housing for contrast. Over detailed examination of an Edwardian suburban house in Lewisham an extract from Henry Williamson's novel Donkey Boy is read wherein a clerk's purchase of such a house is described. High angle views of Paris. The narrator contrasts housing patterns with those of London c.1900. Shot of Parisian apartments, the Metro and an outlying suburb. A montage of French advertisements from this period is seen, followed by stills of shops. The boom in mass marketing is described. Archive film of the Paris Exhibition and the Metro, 1900. The popularity of such exhibitions is described and the growth of leisure industries considered over archive film of variety theatres, silent films, hikers in the countryside, cycling events, seaside holidays at Blackpool. Stills of newspaper sellers and pages from late Victorian newspapers. The growth of a mass newspaper industry is described in voice over. French newspapers are compared with English. Stills of people reading newspapers. Archive film of crowds over which the significance of crowds in Edwardian politics is considered. Film of the English dockers strike of 1911 and the French postal strike of 1912. The reaction of the authorities of these strikes is described. Film of crowds over which the concern of the French authorities with the physical fitness of its population is described. Film of Edwardian Boy Scout activities. Stills of French physical training classes. Film of French conscript armies. Archive film of city crowds and traffic jams, followed by stills of pre-First World War advertisement. The commentary differentiates between the real nature of the French and English masses and the authorities' view of them at the time, Shots of army volunteers in 1914. |
| Master spool number: | HOU3323 |
| Production number: | FOUA054P |
| Videofinder number: | 4169 |
| Available to public: | no |
