A video tour of 1950’s London’s swingin’ coffee bars

Contrary to popular belief, tea is not the only popular beverage served in London. In fact, ever since the first Italian espresso machine crash landed in England in 1952, London has had a swinging coffee culture. Now thanks to the vintage documentary reel above, you can take your own tour back in time to the beginnings of London’s fledgling coffee shop scene.

Hit play and enter a time when coffee was the king of cool, inside a smoky, bohemian coffee bar, packed to the rafters with young Londoners gleefully puffing on cigarettes as a lively soundtrack of jazz wafts above them. It’s as much a tour of the city’s coffee bars as it is an intriguing artifact of a London that has moved on to trendier pursuits and hangouts. This morning, go grab yourself another cup off the pot and settle in for an intriguing cross-section of life in 1950’s London.

Woman crashes her car, saves her morning coffee

I just want to assure all of you that this is not a story about me. I am not saying “this would never, ever happen to me” but since I don’t have a car here in the US, I don’t have to make those hard choices: a latte or the front windshield? Hmm, tough.

A 22-year old woman from Oakland, California may have landed in the waters of the Oakland Estuary after losing control of her car on Thursday, but she never lost her grip on her morning coffee, APP writes. She was apparently reaching for her cell phone around 6 a.m. when the car sped out of control and became lodged under a home on stilts on the water.

She got out of the car uninjured and holding her coffee cup. This woman should be the next Bond girl!

[via APP]

Photo: foebrian, Flickr

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