Albert Meltzer Tea Party

Albert Meltzer Tea Party

"123 Tollington Park, London (late ‘60s?): one of Albert Meltzer’s memorable tea parties with many of his old friends, including: left Anne Blume’, the smiling lady on the left, the partner of Ted Kavanagh, publisher of Cuddons’ Cosmoplitan Review (and co-owner with Albert of the Wooden Shoe Bookshop). Apart from being a Dada aficionado, Anna also earned a crust for a time as a lady’s maid in a Soho brothel; Albert is directly behind her (you can just see his spectacles) and the lady laughing heartily to his left is Bronia McDonald who wrote and published mimeographed erotica for 10 shillings a page (this was, after all, the 1950s and early 1960s) another sideline was distributing vintage 8mm and 16mm ‘stag’ porn’. Bronia’s partner was Desmond (‘Des’) McDonald, a professional drama busker who entertained West End Theatre queues with his stentorian Shakespeare monologues and the good-humoured banter of a snake oil salesman. Mac and Bronia lived in St Stephen’s Gardens in Notting Hill and had been active in the local campaign against West London racketeer Peter Rachman. To Bronia’s left, standing with the ubiquitous fag in his hand, is Albert’s friend and fellow printworker, Joe Thomas, a lifelong trade union activist and committed supporter of the Anton Pannekoek inspired Movement for Workers’ Councils http://www.revolutionaryhistory.co.uk/.../obituaries/joe.htm
Unfortunately I can’t for the life of me remember the names of the man and woman in the background …"

Stuart Christie, July 2011

Stuart Christie

Late 1960s/early 70s