Yes, there is one - dedicated to marking the last 120 years or so of British history using the everyday items that have surrounded us. My colleague at work came in a couple of week's ago bubbling about it, I was working from our offices in central London today and I thought I'd make the most of the fine weather and close proximity.
The brochure says this:
The history of consumer culture is revealed decade by decade in our 'time tunnel', from the naive charm of the Victorian era to the sophistication of today. The exhibits reflect how our daily lives have changed over the years, the unimaginable revolution in shopping habits and the things we buy, the huge impact of motoring, aviation, radio and television, the effects of two world wars, and the gradual emancipation of women.
A tube ride, a wander through Notting Hill and £6.50 later, I entered the time tunnel for myself. It was amazing!
I spent almost an hour and a half surrounded by more than 12,000 items from yesteryear. Gathered from the Robert Opie Collection (and aren't we rather glad he was a little OCD about this particular passion!), every corner turned revealed more products and brands and their evolution alongside society.
I was fascinated to see products evolving in response to advances in culture, technology and changes in behaviours and attitudes. Everything was grouped in decades so you could see how the prevailing views of the time were reflected in the products we bought and the things entertained ourselves with. Royal weddings peppered the trail starting from the marriage of Queen Victoria to her beloved Albert and ending with the recent nuptials of William and Kate.
As I walked out through the cafe, there were rows and rows of old televisions and one of them was playing a reel of old ads - this one was my favourite and a perfect illustration of how products and brands are so integral in our daily lives, yet go unnoticed:
So in short, I loved it. And you should go! No kidding...
When I sat down at my computer tonight and started to tap-tap-tap away, I couldn't quite decide what to post about. It's been a long 48 hours and I feel a bit knackered after all of the highs, lows and running around that seems to have constituted life in the UK over the last couple of days.
You see it all started Thursday night. After dinner with an old work friend, it was a long bus ride home through a ridiculous amount of traffic, resulting in a rather late night and significantly less sleep than is sensible on a 'school' night. A Low.
However, I did find it fascinating watching the stream of humankind that was advancing steadily from Hyde Park (Kings of Leon playing apparently) who were squeezing themselves into the much smaller entrance to Green Park tube station - this all viewed from my comfy seat on the top deck of the (almost stationary) number 14 bus. A (slightly smug) High.
My rather epic struggle into work on Friday morning was a definite Low. Let me tell you here and now, a long commute is not conducive to morning perkiness at the best of times and I was rather concerned I might drop off and find myself well past where I wanted to be. But Friday is fish and chips day at work - always a High. (We have a canteen that provides meals at lunchtime so my evening toast consumption habit is not nearly as careless, lazy or diet conscious as it may look - ooh, there's anotherHigh). I booked a couple of days off work to have a 4 day weekend around my birthday (yes peeps, the countdown is a-comin'!) - another High. And then on the way home, there was a last minute invite to a 4 year old's birthday party (pizza-making at Pizza Express no less) on Saturday which dealt me a quick one-two: A High (to be invited) then a Low (realising I would have to get up early to get errands done before I went).
Today was a rollercoaster of Highs (wine, cake, pizza, 15 kids in cute hats making their pizza - aaaaawwww!!) and Lows (emergency locksmith call out, aborted afternoon drive to Southend-on-Sea, 15 kids full of excitement, sugar, squealing-type noises, more sugar and hysterical tiredness - uugggghhh!). The weather started off a bit grey and average too (Low) but by the time we were sitting outside Starbucks at the O2 shopping centre this afternoon bathed in sunshine, it seemed that tomorrow's promised dip into Summer had made an early appearance (High). An incident-free trip home and a little visit to Waitrose for bread, newspaper and a few bits (I do love Waitrose!) were the happy pieces that tipped the scales in the right direction.
But here's the best part.
I have a day at home tomorrow with he promise of glorious sunshine and a fab book to read.
I've been dashing about London in the rain today - appointment to appointment, jumping around puddles and waging a battle with my brolly in the wind. (Incidentally, I lost that battle but managed to snaffle a cab so feel I won the war.) It seemed that after posting my moment of inspiration on Facebook this morning - "Life is not about waiting for the storms to pass. It's about dancing in the rain" - the fickle London weather seemed determine to dampen my mid-week mambo.
On the homeward-bound bus at last, I opened up my weekly Australian Times e-newsletter (I've had a whole new love of commuting since the advent of my Desire) to be greeted with the question Are You Losing Your Australian-ness?. After the rubbishing I got while visiting loved ones in Melbourne over Christmas (about my Ocker-Oh's referring to my tendancy to intersperse flat 'Australian-speak' with a few English-sounding Oh's and Ah's), I thought I should read on.
Lee Crossley actually identifies twelve signs of disappearing Australian-ness but I am pleased to report that I have only identify five signs after seven years of living here:
THE phrases 'Mind the Gap' and 'alight here' no longer seem a tad odd. In fact, I find them quite sweet and quaint. I mean who 'alights' anything any more?
YOU no longer grumble on a crowded tube. Simply hours of fun to be had 'minding the gap' and 'alighting'. Plus no-one likes a whinger.
YOU expect miserable weather. And am conversely delighted to a slightly hysterical degree at any 2 plus run of warm-weather-days. I must point out here that we are classifying mid-20(c)s as blissfully warm. I just do not have the wardrobe/patience to deal with anything hotter any more, unless lying prone next to the pool/beach in holiday repose. YOU start to wonder where all the English people have gone in London. Yep. Pretty much. I think they all live 'elsewhere'. Like Oxford. Or Spain.
YOU accentuate the ‘ie’ in unbelievable.Actually pronounced un-be-leeeeeeev-able and can be applied to any moment of wonder/dismay/disbelief.
Yes, 5 out of 12. That's 41.66%, an average of about 5.9% a year. By my reckoning, that means this insidious creep will have completely subsumed my Ocker-ness in just under a decade.
*Please don't take offence. Click on the link if you really think I am being rude. I am not. Truly. I'm just a laconic, dinky-di colonial.
ps...if you want to keep a watchful eye over my continued slide progress, find out what the other seven are by going to Lee Crossley's article here and keep checking in at Gidday from the UK for updates.
As you know, I have been travelling over the last couple of weeks and you know what that means - more of my wry observations on the facts of life according to BA's business:life magazine! (Calm down peeps, I know you can barely contain your excitement.)
The theme of the June 2011 issue of business:life is 'If At First You Don't Succeed...why we all need to fail'. Whilst I whole-heartedly agree with the sentiment (and in fact, the general tone of the articles), the 'stats sound bites' strewn throughout seemed to suggest that perhaps the realms of fantasy are society's preferred option.
We start with that perennial favourite, the body beautiful. According to business:life sources, one third of UK women would be prepared to trade at least a year of their life in exchange for an 'ideal body'. I have news for them. Obsessing about the ideal body and what constitutes this has probably shortened their lifespan already. Particularly since Britons don't start worrying about their health until aged 39 - I suspect the additional 4 inches around the waistline is probably the first clue. And then a third think that they will grow their own fruit and veg this summer - a healthy and noble ambition, no less. Does digging up garden beds gone to seed cover the 'needing to fail' bit? Might also count as exercise...two birds with one stone there. Next we take a look at what we've been doing other than worrying and planting a few carrots and strawbs - watching telly.One fifth of Britons have been motivated to start their own business after watching programmes such as Dragon's Den and The Apprentice. So I have a question - does this mean they actually started a business or just got a nice, warm feeling about it? Reports that business failures are actually down 7.9% across the UK for Jan/Feb 2011 versus the previous year would appear to be an encouraging sign. However, the Welsh have clearly not been paying attention - with business failures up 23.9%, I suspect that the nice, warm feeling has passed them by. Although there's 2.2 million potholes in Britain - perhaps that repesents a business opportunity in the offing or at the very least, an episode of The Apprentice. Oh, sorry they already have that - when the candidates lug their shovels with them into their interviews and proceed to dig deep, deep, deep holes...
On the subject of starting one's own business, 53% of Britain's entrepreneurs put their success down to their innate talents, rather than learnt skills or education. (Perhaps pot-hole identification is genetic?) So I ask you this - what are Mums-and-Dads (M-A-D) doing paying squillions for privately educated children (£360,000 apparently) to then attend fee-paying universities? And then spending an average of £772 to bail their little darlings out on their gap year? No wonder 38% of Britons would use a discount voucher on a first date and 23% of British readers are attracted to e-books because of the cost.
And as to the value of all this education? Well, one in five Britons thinks Sherlock Holmes and Miss Marple are historical figures. I rest my case...
And finally, in light of my re-entry into singledom this year, let's look to the state of romance here in the UK:
16% of British adults are planning a holiday with their parents this year.
312 is the number of times the average couple argues each year.
72% of young British men never buy flowers for their loved ones.
The history of consumer culture is revealed decade by decade in our 'time tunnel', from the naive charm of the Victorian era to the sophistication of today. The exhibits reflect how our daily lives have changed over the years, the unimaginable revolution in shopping habits and the things we buy, the huge impact of motoring, aviation, radio and television, the effects of two world wars, and the gradual emancipation of women.
I spent almost an hour and a half surrounded by more than 12,000 items from yesteryear. Gathered from the Robert Opie Collection (and aren't we rather glad he was a little OCD about this particular passion!), every corner turned revealed more products and brands and their evolution alongside society.
