The Esthameian – 1970 and 1971 editions – editor’s
notes
By
(1964-71; member
of editorial board, 1970 and 1971 and lead editor 1971)
The 1970
and 1971 editions of the Esthameian were different. At the time, it didn’t seem that way; but
looking back now, they were. Changes in typesetting methods enabled greater
freedoms in layout arranging that were really only surpassed when computerised
desktop publishing came into existence 15 years later. If you look – not even
closely! – you will see that the superb layouts possible with today’s computers
(which then were only twinkles in the eyes of Star Trek’s production team) were
not exactly matched; but for their time, the layouts were good.
I
was not as deeply involved in preparing the 1970 edition as I was the 1971 but both
exploited the newfound ability to eschew the use of traditional type and layout
styles brought about by litho offset printing, courtesy of Plaistow Press.
Certainly, I recall spending much time literally cutting and pasting (and not
of the Microsoft variety) the typed text to achieve the layouts I wanted (and
on the whole achieved, although looking at it now, it went a bit awry in places
…). Moreover, I believe 1971’s edition has the distinction of being the only
edition of the Esthameian produced not just in monochrome but with colour
backgrounds on some pages – unfortunately, the scanning process and posting to
the website has not done the colouring full justice.
1971 also has the sadder distinction of
being the first – and last – Boys’ school edition produced in the “post-Joe”
era.
Both
editions are crammed full of “in-jokes” current at the time. The meaning of
some now eludes me although looking through them to prepare this contribution
to the website has brought back memories! My contemporaries will probably “get”
most of them; those who preceded them will probably be able to work many of
them out. If there is enough demand and interest, I could produce a guide to
explain them – or maybe others could contribute their memories too! Those of
you used to the more formal styles of earlier years will appreciate that both
editions were produced at a watershed time: the massive social changes we now
recognise as having occurred in the 1960s (though I suspect that those of us
who lived through them did not realise just how significant they were) were
really beginning to “bite” and the school reflected that as much as anything. At
the time, some of the changes in style seemed to border on the revolutionary,
tame though they are by today’s standards.
It
is astonishing to think it is now nearly one-third of a century since it all
happened; even more, to think that it is now nearly 60 years since “Old Joe”
became Headmaster. Like him or loathe him, there is no denying that his
influence on the school was remarkable – or that it extended to the Education
Service of East Ham and latterly Newham. One wonders what the educational state
of Newham would be if he were still around and influencing the borough now!
There are few schools of the “
I
hope you will enjoy reading the Esthameians of 1970 and
1971: for those
who were there then, happy memories; for those who had by then left, I hope you
will find these products of the school in its final years stimulating!
In
September 1970, the first School Photograph for over six years (the only one
done in my time at the School) was taken – hence the reference to it in 1971’s
Esthameian. Click here for it! – but beware, for
those of you with a dial-up connection, it’s a very large file.
Monday,
28 January 2002
PS
– no apologies for the inclusion of the ads, though they take up extra space –
it’s interesting to see what was available then and compare it with now!
East Ham
Grammar School for Boys
