Vintage Photographs Of London Fog That Inspired Numerous Horror Stories
I suggest you read this post at night, in a dimly lit room, with a candle flickering in your window. Maybe this way you’ll get closer to that eerie atmosphere of the early 20th century London, covered by its famous thick fog.
That same foggy London that has inspired poets and artists throughout time to unleash their monstrous creations onto the city streets. From R.L. Stevenson’s Jekyll and Hyde to Tim Burton’s Vincent, the thick mist inspired wonder and fear to those who got to witness it first hand.
In the old photographs below (between 1910s to 1950s) you’ll see London covered not only in thick fog but also in a deadly smog, caused by soot particles and poisonous sulfur dioxide produced by the burning of soft coal, that is said to have taken around 12,000 lives. Not taking anything away from that daunting atmosphere already…
(h/t: vintage everyday, boredpanda)
#1 A Lamp Lighter At Work In Finsbury Park, London, 17 October 1935
Image source: Topical Press Agency
#2 Fleet Street, 6 December 1952
Image source: Edward Miller
#3 Lincoln’s Inn Fields, 24 January 1934
Image source: Fox Photos
#4 A Man Lighting His Pipe In Thick Fog Under The Arches At The Temple, London , 23 December 1935
Image source: Arthur Tanner
#5 Central London, January 1936
Image source: Lacey
#6 National Gallery, Trafalgar Square, 1 December 1948
Image source: Warburton
#7 The Tower Of London, January 1947
Image source: Fox Photos
#8 An Iceman Delivers In The Fog, 1 October 1919
Image source: Topical Press Agency
#9 Liverpool St. Station, 29 January 1959
Image source: Edward Miller
#10 Hyde Park Corner, 25 October 1938
Image source: Fox Photos
#11 A Woman Leads A Car Through London’s Regent’s Park, 25 October 1938
Image source: William Vanderson
#12 Westminster Bridge, 14 January 1955
Image source: Topical Press Agency
#13 A Young Couple During The Great Smog, 1952
Image source: unknown.
#14 Barges Crowd Together At Hay’s Wharf In Southwark, London, 26th October 1938
Image source: Topical Press Agency
#15 St Pancras Railway Station, 1 July 1907
Image source: Topical Press Agency
#16 Piccadilly Circus, 6 December 1952
Image source: Hulton Archive
#17 Ludgate Circus, 1 November 1922
Image source: Topical Press Agency
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