A web log, an æthereal scrap-book if you will, with a somewhat vintage flavour. News items, occurrences, experiences, thoughts and opinions related to Victoriana through to Fifties Americana can all be found here.
Some local vintage news now in the form of the welcome return of some æsthetically-pleasing 1930s livery applied to one of our bus operator's vehicles as part of its celebration of the 100th anniversary of one of its predecessors.
FirstGroup's standard colours of white, blue and pink (known in some quarters as "Barbie" buses for obvious reasons!) have long been anathema to this blogger so any effort to bring back some of the more tasteful hues of bus companies past is definitely a good thing in my book. In fact most modern bus firms' colourways from the last twenty years or so leave a lot to be desired compared to what has gone before, so it is to be hoped that First's foray into more tasteful heritage livery sets a trend that others will follow.
FirstGroup's "Barbie" livery (ugh!) in contrast to the much classier cream and red
of competitor Hedingham Omnibuses.
source - Wikimedia Commons
First Essex's original Westcliff-liveried Dennis Trident source - Wikimedia Commons
This is in fact the second of First Essex's buses to have been repainted in the colours of Westcliff-on-sea Motor Services, which was the main private bus company in the Southend area from the 1910s up until 1954 (when it was bought out by Eastern National, which until then had operated only in the north of Essex), with an ex-London Transport 2002 Dennis Trident (above, and in the background of the first photo) also having been given the same treatment a few years ago and which can still be seen plying various routes around Southend as well. Now it has been joined by this newer 2011 Volvo B9TL which as well as providing a nice bit of vintage-painted luxury (by First Essex's poor standards, at any rate - they're known around here as "WorstGroup" for a reason, unfortunately) along the region's routes will also be put into use as a "flagship bus" (it could use a few more of them, too) at events up and down the county, so I expect I shall see it and its older sibling at future bus rallies once they restart post-covid.
First Essex's latest Westcliff-liveried Volvo B9TL at Southend. The bus in the background is a competitor Arriva, proving that they could also do with looking through their back catalogue for livery inspiration. source - Busmopolitan
In any event, I am delighted to see a local bus company taking inspiration from the past and decorating its vehicles in the much more stylish colours of the 1930s. While it has been acknowledged that the appearance of modern buses is far removed from the chrome and swooping lines that were prevalent in that period (more's the pity; someone needs to design a whole bus that harks back to those times, much like the New Routemaster only perhaps more successful - we can only wish!), I'd say First have been successful in applying the '30s livery of Westcliff Motor Services to the shape of these buses and it certainly makes them look a damned sight better to my eyes. Now they just need to roll it out to the rest of the fleet - they could do worse than use Eastern National's colours of green and cream, for example. What about it, First?
***Which historic liveries would you like to see reintroduced on buses? Let me know in the comments below!***
Good day, everyone! Apologies for the month-long radio silence; once again time seems to have flown by, aided and abetted by many different things good and bad (among the good being another article for In Retrospect magazine, due out at the end of May!).
Another bit of good fun that I attended a few weeks ago was a performance of the long-running theatrical comedy version of the classic Hitchcock film The 39 Steps, which is currently on tour around the country and which was being put on at my local theatre, The Palace in Westcliff-on-sea.
This charming 104-year-old theatre has been through its own share of ups and downs over the years and is perfectly suited to this kind of production - indeed the age and design of the place only added to the enjoyment, in my opinion.
Now I must have been the last chap in the country with an interest in vintage to have seen this play (since it's been on at The Criterion in Piccadilly Circus for 10 years) but, on the off-chance that I'm not and you have no idea what I'm going on about, The 39 Steps is based on the 1935 film adaptation of the John Buchan book of the same name, directed by Alfred Hitchcock and starring Robert Donat and Madeleine Carroll. Rewritten as a comedy, much of the amusement comes from the fact that all the characters - including the extras - are played by only 4 (yes, that's right, four!) actors. This naturally means a lot of quick-change action, both in characters and sets, which only adds to the comedy.
A smaller, more intimate theatre certainly seems to benefit the production as well, with the cast making good use of the balconies and even though I was towards the back I still felt quite close to the action. Although as I mentioned I have not been to the show's home at The Criterion Theatre it looks to be one of the smaller West End venues and I don't doubt that that has been one of the reasons for its success as it would probably lose something of its tightness on a bigger stage.
That very tightness was in full display on the Saturday afternoon I went to see it, however. Even though it was the penultimate performance of a seven-day run - and a matinée to boot - the actors all seemed full of pep and vigour and consequently their performances felt very fresh and accomplished. Of course everything was slight exaggerated for comic effect but it never went too far and there was no whiff of ham to be found. Richard Ede played the part of Richard Hannay very much in his own way - and successfully too - with the odd nod to Robert Donat and just the right level of humorous chappishness.
The sets, such as they were, were also excellently done and again managed to capture the essence of the storyline without ever hampering the pace of it - in fact a lot of the time it was quite the opposite as the removal of props and setpieces was often integrated into the action with hilarious results! Likewise the occasions that required a quick change by one or more of the actors were accomplished with aplomb, very cleverly and funnily.
Naturally one of the big attractions is the costumes and here again the show comes up trumps. The three-piece suit Hannay was wearing in the performance I saw was even better than the one in these pictures - a wonderful oatmeal check that came very close to how I imagine Robert Donat's suit was in colour and style, topped off by a splendid pair of brown brogues. It's nice for us chaps to have a bit of clothing envy now and then too, you know!
The actress who played Annabella Smith/ Pamela has her own share of costumes too, of course - very close to those originally worn in the film I'm pleased to say - especially that famous double-pointed, bow-tie-fronted blue(?) and white dress. Have a compare between the two, ladies, and tell me what you think!
The whole thing builds up to a suitably climactic finish, with a healthy dose of silliness thrown in, and all in all it was a most enjoyable afternoon with the play fully living up to my expectations. It stuck more or less completely to the plot of the 1935 film and was all the better for it. I was pleased to note that some of the lines delivered verbatim from the original Hitchcock script got as many laughs as the action and the whole thing had the feel of a production that had been made with due reverence to the source but with a clever and witty rewrite that in some ways helped bring to the fore some of Hitchcock's more humorous touches in the film.
And speaking of which, this post wouldn't be complete without a couple of stills of the hero - and heroine! - in that wonderful film which inspired the play. In case you have never seen The 39 Steps ("what's the matter with you?!", I would ask) or just want to refresh your memory of it, thanks to the wonders of modern science it is currently available to view in its entirety on YouTube. But of course, I expect you all to have it on DVD like any sensible cove. In fact I'm off to watch mine now and admire Robert Donat and his splendid houndstooth check suit.
You wait ages for an interesting local story and then two come along at once! Yet another heartening tale of community spirit, with the added attraction of an enjoyable '40s motif. Once again charity is the main beneficiary, which can only be a good thing, plus the general public get to interact and enjoy themselves in a manner of which I thoroughly approve! A hearty "well done" to all involved.
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