Subject: ‘Cars’

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Stockbroker who won fame as the fastest man on land

Posted in Cars, Historical articles, History, Sport, Sporting Heroes on Sunday, 31 January 2016

This edited article about Sir Malcom Campbell originally appeared in Look and Learn issue number 759 published on 31st July 1976.

Sir Malcom Campbell, picture, image, illustration

Sir Malcom Campbell in his second Bluebird, 1933 by Graham Coton

The wind was screaming around Sir Malcolm Campbell’s ears like a demon as he shot over the Salt Lake Flats at Utah, U.S.A. on 4th September, 1935, in his record-breaking car, Bluebird.

Blessedly, the car was steady and there seemed to be no drag on the flats. Would Sir Malcolm break yet another land speed record?

This attempt was the culminating point of a career that had started when, as a 21-year-old stockbroker, Campbell had become a keen motor-cyclist and had won his first race in the same year. That had been 1906.

From then on, with the exception of service in the First World War in the Royal Flying Corps, Campbell had devoted himself to racing with such spectacular results that he had gained a knighthood in 1931 for raising the speed record to 245.7 mph. Later he had clocked 276 mph.

Now he had come to Utah to risk his life again for a new record.

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The best pictures from educational trade cards, 79

Posted in Absurd, Africa, Best pictures, Cars, Dogs, Educational card, Famous landmarks, Farming, Historical articles, History, Oddities, Plants, Rivers, Travel on Wednesday, 25 November 2015

We have selected three of the best pictures from our large collection of 19th and early 20th century educational trade cards.
The first picture shows the view of the Nile valley from the Great Pyramid.

Nile, picture, image, illustration

View of the Nile valley from the Great Pyramid

The second picture shows the potato harvest in Ireland.

Ireland, picture, image, illustration

Potato Harvest in Ireland

The third picture shows a ‘dining car’.

car, picture, image, illustration

A 'dining car'

High-resolution scans of all educational cards can be found in the Look and Learn picture library.

The best pictures from educational trade cards, 25

Posted in Best pictures, Boats, Cars, Educational card, Famous battles, Historical articles, History, Inventions, Religion, Sea, Ships, War, Weapons on Monday, 23 November 2015

We have selected three of the best pictures from our large collection of 19th and early 20th century educational trade cards.
The first picture shows men, women and children being whipped by monks.

monks chastising, picture, image, illustration

Men, women and children being whipped by monks

The second picture shows Acetylene headlights on a motor car and a motorcycle.

headlights, picture, image, illustration

Acetylene headlights on a motor car and a motorcycle

The third picture shows French Gunboats at Paknam, Siam.

Paknam, picture, image, illustration

French Gunboats at Paknam, Siam

High-resolution scans of all educational cards can be found in the Look and Learn picture library.

The best pictures from educational trade cards, 4

Posted in Actors, Aviation, Best pictures, Cars, Educational card, Historical articles, History, Inventions, London, Royalty, Shakespeare, Theatre, Weapons on Monday, 23 November 2015

We have selected three of the best pictures from our large collection of 19th and early 20th century educational trade cards.
The first picture shows William Shakespeare staging a production for Queen Elizabeth I.

theatre, picture, image, illustration

William Shakespeare staging a production for Queen Elizabeth I.

The second picture shows a motorised carriage with a powerful headlight.

car, picture, image, illustration

Motorised carriage with a powerful headlight

The third picture shows a flying torpedo boat in the year 2000.

weapon, picture, image, illustration

Flying torpedo boat in the year 2000

High-resolution scans of all educational cards can be found in the Look and Learn picture library.

Building a motorway in 1960s England

Posted in Britain in the 60s, British Countryside, British Towns, Cars, Engineering, Historical articles, History, Transport, Travel on Saturday, 21 November 2015

Here is a superb panoramic picture of one of the great infrastructure projects of the 1960s, namely the building of motorways. These astonishing feats of civil engineering can be appreciated when viewed from above as in this image, which reveals the vast scale of the earth works along with the vehicles and many workers involved. The helicopter completes a picture of modernisation and progress, as does the already completed section cutting through the beautiful English countryside.

motorway, picture, image, illustration

Building a motorway in 1960s England by Wilf Hardy

Many more pictures of Britain in the 1960s can be found at the Look and Learn picture library.

A Railway station in England during the 1960s

Posted in Architecture, Britain in the 60s, Cars, Historical articles, History, London, Railways, Transport, Travel on Saturday, 21 November 2015

This is a marvellous and thoroughly realistic bird’s-eye view of a railway station in the London suburbs. The black taxi picks up a traveller, the red bus brings others to the station, and meanwhile all the architectural detailing of footbridge and station building, along with the level-crossing gate, give one an unavoidable impression of looking down on a child’s model railway layout. The early diesel train is a cleverly modern touch.

Railway station, picture, image, illustration

Railway station in England, 1960s

Many more pictures of railways can be found at the Look and Learn picture library.

Lee Harvey Oswald waiting for President Kennedy’s motorcade

Posted in America, Cars, Communism, Famous crimes, Famous news stories, Historical articles, History, Mystery, News, Politics, Weapons on Friday, 20 November 2015

This is a chilling picture of Lee Harvey Oswald, John F Kennedy’s assassin, lying in wait on the sixth floor of the Texas School Book Depository for the Presidential motorcade. The notorious sniper is nursing a Carcano rifle, and it is the unavoidable prominence of the murder weapon which gives this image such power.

assassin, picture, image, illustration

Lee Harvey Oswald waiting for his victim to come within his sights

Many more pictures of murderers can be found at the Look and Learn picture library.

The London-Brighton run

Posted in Cars, Engineering, Historical articles, History, London, Transport, Travel on Thursday, 19 November 2015

The beautifully drawn star of this 1960s London-to-Brighton run is a 1900 MMC 6-hp “Charette” Rear-entrance Tonneau, a superb veteran car which dates from around 1900 and would have originally cost in the region of £400. Some of the cars which took part in the original rally are still in running order, over sixty years after the event.

rally, picture, image, illustration

The London-Brighton run

Many more pictures of cars can be found at the Look and Learn picture library.

The London to Brighton Veteran Car Run

Posted in Adventure, Cars, Historical articles, History, Leisure, London on Thursday, 19 November 2015

A few of well over a hundred charming and valuable veteran cars cross Westminster Bridge in this amusing picture of the beginning of the London to Brighton Veteran Car Run which starts in Hyde Park. This rally is the longest running of all international motoring events and as the picture shows, is a splendid opportunity for proud veteran car enthusiasts to display their prized possessions all the way to Brighton.

cars, picture, image, illustration

The London to Brighton Veteran Car Run

Many more pictures of cars can be found at the Look and Learn picture library.

A typical English Garage in the 1960s

Posted in British Countryside, British Towns, Cars, Children, Historical articles, History, Trade, Transport, Travel on Wednesday, 18 November 2015

Our colourful and charming picture shows a typical English Garage in the 1960s, and contains many details redolent of the time and full of retro-charm. These include the AA logo on a sign, the Brand heads on the petrol pumps and of course the classic cars on the forecourt.

garage, picture, image, illustration

A typical English Garage in the 1960s

Many more pictures of the 1960s can be found at the Look and Learn picture library.