re: Camp Coffee

A while back I said that I couldn't remember the story about Camp Coffee having to change their label. While looking for something else I stumbled across a few related articles:

"UK Coffee Logo Stirs Racism Row" BBC News 1999 (BBC News)

"Camp Coffee forced to change label by PC brigade" (Daily Mail)


Interesting!


Old logo (or one of them):



New logo:

That's all!

Holly and Barbed Wire/Suggested Reading

Not much going on in the WW2 arena right now--I'm back to writing (in an experimental voice) but am still mainly researching. I keep getting caught up in related but basically irrelevant things--planes, dogfights, women in uniform and, of late, Canadians in the war. Fascinating as these things are they aren't exactly what I'm writing about. I toyed with the idea of having L's brother be a fighter pilot just to justify reading about it but it feels like it's straying too much out of the main cast, besides which I'm splitting energy into too many directions. So it's back to the Home Front, which is where my main interest and goals lie.

I'm going to end up having an enormous bibliography by the end of it, though unfortunately a lot of books have pretty much the same information. I've narrowed my searches a lot and have come up with some fascinating books (listed below). The real trouble I'm having is that there seems to be very limited information on the ARP (Air Raid Precautions), which was one of the many possible Civil Defence jobs. I'm trying to edge away from personal reminiscences--despite my want to stay up all night reading selections from Mass Observation, etc--because I don't want to unintentionally plagiarize anyone's real experiences; the story I'm writing isn't supposed to be far-fetched or amazing in terms of some kind of insane adventure bordering on the ridiculous (i.e. a spy story). It's supposed to be just something that could have been someone's life, and those everyday things make up most reminiscences.

Carol Harris and Mike Brown, whom I discovered individually, both have some fantastic books to their credit. Weirdly enough it turns out they are a (married?) couple who both write these WW2-related books (plus some other fringy things). I think they've collaborated on one or two, even. Amazing. I think, if I were in the market for dating (which I am NOT), an interest in the British Home Front would be a requirement. That, on the other hand, might require me moving TO Britain.

Anyway.

As it's approaching That Time of Year I've decided to force myself into the Xmas spirit a little by reading Christmas on the Home Front by Mike Brown (Thanks to LB for getting it out of the U of T Library for me. Us riff-raff don't have access to the stacks, sadly). Simply organized, it's written in chronological chapters, i.e. '1940: The Second Christmas' and so on. As many of these books do, it's thankfully full of pictures--adverts and private photos alike--plus recipes, stuff about evacuees, and some personal reminiscences. I can't wait to finish this one.

There's a similar, but very condensed, page on the BBC website enitled 'Christmas Under Fire' if you just want a summary. I'm wondering if it's derived from Mike Brown's book; some of it is word for word. Click here for the link.

The other Mike Brown book I've got out (thanks to LB as well for getting this one!) is Put That Light Out!: Britain's Civil Defence Services at War, 1939-1945. The overtly long title is pretty much self-explanatory. Again, lots of pictures of rescue teams and so on, it's well researched and presented and--the best thing--it's got a TON of ARP information that I've been craving so badly.

Next up is a Carol Harris book that, unfortunately, I had to return to the library before finishing it (I tend to put a million things on hold and they all come in at once, for some reason). Women at War: The Home Front, 1939-1945 is so full of information that it's almost difficult to read--well, difficult to absorb. There's a similar book, Women at War in Uniform: 1939-1945 that I'm interested in reading but probably won't for the above reasons.

I'm getting sleepy so I'm cutting the books short and moving onto some links before I hit the hay.

First--homepage of the 1940s Society: www.1940.co.uk
Loads of info that I haven't even delved into yet--links to meetings (again, I'm not IN England, unfortunately so I can't attend), articles, personal memories, etc. plus an online shop of absolutely awesome stuff (i.e. blank ration books to fill out yourself. What?!)

Finally, two videos from Quentin Reynolds, an American war correspondent/journalist in England. These types of things are so intentionally sentimental that I can't do anything but react in a really genuine way. These types of things that are done now seem cheesy in a whole different way, though I guess they really are the same thing. Maybe it's just my nostalgia for a time I have never known but these 10-minute shorts are both touching and terrifying.
The first is a Christmas Under Fire; the second is London Can Take it!, which is a slogan/title I keep coming across. Apparently they could and did take it but if I had been around then I think I might have resented that idea for some reason, though I'm not quite sure why. Maybe the attempt to tag what was going on in some succint, catchy phrase kind of cheapened the experience? I don't know. At any rate, here are the two videos.

Christmas Under Fire - 1941



London Can Take it! - 1940