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The Wise Monkey Theatre Company
Bookstore | ||
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Growing Up in Salford 1919-1928 by Barbara
Vaughan (Pamphlet) | ||
Description At twenty-four pages of densely-printed text plus black and white photographs, this pamphlet offers a personal view of family life in Salford in the post-WWI years. Priced at £2:50, its approach to its subject is chatty and easy on the ear, though the same cannot be said of its print values. With too many words crammed onto the page (three columns of text to each A4 sized page) its small-size font and patchy print quality, it is not easy on the eye. The photographic reproduction also suffers from an obvious attempt to keep down costs. That said, the book contains a wealth of details about a certain kind of life in the city in the nineteen-twenties. Ms Vaughan offers us a wealth of recollections about her own childhood, and she is to be congratulated on her wonderful memory. However, the book does suffer from an over-familiar tone of voice and Ms Vaughan’s asides - for example, on the state of the railways today, and of the condition of modern Broad Street – have a tendency to become irritating. The book works best when it sticks to description: for instance, the way butter was sold loose, being shaped and wrapped for each customer: the collection and delivery of mail: school lessons and how they were taught: mothers going on ahead to inspect guest houses before the family booked in for a holiday. It is apparent that Ms Vaughan’s family were among the better off of Salford at that time (the ordinary working-class would not have been able to afford much by way of holidays) and it would have been interesting to learn something of her early observations on less well-heeled of that time. That said, the introductory paragraph of the book makes it clear that this book was intended as a legacy for Ms Vaughan’s grandchildren, and as a memoir, and in this it succeeds. It certainly must have delighted her family. Buy it, if you enjoy the reminiscing and pronouncements of your elderly aunties and granny. Borrow it if you want to get some flavour of what life was like for the lower middle-classes in the nicer parts of Salford between the wars. Avoid it if you’re a stickler for facts and a well-edited layout. Jane McNulty, Writer and resident of Salford | ||
To purchase this book or for more information CLICK HERE | ||
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