Printed Ephemera
Our printed ephemera collection offer a distinctive interpretation of London’s social and cultural history through 150,000 ‘throw-away’ items
Blogs-And-Stories
Six things you didn’t know about executions in London
London’s courts condemned more people to die than the rest of England, and six facts you may not know
The Great Plague of 1665
An estimated 100,000 people died in London’s last major plague epidemic
How Charles Booth mapped London poverty
And showed the complexity of social class in the late 19th century
Why are you touching that object without gloves?
All you need to know about glove-wearing while handling objects at London Museum
‘We Are What We Eat’: An exploration of food in prison
Members of the Prison Art Group at HMP Pentonville present an honest account of prison food and call for change
Embroidered memories: The WWI silk postcard industry
How these hand-embroidered WWI silk postcards are beautiful examples of sentimentality and wartime industry
Suffragettes’ secret prison diaries: History on toilet paper
Resourceful and heroic – how incarcerated Suffragettes used toilet paper
John Hargrave: Leader of the Kibbo Kift
Camp out, help others, work for world peace: Hargrave’s youth movement aimed for a better society
Cats in the London collection: A feline history
We delve into our collections to find historical evidence of cats living in London
Jumbo the Elephant
How a 19th-century animal celebrity gave us a massive new word
London’s public executions
Hung, drawn and quartered. Beheaded, boiled or burned
Calling all ravers! Memories of London’s rave nights
Ready to relive the beat? Two Londoners take a nostalgic trip down 1990s rave culture
Hidden stories behind everyday tickets
The power of ephemera. How discarded tickets are testament to London's history
London’s dark public execution history in 5 objects
A look at 700 years of public executions in London through five objects
Ghosts & ghouls of London’s Docklands
Two stories of hauntings and horror in 19th-century London
Marvellous moustaches & brilliant beards from the London Collection
Need ideas for your Movember look?
The origins of Notting Hill Carnival
London’s biggest street festival is a celebration of Caribbean culture and Black identity
Why are these Victorian Christmas cards so weird?
Musical cats. Violent clowns. Friendly flies. Greetings cards looked a little different in the 1800s