Marred by two World Wars, the first half of the 20th Century is often defined in British History by its relationship to conflict and trauma. Yet, sandwiched between two cataclysmic moments of rupture, the 1920s was a brief moment of reprieve: this is the era of the Bright Young Things - the advent of the modern day Cult of Celebrity.
World War One: ‘the war to end all wars’. As the final wisps of smoke rose from bayonets and the birds returned singing to The Somme, a new Golden Era of British History was dawning. For the many returning home with psychological and physical scars of battle,
by N Hamilton Second in English
this sense of optimism about the future was hard to achieve, but for the children of the Aristocracy, too young to have fought and too rich to be hampered by the economic aftermath, this was a time to revel in what the French call: Joie de Vivre. Perhaps spurred on by a new found, postwar independence, young, ‘well-bred’ women in London started to organise so-called ‘Treasure Hunts’ around the capital. They would use public transport to traverse the city in search of humorous, often lewd items of ‘treasure’, running, shouting and generally making themselves known to the general public. Pretty soon men started to join in, and with the men, came the cars roaring through leafy 19
