Mass Observation

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Mass Observation was founded by Tom Harrisson, Charles Madge and Humphrey Jennings in 1937. Its purpose was to create 'an anthropology of ourselves' in other words, to study the everyday lives of ordinary people in Britain. Discounting an initial pamphlet, this was the fourth book to be published. It appears in Faber Finds as a part of an extensive reissue programme of the original Mass Observation titles. War Begins at Home, originally published in 1940, covers the first four months of the Second World War, in other words, the beginning of the 'Phoney War' , the war in Britain before the Dunkirk evacuation, the fall of France and the Blitz.A diversity of subjects are anatomized. To quote from the original jacket. 'The impact of the blackout. The ritual of gas-masks. Air raid neurosis. Blimp reassurance. The collapse of the football pools. The drought of news, and how people were affected. The mentality of A. R. P. wardens. Class-conflict of evacuation, the great 'paper experiment'. The red poster fiasco. The ministry of Information. How jazz has cashed in. How sport has cashed out. The Daily Express v. the Co-ops. Saving v. Spending. The difference between public and private opinion. The difference between the leader and the led. The neglect of civilian morale.'What is created is a sort of 'war barometer' (to use the expression coined by Tom Harrisson and Charles Madge), and a unique slice of social history.

Mass Observation was founded by Tom Harrisson, Charles Madge and Humphrey Jennings in 1937. Its purpose was to create 'an anthropology of ourselves' in other words, to study the everyday lives of ordinary people in Britain. Discounting an initial pamphlet, this was the tenth book to be published. It appears in Faber Finds as a part of an extensive reissue programme of the original Mass Observation titles. War Factory was originally published in 1943. It was largely the work of one 'observer', Celia Fremlin, also known as a thriller writer. It records the experiences and attitudes of women war workers in one particular factory just outside Malmesbury, Wiltshire specializing in the making of radar equipment (neither location nor purpose are, of course, revealed in the book). On publication the book's importance was quickly spotted. The New Statesman described the book as the 'first coherent and serious study' of a wartime industrial community lodged in the middle of the countryside. The Manchester Guardian called it 'a remarkable study' and the Sunday Times 'a fascinating examination'. The Daily Herald having pointed out 'the girls were grossly - and it would seem, indefensibly - overworked went on to say 'What is certain is that those who are responsible for maintaining the rhythm of war production in the fifth year of war will find no adequate solution to war-weariness if they ignore the penetrating human facts which are brought to light in such investigations as are recorded in this important book.'

Mass Observation was founded by Tom Harrisson, Charles Madge and Humphrey Jennings in 1937. Its purpose was to create 'an anthropology of ourselves' in other words, to study the everyday lives of ordinary people in Britain. Discounting an initial pamphlet, this was the nineteenth book to be published. It appears in Faber Finds as a part of an extensive reissue programme of the original Mass Observation titles. Both Meet Yourself on Sunday and its companion Meet Yourself at the Doctor's were first published in 1949 towards the end of Mass Observation's initial period. They share something else in common: they are both gloriously illustrated by Ronald Searle.Meet Yourself on Sunday shows how the day of rest was spent in 1949. Here is Sunday in parks, pubs and prisons, in towns and at the seaside, in places as far apart as Soho and a remote Somerset village. 'Observers' go into people's homes to find out how they spend Sundays, to see who goes to Church and who does not. This is a deliciously funny piece of social history; Sunday was a bit boring, one almost expects Tony Hancock to deliver a soliloquy from Railway Cuttings, East Cheam!

Mass Observation was founded by Tom Harrisson, Charles Madge and Humphrey Jennings in 1937. Its purpose was to create 'an anthropology of ourselves' in other words, to study the everyday lives of ordinary people in Britain. Discounting an initial pamphlet, this was the twentieth book to be published. It appears in Faber Finds as a part of an extensive reissue programme of the original Mass Observation titles. Both Meet Yourself at the Doctor's and its companion Meet Yourself on Sunday were first published in 1949 towards the end of Mass Observation's initial period. They share something else in common: they are both gloriously illustrated by Ronald Searle.This Mass Observation study was written at a particularly interesting time, a year after the creation of the National Health Service. Patients describe their experiences in waiting-rooms and consulting-rooms: the children's clinic is seen through the eyes of the mothers who visit it: a doctor discusses his daily-round: a hospital patient describes tells how it feels to be the subject of a bedside clinic.The sum is a vivid piece of social history, a first-hand report of unmatched immediacy.

Mass Observation was founded in 1937 with the aim of researching the everyday lives of ordinary people in Britain. One of its best-loved publications is The Pub and the People (1943), a unique study of one of Britain's best-loved pastimes, describing how people behaved in pubs, what and how much they drank, and the decor and layout of the average pre-war alehouse. Alongside sociological interest it offers amusing insights into an era when supping pints was only for the roughest customers, and beer was considered helpful not only to general health ('There is no bad ale, so Grandma said') but also (contra the porter in Macbeth) to the act of love. 'The authors of this book have unearthed much curious information.' George Orwell, Listener'Anyone with an interest in the history of beer and pubs in Britain ought to read it.' Boak and Bailey's Beer Blog

Mass Observation was founded by Tom Harrisson, Charles Madge and Humphrey Jennings in 1937. Its purpose was to create 'an anthropology of ourselves' in other words, to study the everyday lives of ordinary people in Britain. Discounting an initial pamphlet, this was the first book to be published. It appears in Faber Finds as a part of an extensive reissue programme of the original Mass Observation titles. May the Twelfth is a portrait of life on a single day, the day of the Coronation of George V1 in 1937. Compiled from the individual reports of hundreds of people, the Mass Observers, from all walks of life, it vividly recreates the atmosphere and excitement of a great national occasion. When first published it received a long review from Evelyn Waugh in the short-lived Night and Day. One might have imagined it wouldn't have been to his taste but he was won round. Having congratulated Faber on the price of 12s 6d he goes on to say, '. . . it would be hard to find any recent work of the same length which had so little that was dull and so much that was highly amusing.' He especially praises the London section, 'The succeeding section on London's May 12 could scarcely be better. It provides a real documentary survey of the event as seen by the crowds.'

Mass Observation was founded by Tom Harrisson, Charles Madge and Humphrey Jennings in 1937. Its purpose was to create 'an anthropology of ourselves' in other words, to study the everyday lives of ordinary people in Britain. Discounting an initial pamphlet, this was the second book to be published. It appears in Faber Finds as a part of an extensive reissue programme of the original Mass Observation titles. Subjects covered include smoking, pub-going and football pools. There is a section given over to some of those who had joined Mass Observation where they explain their reasons for doing so. To quote the original blurb, 'They include a London park-keeper, a working class girl in the North of England, a middle-aged worker in an armaments factory, a woman teacher in an infant school, a naval petty-officer, a bus-driver's wife, a Yorkshire weaver, a hospital nurse, a pharmacist in the East End and a steel worker in Scotland.'

Britain, although not the first Mass Observation title, was the one that made its name. Britain was published as Penguin Special and is reported as selling over 100, 000 in ten days. It was published in January 1939, and seventy years on Faber Finds are reissuing it. The aim of Mass Observation was to create 'an anthropology of ourselves', to provide a study of everyday lives of ordinary people in Britain. In this book, arranged and written by Tom Harrisson and Charles Madge (two of the founders of Mass Observation) the notorious year of 1938 is anatomized. It was the year of Munich. The first half of the book deals with the unfolding crisis, culminating with Neville Chamberlain waving his scrap of paper, the agreement with Hitler, from No. 10 Downing Street. A Mass Observation observer was there. The Press gave wildly misleading impressions of the turn-out. In fact the crowd was under 5000. As the commentary tartly observes, 'No second division football club could survive on a Chamberlain gate.' A bleakly comic moment is recorded, 'P. M. stretches out his arm for silence. Several in crowd appear to take this as a Fascist salute and stretch forth their arms likewise.'Other chapters deal with the dance craze 'The Lambeth Walk', all-in wrestling, the cow's-head cult of Westhoughton (the chapter is aptly entitled A Slight Case of Totemism) and the Two Minutes' Silence on Armistice Day. As the Times said then, ' . . . With these anthropological spies among us one wonders how statesmen and journalists will ever again dare to speak and write on behalf of ''the people''. For here are ''the people''.