047 – At Home with Eddie Hapgood (part one)

Today and tomorrow the scans come from Illustrated Magazine dated 26th August 1939 and featuring captain of Arsenal and England Eddie Hapgood and his family. More on the ‘secret’ film later this week…

046 – Everybody, Achtung Arsenal

Two scans today from the start of the soon to be curtailed 1939/40 season. With war just around the corner football started as normal but the Football League as we know it was to last but a couple of matches before being suspended for the duration.

The first scan is of a cartoon of the team given away by Everybody Magazine, and the second, rather ironically but again showing Arsenal’s popularity around the continent, is from German football magazine ‘Der Kicker’ (03-09-1939).

045 – Arsenal Photographers Lambert Jackson

For many years Lambert Jackson of Holloway Arcade were Arsenal’s official photographers producing many quality photographic items. Below are some scans of postcards produced by them, complete with their logo embossed.

044 – Arsenal Directors, Managers and Families

A few more magazine scans from the late 1930s. I think they explain themselves pretty well so I’ll just say the first cartoon is from The Tattler (12-01-1938) and the rest from The Picture Post (24-12-1938).

043 – The Elliman Handbook of Physical Fitness

Elliman were an interesting company. Originally a family drapery business they started producing their emrocation in the mid 1800s for animal use and within a couple of years produced one for humans as well. Both proved very popular, so popular that the drapery side of the business was soon closed down. Amusingly both the animal and human versions were actually the very same thing!

What really made Elliman different was that they spent half their profits on marketing, and this proved remarkably successful. One part of their marketing was to produce, more or less annually, their Handbook of Physical Fitness. From the early 1930s this featured a section by our own Tom Whittaker giving advice on training which I thought was interesting as this explains some of the methods he no doubt used with Arsenal.

The scans below are from the 1937 publication.

042 – Arsenal Pools Blotters

Before the National Lottery came along the flutter of choice in England was the football pools. Teatime Saturday all around the country people from maiden aunts to youngsters in their first jobs would feverishly check their coupons to see if they had the eight draws they’d been dreaming of when they filled in their coupon. No one wanted to smudge their coupons so the ink would be blotted and the pools companies caught on to this novel form of advertising.

The first four scans are from blotters given away by Sherman Pools in the 1930s, the last being a Littlewood’s one also from the ’30s.

041 – The Arsenal Locomotive

If you went through the main entrance at Highbury and looked to your left you would see this.

(my photo – sorry for poor quality)

Although at first glance it fits in perfectly with the art deco style of the famous marble halls when you look at it again it seems slightly strange what with being curved and with the small football underneath.

The reason for that is it’s actually a locomotive nameplate.

In 1936 L.N.E.R. started to roll out a new class of engine and decided that they should be named after prominent football clubs. On Thursday the 15th of March Lord Lonsdale, Chairman of the club, unveiled the nameplate for the first of these at Kings Cross station, named Arsenal. The ceremony was attended by the board and many of the players, and the engine stayed in service until it was finally withdrawn in December 1958.

Below is a scan of one of a series of postcards issued by Dawn Covers in the 1990s and shows the unit rolling past Highbury. The other scans give more details on the life of ‘our’ unit and the class in general and comes from the January 1981 issue of Railway World.

040 – 1930/40s Advertising

It’s easy to think of the use of footballers in adverts as a new thing, but it most certainly is not. Denis Compton advertising Brylcreem is well known but I thought I’d scan some adverts featuring Arsenal that appeared before that.

039 – Aston Villa 1 Ted Drake 7 (seven)

On the 14th December 1935 Arsenal travelled to Aston Villa for a league match. Ted Drake was suffering with a knee injury that would later need an operation and was a doubt for the game after a poor performance earlier in the week against Middlesbrough.

Villa’s defence was in poor form having already conceded 52 goals in 18 games, and this in part encouraged George Allison to take a risk on his number nine.

It was a risk that paid off handsomely. By half time Drake had a hat-trick. By the hour mark he had six. He then hit the bar and when he appealed to the ref that the ball had bounced over the line the referee told him he had six and not to be greedy. He was, and added a seventh goal shortly before time.

(Arsenal are in white)

As you can see from the next two scans Drake finally succumbed to his injury in the spring, and then faced a battle to get fit for the FA Cup Final.

Backslip reads:

“6.2.36. Arsenal Centre Forward in Hospital. Ted Drake, the Arsenal centre forward, is in the Royal Northern Hospital, Holloway Road, following injuries received while playing for England against Wales at Wolverhampton yesterday. Ted Drake, in bed, reading all about the match in hospital this morning.”

Backslip reads:

“29/2/36. Drake Leaves Hospital. Ted Drake, the Arsenal F.C. centre-forward, who had an operation for cartilage trouble two weeks ago, left the Royal Northern Hospital, London, to-day. He will be a spectator at this afternoon’s F.A. cup-tie match between Arsenal and Barnsley at Highbury, London, N.”

Drake then face a battle to be fit in time for the FA Cup Final and played with what was describes as the ‘biggest bandage in the world’ on his knee. Despite this, it was his goal in the 74th minute that brought the Cup back to Highbury. The media were banned from filming the game after a dispute over fees – originally offered £900 the FA wanted £1500 and when the broadcast companies refused to pay that the FA finally accepted the original offer. Sensing blood the broadcasters withdrew that offer and were only prepared to pay £500. The FA refused this and the only film of the match is from autogyros flying above the stadium, as you can see below.

038 – The Battle of Highbury (part three)

The aftermath.