Eye - 13 January 2023
From Unearthing stories to Rhyming in the New Year
Unearthing stories
A visually-arresting snippet of an advert from 1898 was printed in these pages on 16 December (see above for the full ad).
Eye was delighted to find out more about the story behind the elegant typography, when a missive from a Friend with family connections to the company shed light on its Quakerly connections.
The cameras being advertised were made by Thornton-Pickard. David Bower, of Wooldale Meeting, tells Eye: ‘The Pickard family were Quakers (my great-grandmother was Annie Pickard). The company was established in 1888 by Edgar Pickard and John Edward Thornton and based in Altrincham, pioneers in the development of cameras including the patenting of the “Time and Instantaneous Shutter”.
‘The “Amber” and “Ruby” were early popular camera ranges which required the following parts: 116 of wood, 163 of metal, fifteen sizes of bellow and six different types of screw. The “Imperial Triple Extension” model introduced in 1913 was particularly successful. The company finally closed in 1939 being unable to compete with cheaper imports.’
It goes to show that every page has a story!
Guiding principles
Quakers put in an appearance on the quiz show Jeopardy in the USA on New Year’s Eve. Eye suspects Friends who tuned in would have been shouting the answer at the TV when presented with: ‘Promoting peace and human rights since 1917, the American Friends Service Committee is guided by the religious principles of this religious group.’
The AFSC was founded in the first world war to provide a way for conscientious objectors to serve without joining the military. They, together with the British Friends Service Council (which is now known as Quaker Peace & Social Witness), accepted the Nobel Peace Prize on behalf of Quakers worldwide in 1947.
You need to login to read subscriber-only content and/or comment on articles.