Category: Gems of the Archive

Artist, soldier, criminal, monk

This sketch was drawn by the eccentric and enigmatic Karl Wood, only two years before he was sent to prison....

Tilting at windmills

“Those over there are not giants but windmills.” You’ve probably heard the common phrase ’tilting at windmills’, which, as the...

Feeding the nation

This flour was Hitler’s secret weapon. This Gem is a photograph of two flour bags, which were produced under Government...

Homeland health

Purity, Quality and Merit. This Gem is a Certificate of Excellence, issued by the Royal Institution of Public Health and...

Letting the cat out of the bag

Meet Biddy who worked for Bemis Bags for 79 years. Introduced as a company trademark in the 1880s for Bemis...

Nice rice

Mill don’t just grind flour. This is a donkey-powered rice mill in China. It makes use of an Edge Runner Stone rather...

The life-giving camel

Mills come in all shapes and sizes: sometimes they even come with a camel. This postcard shows a camel-driven Saqiya...

Small scale

This curious contraption is a chondrometer and is used for measuring the quality of grain. This unusual Gem is a...

Theatre of machines

One of the oldest books in our collection, a guide for centuries of millwrights. This fascinating Gem is an enormous...

Measure for measure

‘Safe as a thief in a mill.’ Millers have historically had a terrible reputation. Old sayings such as ‘honest millers...

Catgerories