Top Screever Says: It’s ‘a Gift’ (1953)

05 Friday Apr 2013

Posted by Philip Battle in history, London

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The Story of Alfred Horton

A cockney artist in pastels, who lives and works in the glow of the sunset—morning, noon and night. He is part of the London street scene.

You will see him any fine day on the Thames Embankment, near Charing Cross Pier, kneeling on a little pad, and rubbing the crimson and orange glow of the setting sun into the paving stone with a grubby finger. This week his pastels have won for him the title “Screever Number One, London.”

Alfred Horton cartoon as it appeared in the Christian Science Monitor 1953

The word “screever” isn’t defined in Webster’s. In a cockney slang book, however, you would find it means a pavement artist, one whose canvas is the sidewalk. London’s seven top screevers were invited to compete in the National Hobbies and Handicrafts Exhibition at the Central Hall here this week. Seven great slabs of paving stone were taken along as canvases.

Three-Hour Job

Alfred got down to work. He took nearly three hours, much longer than usual, to complete his picture, “Running Water.” What with the mike, and the lights, and the flashing bulbs, and the questions of the news-papermen, it was hard to concentrate,” he told me later. But Alfred knew his subject. And his colleagues applauded as he took off his French beret and rubbed his stubbly beard on receiving the cash prize of £5 from Jean Carson, Actress.

Alfred Horton with actress Jean Carton (Original press photo 1953)

Alfred Horton with actress Jean Carson (Original press photo 1953)

“I joined the merchant navy when I was 14,” he said. “I’ve seen sunsets all over the world. When I pick up a piece of chalk, the pictures all come crowding back to me.” He was doing a repeat of his prize-winning picture on the pavement the next day when I visited him, just a stone’s throw (pavement stone) from Cleopatra’s Needle.

‘Bit Bright?’

A battered old felt hat had a few pennies in it. I dropped in a coin. It chinked, but Alfred didn’t look up. He selected another crayon from hundreds on a piece of sacking on the pavement. Two sprightly white lambs gambolled into the picture. Alfred took a black crayon and etched in a gate. “Bit bright, ain’t it—that sky?” a voice behind me said. Alfred dropped his chalk. “Time and time again I’ve seen it.” He said. “Where?” the critic asked. “In Scotland when I was in the Army.”

Alfred joined the Army in the last war, he told me. Maybe it was on manoeuvres among the heathered banks and braes he had seen the golden sunsets. The wooded copes, the sheep, the water dashing up from black rocks.

‘Just a Gift’

He had a precise, well-ordered way of doing his picture—starting with the sunset. “Never ‘ad a lesson in my life. It’s just a gift,” he said modestly. I could see the faint outlines of the sunsets of other days on the pavement.

“Do you have to rub them out each night?” I asked. “Well—yes,” he said, “but often the rain does it for me. It’s late when I leave.” My own feeling was he couldn’t bear to part with his sunsets. “Oil paintings—yes I do them, but not for sale. I might do a masterpiece one day. Where would I be if I sold it?” So Alfred parts only with pastels—as pictures and trays. He is sending one to Jean Carson, “so she can remember the screever she gave the prize to,” Alfred said.

Published in the Christian Science Monitor (19^th September 1953)

Here’s another take on the same story……….

No Appreciation

Seven pavement artists competed yesterday for a £5 note at Central Hall, Westminster. They were provided with paving stones and set to work at 10.30am Judging started at 1.30pm.

Alfred Horton with actress Jean Carson (Original press photo 1953)

The winner was Alfred Horton of the Oval, Kennington. Whose normal stand is outside Charing Cross Station. His picture—a lush Highland scene called “Running Water.”

Alfred Horton working on his winning piece “RUNNING WATERS” (Original press photo 1953)

Horton, 51, said: “I spent 30 years in the Merchant Navy, another six in the Army. After that I felt I wanted to do something more creative.” But like most artists he doesn’t think much of the English public. . . .“Englishmen don’t appreciate art nowadays. I have to rely on foreign visitors for a living.” His takings—30s. a day in the summer, down to 5s. a day in winter.

Published in the Daily Express (Friday 18^th September 1953)

Just on a side note; the competition judge was American Actress Jean Carson, who starred in many US film and TV productions, including The Twilight Zone, Perry Mason & The Untouchables, to name but a few. Later in life, she developed a drinking problem which limited her acting career. Her last film role was 1977′s Fun with Dick and Jane. On November 2nd, 2005, Carson died from complications of a stroke; she was 82 years old.

Related blog: FLAGSTONES FOR SALE (1953)

Written and researched by Philip Battle

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Broken in our Wars (1916)

03 Sunday Mar 2013

Posted by Philip Battle in history, London, World War I

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Without Benefits: The First World War Screevers

Attracted by a little crowd at the side of one of the broad pavement spaces in Kingsway the other morning I drew near and found a lady volubly declaiming against the Government and the War Office, because of the sight there to be witnessed.

It was that of a man engaged in making crayon pictures. There was nothing strange in that, as pavement artists are common enough; and women have recently joined the craft, usually on the plea of children to support through a husband having been killed in the war.

But this man was obviously very new to the work, for his drawings were crude even for a pavement artist. He had scrawled on the pavement a notice to this effect: “A member of the original Expeditionary Force to France; gassed and wounded at Ypres, suffering from a paralysed arm, discharged from the Army, and unable to get work. Anyone interested may inspect my discharge papers.”

Here was the source of the lady’s indignation. The man seemed to be getting a fair share of coppers, but the spectacle was a depressing one. Next day the disagreeable impression it left on my mind was emphasised by the announcement of another pavement artist I saw at work near Euston Station to the effect that he had been severely wounded during the retreat from Mons.

Pavement artist on the Thames Embankment, London. Cir. 1915

It is to be hoped that the Pensions Question will soon be settled, as this kind of thing is rather humiliating to the nation, to say nothing of its effect on the men themselves.

Published in the Cheltenham Looker-On (Saturday 16^th September 1916)

Following the political embarrassment of so many injured service men being discharged and forced to work on the streets as pavement artists and beggars: In 1916 a Parliamentary Select Committee recommended that the existing pension provisions should be incorporated into one War Pension Scheme administered by a new Department. In 1917 the Ministry of Pensions was established, later becoming the Department of Social Security.

Although this didn’t completely solve the problem, it eventually led to the establishment of a living War Pension for ex-servicemen and a social security benefits system for the unemployed in Britain by 1947.

Written & researched by Philip Battle

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A DIFFERENT KETTLE OF FISH (1913)

07 Monday Jan 2013

Posted by Philip Battle in history, London, Manchester, press cuttings, suffragettes

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A collection of screeving stories from 100 years ago!

This being my first blog of 2013, I thought it would be a fun idea to look back 100 years to 1913; King George V was on the throne, war clouds were looming over Europe, the English stately home was at its zenith and aviation travel was in its infancy. It was a different world back then, not least for the humble pavement artist; that was a different kettle of fish.

I’ve pulled the following from the Urban Towers archives:

Daily Mirror press cutting: Wed 1st October 1913

Over 1000 pavement artists were said to be making a FULL TIME living on the streets of London alone. They were so popular that they became tourist attractions in their own right, as this press cutting perfectly illustrates.

Daily Mail press cutting: Tuesday 2nd December 1913

In an article published in The Manchester Courier (Friday 7^th November 1913) Artist, writer and opponent of modern art FRANK L. EMANUEL (1865–1948) compared the ‘new’ tradition of FUTURIST ART as being “Worthy of Lunatics” and “the works of children, PAVEMENT ARTISTS, and ordinary inartistic people”

Press Cutting: The Clarence and Richmond Examiner; Thursday 20th February 1913

PRESS CUTTING from The Christian Science Monitor: 21st March 1913

VOTES FOR WOMAN: London—The Woman’s Social and Political Union have held a most successful self-denial week. Artists of the pavement attracted a considerable amount of attention. Ladies who could draw well were to be seen working from morning until evening, bending over the pavement with a handful of coloured chalks, producing most attractive pictures.

…….and to round things off, here’s a press cutting about Britain’s first recorded lady pavement artist Alice Coleman, she wasn’t a suffragette as such but she was certainly a pioneer of “Pavement Art for Woman”

PRESS CUTTING: Manchester Courier and Lancashire General Advertiser; Thursday 3rd July 1913

1913, only 100 years ago…how far have we come, only time will tell; but one thing is certain—the past is another country, they do things differently there.

Written & researched by Philip Battle

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PEARLS CAST BEFORE THE FEET (1843-1989)

24 Monday Dec 2012

Posted by Philip Battle in history, London, USA

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Christmas Screeving

Working the stones at Christmas time was a popular sight on the streets of Britain.

Charles Dickens wrote in his book of CHRISTMAS STORIES (1843) “Our conversation had brought us to a crowd of people, the greater part struggling for a front place from which to see something on the pavement, which proved to be various designs executed in coloured chalks on the pavement stones, lighted by two candles stuck in mud sconces” In this description he is indeed talking about Night Screevers; pavement artists who would take advantage of the short days and long nights leading up to Christmas day and beyond.

Night Screeving 1869: Drawing F Wilfred Lawson, block cut by Joseph Swain © Trustees of the British Museum

People were often more generous during the festive season. The sight of a poor artist working the stones and braving the cold winds and weathering of a bleak December day, often melted the warmth of human kindness. The more talented and topical a screever, the more money that could be made; for many, it was their only source of income, pavement artists where often only a drawing away from the workhouse. Living hand-to-mouth and on their wits, by 1890 over 500 pavement artists were making a FULL TIME living on the streets of London alone; by 1911, this had risen to well over 1000 screevers.

The Christmas of 1862, and an American travel writer in London recorded how he ‘stumbled upon’ a screever “the types of which is found nowhere else in the world” and the work he described as “A string of wondrous pearls cast at the feet of the pavement traveller”

Indeed, Britain, and especially London was the only place anywhere in the world to embrace this unique culture of pavement art. It became a tourist attraction in its own right and printers began to publish postcards and even jigsaw puzzles celebrating the humble screever. One of the first Christmas postcards was by Wildt & Kray Ltd of London; they published this charming card featuring DOGS as pavement artists, standing beside their drawing of a winter snow scene chalked in an oval frame on the pavement, 1904.

Printed in Germany, this card was finished in metallic gold and silver ink.

DOGS- The Pavement Artists: Christmas postcard published in London by Wildt & Kray Ltd. (1904)

In 1936, the Alexander Korda production of the film THINGS TO COME features a pavement artist, drawing the words “A Merry Christmas” on the pavements of the fictional British city of ‘Everytown’ The scene is set on Christmas Eve 1940 and was famous for its prediction of world war 2. It is thought that the writer HG WELLS himself, insisted that this scene be included in the finished film!

THINGS TO COME Move Still: Pavement Artist drawing Merry Christmas

1953 was a very good year for this pavement artist who was snapped on New Year’s Eve in London’s Trafalgar Square, by the Picture Post. It features revellers, admiring the work before moving on to their party, but look how respectful they are not to tread on the art!

Night screeving in Britain goes back to the early 1700’s.

New Year revellers, London's West End are admiring the work of a pavement artist 1953

West End revellers, New Year Eve: 1953

Of course today, Christmas screeving is no longer confined to the streets of London and this photo was published in the Boston Herald in 1989 and features visiting French art student & pavement artist Jean D’ Armerie, working on a seasonal Father Christmas on Washington Street, Boston USA.

John D' Arm working the pavement of Boston USA: Christmas 1989

Jean D’ Armerie working the pavement of Boston USA: Christmas 1989

There are many, many more stories, photos and films featuring Christmas pavement art & artists……these are just a few I’ve found, proving that pavement art is not just a fair weather art.

HAPPY CHRISTMAS!

Written and researched by Philip Battle.

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Collectable Screevers (1919-1938)

04 Tuesday Dec 2012

Posted by Philip Battle in history, London

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Cigarette Cards

Pavement artists have been featured on everything from postcards, posters, records, films and travel magazines, so it comes as no surprise to see tobacco companies getting in on the act.

The hobby of collecting cigarette cards goes back to the 1890s, to a time when cigarettes were wrapped in paper packets. Manufacturers began inserting pieces of card to protect the contents, quickly realising that these would be useful for advertising their products. Soon these were followed by pictorial sequences which would build up in to sets. The object was to encourage repeat purchases and establish brand loyalty, and the subjects chosen were those most likely to appeal to the predominantly male customer base.

Remember this was before the days of cinema, radio or TV let alone the modern technological wonders we now take for granted. Newspapers carried few illustrations, and living standards were much lower. For most smokers, therefore, the cards they collected from their packets were their window on the world, serving to educate, excite or amuse – they were colourful, informative and free!

The 1920s and 1930s are generally regarded as the golden age of cards. Competition was fierce and rival firms were constantly looking for something different to stand out from the crowd. I’ve managed to track down at least three sets of cards from this period that included the pavement artist as part of the collectable sets.

TYPES OF LONDON: Black Cat Cigarettes 1919

“Types of London” published by Carreras Limited 1919. The pavement artist appeared as card number 27 in a complete set of 80 cards, other characters included; Muffin Man, Sweep, Rat Catcher, Lamp Lighter, Sewer Man & Flower Girl to name but a few. Each card was illustrated by renowned First World War artist, Julius M. Price.

Cards were included in packs of Black Cat Cigarettes, which was introduced in 1904 as one of the first machine-made cigarettes manufactured in Britain.

LONDON CHARACTERS: Lambert and Butler 1934

“London Characters” published by Lambert & Butler, and issued by The Imperial Tobacco Company of Great Britain 1934. The pavement artist appeared as card number 20 in a collection of 25. Other characters included; The Rag & Bone man, Organ Grinder, Kerbstone Trader, The Street Entertainer and the Quack Medicine Man.

The illustrator is unknown, but all the cards in the set where produced in this distinctive sepia tone, and included in packs of 10 Lambert & Butler Cigarettes.

IN TOWN TONIGHT: Churchmans Cigarettes 1938

“In Town Tonight” issued by The Imperial Tobacco Company of Great Britain 1938. The Saturday evening radio show ‘In Town Tonight’ which began with the cry of a Piccadilly flower seller in the background as “we stop the roar of London’s traffic.” The recording was the voice of Mrs Emma Baker whose picture appears on card no. 2 in Churchman’s 1938 series of fifty, which takes its title from the programme.

The basis of the show, and the cards, was to meet people from all walks of life who happened to be in London that night. So on these cards we meet the likes of Cyclone Danny Carter, the international stunt rider; John Tussaud, Madame Tussaud’s great grandson; Christina Foyle of booksellers fame; Dante, the master magician; Prince Monolulu, the racing tipster; Captain Slocum, British Airways pilot; and engine-driver William Hagland who apparently used the cigarette card of himself to prove his identity when appearing as a witness in court.

The London pavement artist “REM” appears as card number 35 in a set of 50. Cards where included in packs of 10 Churchman’s Cigarettes

You can read more about REM in my previous blog: Ruined by War (1935)

Written & Researched by Philip Battle

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Keep Smiling Through (1941-1945)

29 Monday Oct 2012

Posted by Philip Battle in cartoons, history, London

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Screevers at War

Britain was at war and austerity was kicking in, but the one thing that Hitler couldn’t stop was the humble chalking artist, who, in spite of everything, carried on regardless.

As well as producing “topical scenes of wartime events,” London screevers, were an affectionate reminder of how things used to be before the war. Of course, Britain was the only country anywhere in the world to have nurtured a pavement art culture; it was so famous that artists had become part of the London tourist industry, with visitors from around the world coming to seek them out.

It is no surprise then, that cartoonists and newspaper editors should feature them in abundance.

The selection of cartoons I’ve chosen here, were published in the London Evening News, between 1941 and 1945.

CAPTION: Justifiable Homicide / “He was murdered by persons unknown at 2.30 this afternoon.”

Smiling Through cartoon: Published 30th April 1941

The cartoonist was Joseph Lee; born in Burley-in-Wharfedale, near Leeds, on 16 May 1901. He won a scholarship to Leeds Grammar School, and showed such a talent for art that, in about 1915, his widowed mother managed to find enough money for him to attend Leeds College of Art. Here his contemporaries included Henry Moore, Barbara Hepworth, and Henry Carr. Lee left the School of Art in 1918, and in 1919 took a correspondence course with Percy V. Bradshaw, sending specimens of his work to London papers. Despite the rejections, his mother found £20 for him to go to London, where he free-lanced until the money ran out. He then found a job in the art department of an advertising agency.

CAPTION: Deputy / “Dad’s been called up.”

Smiling Through cartoon: Published 14th August 1941

In 1934 Lee sent four trial cartoons to the London Evening News, one of which was published on 14 May 1934 as the first of a series entitled “London Laughs.” In these cartoons Lee proved particularly adept at depicting cricket-loving colonels, chubby and slightly vulgar ladies with sparkling jewellery, and dapper City gents. With the outbreak of war in September 1939 the Evening News changed the title of the series to “Smiling Through.” These were also popular, and within a few years Lee was producing two cartoons a day – “Smiling Through” for the Evening News, and another for the Allied Group of provincial papers, published in Manchester, Glasgow, Cardiff, Sheffield, Middlesbrough, and Aberdeen. In May 1945 “Smiling Through” reverted to the original title of “London Laughs.”

CAPTION: Pavement Artist / “His war paintings were remarkably fine but his true genius best expresses itself, now as ever in his passionate feeling for decayed herrings.”

Smiling Through cartoon: Published 16th May 1945

In July 1966, Lee became the longest running daily cartoonist in history, with almost 9,000 “London Laughs” appearing in the Evening News, he retired to Norwich.

Joe Lee died on 15 March 1975.

Written & researched by Philip Battle

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DON’T SHOOT THE SCREEVER! (1920)

18 Tuesday Sep 2012

Posted by Philip Battle in history, Ireland

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Policeman Thrown into the Liffey

Ireland has always been a hotbed of political street art, but in 1920 as Ireland was seeking independence from British rule (Irish War of Independence) pavement artists were not afraid to take on the establishment. At least one artist decided to depict three Irish Republicans on the streets of Dublin that had a near fatal result:

An altercation between a pavement artist and two policemen in plain clothes led to some shooting in Dublin last night. One of the policemen stopped in front of the artist’s pitch and made a derogatory remark about his portraits of De Valera, MacSwiney, and Kevin Barry.

The artist retorted that it would take a machine-gun to persuade him to remove the pictures. The policemen escaped from a hostile crowd that had collected by boarding a tram, but the tram was stopped on O’Connell Bridge by someone who pulled the trolley from the overhead wire. The policeman was pulled off the car and thrown into the Liffey (river), after he had wounded one of the crowd with a shot from his revolver. As a result of this and other shots that were fired two men were admitted to hospital-Michael Burke, seriously wounded, and William Bradshaw, whose injuries were slight.

The Policeman was rescued from the river.

Published in The Guardian, 8^th November 1920

Written & Researched by Philip Battle

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Night Screeving (1851-1916)

25 Saturday Aug 2012

Posted by Philip Battle in history, Liverpool, London

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Pavement Artists of the Night

Some peoples only experience of pavement art through the night is by seeing the 24 hour Madonnari festivals in Italy or the USA. But in Britain, pavement art by night (Night Screeving) has a long tradition, with some reports going back as far as the 1700’s; its origins are lost in time.

Night Screeving 1869: Drawing F Wilfred Lawson, block cut by Joseph Swain © Trustees of the British Museum

The following report from the London Daily News (Sat. 23^rd August 1851); Letter to the Editor: On the Camberwell Fair, London, gives a remarkable insight into night screeving and the world of the 19^th century pavement artist;

…..Night closes in, and then “the fun” begins in earnest-yells, shrieks, loud laughter, shrill whistling, oaths and ribald jests fill the air. Dense clouds of black smoke rise from the steaming mass of human beings, gas, oil, gingerbread, and candles. Swings cut the thick dark atmosphere, in the distance; discordant music clashes in every direction…… Here, too, you will find congregated the expert metropolitan beggars-the maimed sailor, the shirtless man, the disconsolate widow; and, more remarkable than any other class of beggar, the street artist, with the head of the Saviour drawn upon the pavement, and surrounded with candles. Of the utter confusion and abandonment of the scene, only a spectator can have an idea. Here the most abandoned specimens of both sexes meet to make their holiday.

It is safe to assume that this scene, with night (and day) screevers, had been repeated at fairs & festivals across London & Britain, for many years; indeed, the first proper pavements arrived in The Strand, London in 1442, and ‘screevers’ (pavement artists) were first mentioned in parliamentary papers as early as 1651.

The notorious Camberwell Fair was held on Camberwell Green. The first recorded fair was in 1272 and continued to flaunt its animated revelry and apparently disreputable celebrations until finally; in 1855 the fair was abolished and designated a public park four years later.

From the Charles Dickens book CHRISTMAS STORIES (1867) “Our conversation had brought us to a crowd of people, the greater part struggling for a front place from which to see something on the pavement, which proved to be various designs executed in coloured chalks on the pavement stones, lighted by two candles stuck in mud sconces”

Illustration above: A crowd admires a drawing on a paving stone in the street lit by a lamp by an itinerant artist; published in ‘Once a Week’, NS.III 1869 p.34 Wood-engraving

In Victorian England, wintertime was probably the best season to screeve. Many people would give alms from motives of pity, seeing a poor bedraggled pavement artist working on the cold flagstones in the bitter winter. They were always thinly clad, and shivered dramatically, with frequent interruptions of rain and snow….it was during these long dark evenings, that night screevers, with their works illuminated by candles or homemade oil lamps were a common sight on the streets of London and other major cities across Britain.

Liverpool boy pavement artist James Carling; self potrait: Screeving by night cir. 1867

In Liverpool, the boy pavement artist James William Carling, even painted a portrait of himself, screeving outside a Liverpool alehouse by night, lit by candles.

With the introduction of the new-fangled ‘Arc Street Lamps’ on the Thames Embankment; by 1881, this quickly became a favourite spot for night screevers who wished to save on the price of candles, and set themselves up under the shadow of free illuminations. The Embankment became a mecca for screevers, both by night and by day.

Night screevers were a breed apart from their daytime cousins, although some did work by both day and night, some choose only to work at night and their numbers where smaller. They were a sub culture within a subculture, and of course working by night was not without its dangers. Many were the subjects of extortion rackets by criminal gangs, robberies and even murder.

Judges postcard: Bert, one of London's very last Night Screevers 1914

Judges postcard (Detail): Bert, one of London’s very last Night Screevers 1914

1914 and the coming of World War I saw the end of night screeving completely; it carried on until 1916, after which it became outlawed due to the blackout laws in London, and following the first German Zeppelin air-raids of 1915. The arc lights were extinguished at dusk, and it became illegal to light candles……although the odd night screever had been seen periodically in London right up to the 1950’s. This unique culture, of pavement art by night, which had existed for over 150 years in Britian was now gone.

Written & Researched by Philip Battle

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THE COLD WAR Bürgersteig Künstler (1960-1963)

15 Wednesday Aug 2012

Posted by Philip Battle in Germany, history

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Stories from West Germany

During the height of the cold war in 60’s Europe, The artists of West Germany exercised their freedom from communism by going onto the streets as pavement artists. In East Germany, pavement art was forbidden and would most likely end in prison or other such punishment.

But in the west, and particularly along the Kurfurstendamm in Berlin, the Bürgersteig Künstler (pavement artists) were thriving and defiant.

These press cuttings are a tribute to some of the pioneering pavement artists who carried on chalking, while the world held its breath!

Published in New Castle News, USA -27th Oct.1960

Published in the European Stars and Strips- March 2nd 1963

Published in the Hamilton Daily News – April 18th 1962

Published in the Huntingdon Daily News-1963

Published in the European Stars and Strips-19th June 1963

Published in the Pampa Daily News-1963

Researched by Philip Battle

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The Pavement Artist Works in Blood (1942)

13 Sunday May 2012

Posted by Philip Battle in history, USA, world war II

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The Battle for Stalingrad

This powerful illustration shows a pavement artist who has come in the guise of the Grim Reaper. Painting the streets of Stalingrad with the blood of Nazi soldiers

Illustration for the Baltimore Sun – 30th September 1942

The Battle of Stalingrad was a major battle of World War II in which Nazi Germany and its allies fought the Soviet Union for control of the city of Stalingrad (now Volgograd) in south-western Russia. The battle took place between 23 August 1942 and 2 February 1943.

It was the largest battle on the Eastern Front and was marked by brutality and disregard for military and civilian casualties. It is among the bloodiest battles in the history of warfare, with the higher estimates of combined casualties amounting to nearly two million. The heavy losses inflicted on the German army made it a turning point in the war. After the Battle of Stalingrad, German forces never recovered their earlier strength.

This illustration was published in The Baltimore Sun, USA (30^th September 1942)

Researched by Philip Battle

All My Own Work!

~ A history of pavement art!

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