Come Dancing

Conservation Centre
20 December 2003 - 1 February 2004

The 20th century is universally regarded as a time of great social, technological and economic change. Between the 1930s & 1970s Britain experienced sweeping changes across its urban landscape, manufacturing industry and workforce.

During this period, Stewart Bale Ltd, then one of the country's leading commercial photographic companies, recorded new and exciting developments in industry, manufacture, architecture and commerce. Their photographs captured the defining mood of the period, depicting generations at work and at play. Although mainly confined to the North-West of England, the images reflect mid-20th century Britain.

The company is no longer in existence. National Museums Liverpool acquired this important visual archive in 1986. The images exhibited here are just a small fraction of the collection. They were never intended for public display and many have not been seen since they were first photographed. Thousands more remain unseen in dusty boxes, some containing broken or disintegrating negatives. The slow and costly process of evaluation, conservation, cataloguing and storage, is now underway.

'Come Dancing' is one of a series of small exhibitions highlighting the conservation of our collections. It features dance halls, bands and work social events from the 1930s to the 1960s. Drawn from this superb archive, National Museums Liverpool hopes that you will enjoy this small taste of the photographic legacy of Stewart Bale.

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