The People's Archive | 1950s

A selection of The People’s Archive documenting everyday life in 1950s Britain.

Clacton-on-Sea, 1950s.
Clacton-on-Sea, 1950s.

Photo © Nancy Griffiths/The People’s Archive®

Sheffield, 1955.
Sheffield, 1955.

Photo © Paul Kenny/The People’s Archive®

Teddy boys 1950s
Great Yarmouth, circa 1959.

Photo © Justine/The People’s Archive®

Justine: “My dad Colin (right) and friend Dave on a caravan holiday in Great Yarmouth.”

29 Guildford Road, Chertsey, Surrey, late 1950s.
Chertsey, Surrey, late 1950s.

Photo © Paul Duxbury/The People’s Archive®

Paul “This is my grandparent’s shop at 29 Guildford Road, Chertsey, Surrey, taken in the 1950s or 1960s. The room to the left was called the ‘tea room’ when I lived there from 1950-1954, though it was only used for storage. But it must once have been a cafe. The house is an 18th or even 17th century farm cottage that got a nice Georgian front in the 18th century. My grandparents desecrated this by sticking an Edwardian shop onto the front. There was only an outside toilet, next to the scullery, and no bathroom. Demolished for redevelopment in the 1970s.”

Al Images © The People’s Archive®/British Culture Archive, all rights reserved.

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