The lost mansions of the Strand

York Water Gate. London. Photograph by Mike Peel (www.mikepeel.net).

Behold that narrow street which steep descends Whose building to the slimy shore extends Here Arundel’s famed structure rear’d its frame The street alone retains an empty name There Essex’ stately pile adorn’d the shore There Cecil, Bedford, Villiers – now no more. For several centuries, before the Georgians built Mayfair and when Chelsea was…

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‘I’d Rather Be an American Girl at the Savoy Hotel…’ — sponsored content, early-20th Century style

Sponsored content might sound like a development of the internet age, but far from it. On television and in the print media, companies have been managing their brands, shaping their public images and enticing consumers this way for years. Often called advertorials, these pieces blurred the lines between advertising or entertainment and objective journalism. They…

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