Comments on: George Cruikshank’s Sunday In London

By: Robert Brown

Robert Brown — Mon, 19 Jan 2015 11:30:51 +0000

This is very interesting. I’ve just been dipping into James Greenwood’s “In Strange Company” (1883) where he has an essay on the lengths people would go to get a drink. In the essay “A “Sly House” on Sunday” he details how by going to a barber’s shop for a shave and then giving the password you could go through the back of the shop and then via a couple of back gardens into the pub: where you would be sold watered down products at inflated prices. Sunday ruralising was also used for drinking as “bona fide” travellers were allowed to buy alcohol at times when others were not (which lasted until the 1960’s or so on Sundays in some parts of Scotland…)

By: Peter Holford

Peter Holford — Sun, 18 Jan 2015 18:43:21 +0000

Beautifully observed. Making his points. It’s early in the long history of cartoons. It will take more than bullets to stop this proud tradition.

By: Valerie-Jael

Valerie-Jael — Sun, 18 Jan 2015 18:32:24 +0000

Great illustrations which really reflect the London spirit (no pun intended!) Valerie

By: John Campbell

John Campbell — Sun, 18 Jan 2015 14:49:44 +0000

Interesting to see the concept of ‘Sunday ruralizing’, a practice still in favour today. The theory of green fields and fresh air revitalising the city dwellers is obviously quite ancient in origin.