Vintage photos show what London looked like 100 years ago
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- A century ago, London was a bustling city, filled with culture and beautiful architecture.
- Poverty, however, remained an issue, with slum dwellings in parts of the city.
- Take a look at what life was like in London in the 1920s.
Today, London is a bustling, metropolitan city, and the same could be said about the city 100 years ago.
Like today, London was known for its attractions such as Piccadilly Circus, Buckingham Palace, and the River Thames.
But many photos show parts of the city that are unrecognizable now.
From the glamorous fashion all the way to the slum dwellings, take a look at these photos from 1920s London to see how much life has changed.
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In the early 1800s, the square was meant to be a cultural center of the city, and it officially got its name in 1830 after several transformations, according to the Greater London Authority.
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The fountains were built in 1845.
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While Oxford Street remains lined with stores and restaurants, it has recently been pedestrianized. As of October, vehicles are no longer permitted to enter between Orchard Street and Great Portland Street.
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If you look closely, you can see the double-decker buses that are still popular today.
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Piccadilly Circus was created in 1819, and by 1920, the area had become a popular crossroads. Today, it has become a tourist destination and a must-see when visiting London.
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Today, there are 35 bridges across the River Thames.
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This image shows men in 1920 crossing a bridge over the River Thames on a windy day.
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The London Underground — also known as the Tube — was the first subway system in the world, opening in 1863.
Despite its reputation among locals these days for being uncomfortably warm, 100 years ago, the London Underground was advertised as "cooler below" during the summer.
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These bikes belonged to employees at Somerset House, which overlooks the Thames.
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In August 1924, the British Air Ministry announced the establishment of 10 flying clubs in response to the development of the light airplane for the Lympne trials.
In December of that year, the Royal Aero Club was selected to form the first club in the London District.
By 1928, there were 21 clubs in operation, more than 3,000 members, and more than 12,000 hours of flight time logged during the year, according to General Aviation News.
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Today, most people know the waterfront of the River Thames to be a lively place. Most notably, there is the London Eye, which is a 443-foot Ferris wheel, but it wasn't built until 1999.
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The construction of the Houses of Parliament began in 1837.
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Here, the politicians showcased clothing for upper-class men, which included suits, hats, and walking sticks.
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Buckingham Palace was completed in 1705 and has undergone some renovations since. Today, the palace is the official headquarters for the royal family.
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At the time, King George V was sitting on the throne of England. He was King Charles' great-grandfather.
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Since 1735, 10 Downing Street has acted as the home and office for the British prime minister.
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Stanley Baldwin was the leader of the Conservative Party and was in office three times: between 1923 and 1924, 1924 and 1929, and 1935 and 1937.
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During World War I, women went to work in place of men and experienced newfound freedoms. In response, a new woman emerged: the flapper. These women cut their hair short, wore loose clothing, and were regarded as reckless, according to Historic UK.
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The trends of 1920s fashion saw women in shorter, simpler dresses and loose-fitting garments, while men wore more casual suits, according to the Museum of London.
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It wasn't until 1928 that women over 21 were finally given the same voting rights as men, increasing the number of women eligible to vote to 15 million, according to the UK Parliament.
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The late 19th and early 20th centuries led to a booming workforce of "hello girls," or female switchboard operators who connected calls at central telephone exchanges.
However, the introduction of automatic telephone exchanges allowed callers to dial numbers, as shown above, leading to the disappearance of one of the first female workforces in the UK, according to the Science Museum.
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In the UK, a lido refers to a public outdoor pool. While there was a boom in lidos in London in the 1930s, some had already been built in the 1910s and 1920s, such as the Chiswick Baths and the Tooting Bec Lido, according to the London Museum.
The Chiswick Baths, which opened in 1910, were seen as a place for "promoting freedom, frolicking, and fun," according to the British Film Institute.
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The 1920s are notable for the emergence of dance halls, or "palais de danse," with the first being the Hammersmith Palais, according to research by James Nott, a historian of twentieth-century British history.
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Football has long been a popular sport in England.
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Before the government began slum clearance in the 1930s, certain parts of London were characterized by slum housing, with people living in densely packed, impoverished conditions.