The blog for the Borthwick Institute for Archives at the University of York.
Written by Kerstin Doble, Project Curator: Who Were the Aero Girls? Nearly a year after the search for the real life Rowntree Aero Girls began, I am delighted to announce the launch of a website dedicated to the remarkable stories of the women and men behind this collection of postwar paintings. As many as 40 … Continue reading New website reveals the story of the lost Aero Girls (and boys)
Written by Alexandra Medcalf Like most archives, although most of our holdings are manuscripts on parchment or paper, bound into volumes and loose leaf, we do have other objects in our strong-rooms. This painting shows people in the grounds of the Retreat, York, in the late nineteenth century. The Retreat was, and is, a psychiatric … Continue reading George Isaac Sidebottom: Spot the Cat
Written by Kerstin Doble, National Archives Trainee. Earlier this year I introduced you to Rowntree’s Aero Girls paintings, which were commissioned for use in Aero chocolate advertising in print and television from 1951 to 1957. Since then we’ve managed to track down the only living painter who worked on the 1950s campaign, Frederick Deane RP, … Continue reading Who’s that Girl? Who were the Aero Girls?
Written by Kerstin Doble, National Archives Trainee. Paintings in an archive? I was surprised to find 17 portraits of young women nestling in the Rowntree company archive here at the Borthwick Institute. I previously worked for Tate Gallery, organising art exhibitions, and joined the archives sector expecting to be immersed in a landscape of mostly … Continue reading Anna, Alice, Wendy… introducing the Aero Girls