31 Eerie Photos Of London Fog In The Early 20th Century

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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A Lamp Lighter At Work In Finsbury Park, London, 17 October 1935

Final score:

57points

31 Eerie Photos Of London Fog In The Early 20th Century

A Lamp Lighter At Work In Finsbury Park, London, 17 October 1935

A Man Lighting His Pipe In Thick Fog Under The Arches At The Temple, London , 23 December 1935

Fleet Street, 6 December 1952

Lincoln’s Inn Fields, 24 January 1934

Central London, January 1936

Westminster Bridge, 14 January 1955

National Gallery, Trafalgar Square, 1 December 1948

The Tower Of London, January 1947

An Iceman Delivers In The Fog, 1 October 1919

Liverpool St. Station, 29 January 1959

Hyde Park Corner, 25 October 1938

A Young Couple During The Great Smog, 1952

Barges Crowd Together At Hay's Wharf In Southwark, London, 26th October 1938

St Pancras Railway Station, 1 July 1907

Middle Temple, Inns Of Court, Circa 1950

A Woman Leads A Car Through London's Regent's Park, 25 October 1938

A Family Feeding The Famous Pigeons In London's Trafalgar Square, 1952

Piccadilly Circus, 6 December 1952

Blackfriars, Mid-morning, 5 December 1952

Ludgate Circus, 1 November 1922

Fleet Street, 1952

Piccadilly Circus, 20 December 1956

The Sun Comes Through At The Pool Of London, 26 October 1938

Trafalgar Square, In The Daytime, November 1927

London Was Plunged Into Darkness From The Fog, 1952

Blackfriars, In The Morning, 5 December 1952

A Bus Conductor Walks In Front Of His Vehicle, 9 December 1952

Trafalgar Square, December, 1952

A Policeman Wears A Mask For Protection Against The Smog, 1962

Regent St., 5 December 1962

Whitehall, 25 December 1937

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