Stop me and try one

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In 1928 National Geographic sent photographer Clifton R. Adams to England to record its people at work and play in its villages, farms, towns and cities.  The results can be seen in this collection of colour images using the new Autochrome process which employs tiny grains of potato starch dyed red, green and blue to coat the glass plate with 4,000,000 grains per square inch. The two ladies are tempted by the Kelly's slogan, 'Stop me and try one'  in this 1928 picture taken in Cornwall where Kelly's still sell ice cream.  It was Wall's who later popularised the more luctrative slogan 'Stop me and buy one' on their Ice Cream tricycles. The converted Flatnose Morris displays a nice example of the sign-writer's art which is seen on this farm cart and this hay wagon advertising the trade.  No decoration on this cart however, as it reminds us of the importance of farming in 1928 - the year women were given the vote.

We don't know whether Adams travelled by bus (here seen in Cumbria, and here in London) or by car, perhaps this Morris he photographed in Shakespeare Country. Perhaps he crossed the Atlantic aboard Cunard's  SS Mauretania, pictured here in Southampton docks and famous for holding the Blue Riband record, both eastbound and west, for 20 years. It was this ship that took William Morris and his draughtsman Lanstad to America in August 1914 during which trip they designed what was to become the British best seller of the twenties - the Bullnose Morris.  Lanstad travelled to Detroit to finalise supplies of enough components to build 3000 Cowleys. The contract for engines went to the Continental Motor Manufacturing Company for whom Lanstad worked for a few weeks gaining valuable experience (1500 of those engines are at the bottom of the Atlantic as a result of enemy action).

The only train he photographed was 'Billy' who transported holiday-makers around Margate by scaled-down steam but it was the bicycle which transported most people about in austere post-war Britain and this picture is one of many depicting people posting letters in the Oh-so-British letter box. This is how the postman delivered all those letters in 1928.
If those ice-cream-eating ladies could jump forward to the 21st century, we wonder if they would add a hot air balloon ride to their holday treats if they saw a Land Rover pulling a trailer with the slogan 'Stop me and fly one'.

(Text Robin Batchelor, pictures courtesy Clifton R. Adams/National Geographic Creative/ Corbis)

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