Broadside, frost-fair paper, frost-fair keepsake

Winter frost fairs were held annually on the frozen Thames from the late 16th century. Alongside stalls selling food and drink, fair ground rides and skittle alleys printers set up printing presses and sold souvenirs and personalised keepsakes for a few pennies. Names and messages were printed within pre-set decorative borders. By 1814 there were up to ten printing presses operating at the fair printing not only mementoes and keepsakes but also cards, ballads and leaflets. That year severe frosts and heavy falls of snow rendered the river unnavigable and the public roads impassable for several days. At the beginning of February 1814, when this keepsake was printed the river was completely blocked with ice, between London and Blackfriars bridges, enabling the fair to remain for four days.