The ‘Alpha’ Restaurant There are now almost 110,000 reviews published on HappyCow. This is the earliest vegetarian restaurant ‘review’ which we have yet found – it was published on Feb. 7, 1880 – a Saturday. The ‘Alpha’ opened in London, UK in 1879 & promoted itself as London’s “First Food Reform Restaurant”. The ‘Alpha’ was the project of a ‘highly controversial’ couple – Thomas Low Nichols (1815–1901) & Mary Gove Nichols (1810 – 1884) . More…
An empty used envelope from 1909, got our Ernest Bell Library team talking a lot today. And the best part…… ……a tatty, but glorious, circa 1909 ‘Ingersoll family’ – ‘Anti-Vivisection Crusade’ Cinderella stamp, featuring a dog ‘sitting’ on a vivisector’s knife, has survived for 100+ years and is now in our Ernest Bell Library. ~ In philately, a cinderella stamp is “virtually anything resembling a postage stamp, but not issued for…
A trip back to the 1990s & earlier. Remembering pioneering vegans. With links to great ‘sources’ for folk who like to go deeper! Firstly – a circa 1993 vegan leaflet by Kathleen Jannaway Note – the black text is all Kathleen’s – the original leaflet was only text – the images we have selected / added. “THE HEALTH OF VEGANS” When, in 1944, a small group of vegetarians became aware…
Ernest Bell Library items – ‘Joys Of The Simple Life’ by Dugald Semple. Published by Ernest Bell in 1915. Happy 100th Birthday to ‘Joys Of The Simple Life’ 1915 – 2015 Dugald Semple (1884 – 1964) was a co-founder of ‘The Vegan Society’ with Dorothy & Donald Watson in 1944. Donald Watson wrote about Dugald in the first ever issue of The Vegan News – “Our friend and fellow member Dugald…
Here is an article from 1896 – unattributed – but written very much in the style of Edith Carrington – proposing ‘networking’ for better-financing humanitarian projects. The author reflects specifically on the challenges of funding a humanitarian monthly magazine / journal. Building audiences – attracting paying advertisers – carefully managing & expanding your projects – the advice can be adjusted slightly & applied to many different great projects today, it is…
Finding amazing creations / art such as this ~ 105 years old postcard gives us a real ‘buzz’. 100+ years ago truly great people were enthusiastically working / networking for animals – spreading the vegan message – opposing vivisection & much more. More about this postcard below! All of the books, magazines, leaflets, postcards etc. mentioned & pictured in this blog post are being preserved in the Ernest Bell Library,…
“Think of me as pleading with the Vivisectors for the dear dogs I love so well.” – Edith Cole (1861? – 1927) The photo is by – Mons Sala Arbus, Reading. M(argaret Solom)ons & Sala Arbus, 40 Friar Street, Reading. – opticians & photographers. To-date we have discovered almost nothing else about these photographers – but they sound ‘interesting’. Sala Arbus. London Gazette. No link whatsoever found to the rather more famous photographer Allan Arbus (or to Diane Arbus! The Ernest Bell…
In this post I really wanted to ‘expand’ the famous 1913 photo – just having names underneath was not enough for me – these were incredible personalities & they have been almost forgotten – some don’t even have their own Wikipedia pages yet. Bob Ingersoll & his team / family members greatly influenced Henry S. Salt & Ernest Bell & ………..so many others. Lizzy Lind af-Hageby was quite remarkable. The…
~ Personally, I began rather drastically over 50 years ago by cutting out not only all meat or flesh foods, but milk, eggs, butter, tea and coffee. Cheese I have never eaten; indeed I hate the very smell of this decayed milk. Next, I adopted a diet of nuts, fruit, cereals and vegetables. On this Edenic fare I lived for some ten years, and found that my health and strength…
Animals’ Rights Considered in relation to social progress – with a bibliographical appendix by Henry S. Salt. Published 1892 by G. Bell in London, New York . This is one of the most handled & most admired items in our Ernest Bell Library. ——— A contemporary review of the book Animals’ Rights The Times, October 27, 1892 Books of the Week ~ While the subject of vivisection is so…
He groans in anguish; while the growling pack, Blood-happy, hang at his fair jutting chest, And mark his beauteous chequered sides with gore. – The Seasons by James Thomson – Autumn – p133 An old postcard from the League for the Prohibition of Cruel Sports. It is undated, but is probably from circa 1924 – 1927. The demise of the Humanitarian League came about as a result of the first world war and in 1919…
So who exactly were Jessey Wade & Ernest Bell ? Why have they dropped from the memories of most of today’s animal lovers? About Jessey Wade’s personal life we have discovered very little; we do know that Jessey was working for animals / fighting for animals from the mid-1890s onward. We have records of her dynamic pro-animal activities for a period of approx. 50 years. The Ernest Bell Library has more than 150 pieces of Jessey’s…
From – Life in the Open – a 1919 book. “Eggs were meant to produce chickens and not omelettes; and cow’s milk is a perfect food for a calf, but most assuredly not for a grown-up human being“. The Vegetarian Messenger & Health Review, p. 237 – Dugald Semple – 1912. In our Ernest Bell Library, one beautiful shelf is specifically dedicated to the books and articles of Cathie & Dugald Semple. Over the next…