Description:Lantern slide containing a copy of one of Blake's postcards. The card shows a smoke filled industrial landscape taken in the Potteries with the commentary "O beautiful my country." Photographed by William Blake.
Despite an obvious pride in many of the aspects of the pottery industry Blake also demonstrates an awareness of issues like pollution, environment and working condiditons. The sarcastic caption on this postcard illustrates just this.
This lantern slide appears to be one of a group used for a presentation or slide show by Blake entitled “Staffordshire Pottery.”
A small folder containing approximately sixty reader cards was found in the same box as the slides. The cards contain information about the images. The card that appears to correspond to this slide reads;
"A Pottery Town. Note the characteristic bottle shaped ovens & kilns."