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When you hear the words "pea soup", you probably think of, well, pea soup. But pea soup is also the name of a particular type of thick fog, and in the early 20th century London was literally drowning in it.
Also known as black fog or killer fog, it's caused by soot particles and poisonous sulfur dioxide produced by the burning of soft coal in homes and factories. The fog is potentially lethal, especially for the elderly and those with respiratory problems, and as you can see from these vintage photographs, there was no way to escape it. The choking pollution culminated in the Great Smog of 1952, and although the Clean Air Act was implemented just four years later, an estimated 12,000 people are believed to have died as a result of the hazardous air pollution. (h/t: vintage everyday)
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#1
A Lamp Lighter At Work In Finsbury Park, London, 17 October 1935
#2
A Man Lighting His Pipe In Thick Fog Under The Arches At The Temple, London , 23 December 1935
#3
Fleet Street, 6 December 1952
#4
Lincoln’s Inn Fields, 24 January 1934
#5
Central London, January 1936
#7
National Gallery, Trafalgar Square, 1 December 1948
Helga Novelli 8 years ago
They knew how to decorate the Christmas tree in Trafalgar Square at that time!
#9
An Iceman Delivers In The Fog, 1 October 1919
#12
A Young Couple During The Great Smog, 1952
#14
St Pancras Railway Station, 1 July 1907
#17
A Family Feeding The Famous Pigeons In London's Trafalgar Square, 1952
#19
Blackfriars, Mid-morning, 5 December 1952
#22
Piccadilly Circus, 20 December 1956
#24
Trafalgar Square, In The Daytime, November 1927
Linn Tara Lenby 8 years ago
Did they have neon signs (advanced electricity really) in 1927 though?
#27
A Bus Conductor Walks In Front Of His Vehicle, 9 December 1952
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What do you think ?
Teresa Lewis 8 years ago
Seems that they are returning with vehicle pollution and chem trails only the white outs are higher up in the sky.
Teresa Lewis 8 years ago
Seems that they are returning with vehicle pollution and chem trails only the white outs are higher up in the sky.
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