Social History
Penny toys, vintage vehicles, quirky packaging and more offer a delightfully nostalgic glimpse into the London’s everyday life.
Blogs-And-Stories
Dub reggae in London
What is dub? And what makes dub reggae an intrinsic part of London’s soundscape
Testy teeth! Dental interventions in 19th-century London
What three sets of teeth reveal about an individual’s dietary habits and socio-economic status
Pleasurable relief: Toilets in 18th-century London
Curator Danielle Thom reveals the dark underside of the Georgian and Victorian Pleasure Gardens
London’s sport histories: Migration, diversity & inclusion
Five stories of people where migration has played an important role in the choice of sport, both as practitioners and supporters
Guess the mystery medieval object
Three 13th-century items from the museum’s Archaeological Archive that caught our eye
Recording London's soundscapes, past & present
Listen to early London soundscapes from 1928 made by the Daily Mail, and to the silence of 2020 lockdown
Disability: A child’s perspective from 1950s London
These photos of disabled children in 1950s London attempt to fill in a crucial gap in our history
Protesting Margaret Thatcher
The Iron Lady’s time as prime minister sparked resistance and protest that filled London’s streets
Food rationing & wartime trading at Sainsbury’s
From food rationing to setting up emergency shops, here’s how Sainsbury’s operated during First & Second World Wars
The Great Smog of 1952
12,000 people died when a toxic polluted fog descended on London
Windrush stories of the Indo-Caribbean community
Three Londoners of Indo-Caribbean descent share family stories of being part of the Windrush generation
Women in Indian indentured labour
A third of indentured labourers were women. Here’s a peek into their story
Handkerchief politics: The Irish Question
A handkerchief highlights both an interesting phase of British politics and a quirky fashion statement
Quiz: Which vegetable doll are you?
Are you more of a Princess Spring Onion or a Lord Leek? Or maybe you're a Dr Rhubarb?
The mystery of Michael Collins’ signature
How London shaped the thinking of Irish revolutionary Michael Collins
From avoiding the gallows, to leading a mutiny
What happened to convicts who were transported to penal colonies instead of being executed?
Disability, as seen in 18th-century art
We look at four artworks to see how disabled people were portrayed in the 18th century
