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@friendsofwhsmitharchive

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“Come take choice of all my library, and so beguile thy sorrow”

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Advertisement from “Picturegoer” magazine (17th March, 1951) by @friendsofwhsmitharchive

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6 months ago

“THE PUBLICATION VOTES FOR WOMEN WAS FOUNDED with financial support from Emmeline and Frederick Pethick-Lawrence, and vowed to offer ‘a correct account of the doings of the militant suffragists’.

The magazine was a spearhead of WSPU campaigns, with sales of 16,000 copies in 1909, rising to 40,000 the following year; the total readership was estimated at upwards of 100,000 people.
Eventually it became a weekly publication, sold for a penny.

Printed in the Suffragette colours of purple, white and green, the magazine aimed to emphasise the heroic aspects of the campaign. Sylvia Pankhurst considered it to be ‘the most effective propaganda organ ever created’: it was even sold in WHSmith.”

- excerpt from the book “101 Things You Need To Know About The Suffragettes” by Maggie Andrews and Janis Lomas (2018) by @friendsofwhsmitharchive

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7 months ago

Happy Pride! 🏳️‍🌈❤️✨

#pride2025
#lgbt
#lgbtq
#humour
#LGBTQIA
#LGBTQIA+
#LoveWins
#Equality
#TransEquality
#Pride
#PrideCelebration
#uk
#stationers
#booksellers
#archive
#unitedkingdom
#whsmithandson
#whsmith
#whsmiths
#smiths by @friendsofwhsmitharchive

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a year ago

Possibly one of the most unique WHSmith branches to have ever existed is that in the original Southampton Ocean Terminal, which operated from 1950 until its demolition in 1983.

In the end it was deemed obsolete with the rising popularity of air travel, but the atmosphere of this space is palpable. Just take a look at its gorgeously round lounge area, with W.H. Smith & Son front and centre.

Breakdown of photos:

1. Passengers wait to depart from the terminal
2.+3.+4. A pamphlet detailing information about the new terminal, opening on 31st July 1950
5. Men, women & children arrive from the West Indies
6. A plaque commemorating the opening of the terminal
7. Several women and a family perusing magazines at the counter at W.H. Smith & Son
8. The obelisk which adorned the top of the Smith’s bookstall, now housed in SeaCity Museum, Southampton
9. Passengers getting ready to leave in the Lounge area of the terminal
10.+11. Scenes from its demolition in April 1983
12. The front exterior of the terminal while it was operational
13. A young boy inspects a newspaper from one of WHSmith’s travelling bookstalls
14.+15. Some absolutely lovely footage I felt very glad to chance upon on YouTube, from @britishpathearchive ! taken in Southampton, England, U.K. by @friendsofwhsmitharchive

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a year ago