London Walks pen and Daily Constitutional Special Correspondent David Tucker writes...
A Tale of Two Leaflets.
(And of two times. Back then, Mrs. Thatcher was prime minister, Ronald Reagan was in the White House, the Soviet Union was still the Soviet Union, the Berlin Wall was still up and running, the Compact Disc was brand new (it was introduced in December 1983), the IRA was setting off bombs in London, the House of Lords was about to let in the television cameras, American football great Aaron Rodgers was in the womb (in Nov. '83), ditto Mark Zuckerberg, Google was 15 years in the future (Larry and Sergey were a couple of 10-year-olds), Leonardo Dicaprio had just celebrated his 9 th birthday, Wayne Rooney wasn't even a glint in his father's eye, well, you get the idea...)
At no little risk of belabouring the obvious: the difference a third of a century makes! Both on the big stage - and the London Walks stage.
Turning to London Walks...
Back then - the Winter of 1983-84 - there were a couple of London Walks on Saturdays, five on Sundays, none on Mondays, one on Tuesdays, one on Wednesdays, one (or none) on Thursdays, and two on Fridays.
And today - well, you know as well - or nearly as well - as I do.
The scan is just the front covers. The 83-84 leaflet (above) was one A4 sheeted printed on both sides and folded to make it an A5 size. B/W of course. Today's leaflet is four A4 sheets printed on both sides and folded to make it a 1/3A4size. Colour of course.
Design? Well, the 83-84 version - no way you're going to say that document was "designed".It really couldn't have been more basic. Was crude but functional - told you what you need to know.
Today's London Walks leaflet still ticks that box of course - tells you what you need to know. But crude, primitive it ain't. Designed it is.
And cost? Well, in real terms certainly in the same range. If anything, a London Walk will, in real terms, be a better bargain today than it was back then. But you can see what inflation's done to the £ since the early 80s.
And on that note, I've got to get some of Summer 2015 London Walks leaflets down to the Café in the Crypt at St. Martin in the Fields. Today's curtain up on the Summer 2015 London Walks programme.
Let alone our - Mary's and my - 25 th anniversary at the helm of the Good Ship London Walks.