When We Were Young
15 August – 23 November 2023
Tower Hamlets Local History Library & Archives, London E1
![There are lines of laundy in the entrance to the archives, containing images of children in the East London back streets of the 1930s to 1950s.](https://emilypeasgood.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/32-1200x800.jpg)
Materials
White clothes and sheets from local charity shops, washing line, washing baskets, dolly pegs, clothes props, carbolic soap, wind-up HMV Gramophone, 78 records 'Rita Marlow: My Childhood Days' and Mother Goose for Jewish Children, apple crates, washing baskets and children's toys (tiddlywinks, dominoes, 'East Ham' London bus, washing machine).
Speakers by Ultrasonic Audio, custom audio player by Emily Peasgood, scent diffusers by Aroma Prime.
Source Audio: LCS23, LCS62, LCS63, LCS64, LCS65, LCS69, LCS83, LCS84, LCS94, LCS95, LCS104, LCS113.
Commissioner
When We Were Young was curated by Tamsin Bookey and Nadia Valman and commissioned by Tower Hamlets Local History Library and Archives, and Queen Mary University.
Creative Team
When We Were Young was part of the exhibition Everything Is Different, Nothing Has Changed, alongside sound works by Alastair Levy and Syma Tariq.
Sheet printing by Puck Studio. Installation team: Theresa Smith of Mooch and Sam Slattery.
Voice actors: Alexander Ferguson, Elodie Arbiso, May Ducker-Harkins and Uthman Choudhury.
![There are lines of laundy in the entrance to the archives, containing images of children in the East London back streets of the 1930s to 1950s.](https://emilypeasgood.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/41-1200x800.jpg)
![There are lines of laundy in the entrance to the archives, containing images of children in the East London back streets of the 1930s to 1950s.](https://emilypeasgood.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/36-1200x800.jpg)
![There are lines of laundy in the entrance to the archives, containing images of children in the East London back streets of the 1930s to 1950s.](https://emilypeasgood.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/32-1200x800.jpg)
![There are lines of laundy in the entrance to the archives, containing images of children in the East London back streets of the 1930s to 1950s.](https://emilypeasgood.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/31-1200x800.jpg)
![There are lines of laundy in the entrance to the archives, containing images of children in the East London back streets of the 1930s to 1950s.](https://emilypeasgood.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/30-1-1200x800.jpg)
![3 apple crates are placed underneath lines of laundy. A red diecast toy London bus says 'East Ham' on the destination display above the window.](https://emilypeasgood.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/IMG_3586-900x1200.jpg)
![A piece of laundry is hanging and has been written on by a member of public. It says: "I dreamt of coming to London. Telling my parents I'm gonna make my dream come true. 10 years later, I'm here. I used to dance unbashedly in front of everyone. I used to play classical music".](https://emilypeasgood.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/IMG_3584-900x1200.jpg)
![There are lines of laundy in the entrance to the archives, containing images of children in the East London back streets of the 1930s to 1950s.](https://emilypeasgood.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/IMG_3579-900x1200.jpg)
![There are lines of laundy in the entrance to the archives, containing images of children in the East London back streets of the 1930s to 1950s.](https://emilypeasgood.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/IMG_3576-900x1200.jpg)
![There are lines of laundy in the entrance to the archives, containing images of children in the East London back streets of the 1930s to 1950s.](https://emilypeasgood.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/36-low-res-1200x800.jpg)
![A piece of laundry is hanging and has been written on by a member of public. It says: "When I was young, I raced my cassette tapes along the hallway. Each song would propel the tape forward proportional to my love. I loved almost every song. I couldn't separate the strings from the drums, the woodwind from the bass. All I heard was one single stream of magic. Aural cake on my tapes, two-way love connection. Beyond Saturday night, dancing with danger, black and white in a grey world. The turning."](https://emilypeasgood.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/IMG_1507-900x1200.jpg)
![Two boys sit at a table surrounded by lines of laundy, writing on a piece of laundry to hang on one of the washing lines.](https://emilypeasgood.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/IMG_0113-900x1200.jpg)
![A red diecast toy London bus says 'East Ham' on the destination display above the window.](https://emilypeasgood.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/IMG_1523-900x1200.jpg)
![There are lines of laundy in the entrance to the archives, containing images of children in the East London back streets of the 1930s to 1950s.](https://emilypeasgood.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/IMG_1517-900x1200.jpg)
![There are lines of laundy in the entrance to the archives, containing images of children in the East London back streets of the 1930s to 1950s.](https://emilypeasgood.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/IMG_1486-900x1200.jpg)
![There are lines of laundy in the entrance to the archives, containing images of children in the East London back streets of the 1930s to 1950s.](https://emilypeasgood.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/IMG_1482-900x1200.jpg)
![A man holds up a piece of laundy he has written on. It shows a picture of a cuddly rabbit toy and says "Bunsi the rabbit" underneath.](https://emilypeasgood.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/IMG_1475-900x1200.jpg)
![A woman and her daughter sit in front of a wind-up Gramophone on a small picknick table, winding it up.](https://emilypeasgood.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/IMG_0084-900x1200.jpg)
![A man is sitting at a table, surrounded by lines of laundy, writing one of his own memories on a piece of laundy.](https://emilypeasgood.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/IMG_0080-900x1200.jpg)
![A man is sitting at a table, surrounded by lines of laundy, writing one of his own memories on a piece of laundy.](https://emilypeasgood.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/IMG_0073-900x1200.jpg)
![There are lines of laundy in the entrance to the archives, containing images of children in the East London back streets of the 1930s to 1950s.](https://emilypeasgood.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/IMG_9724-1200x900.jpg)
![](https://emilypeasgood.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/63.16-Library-and-archives-audio-exhibition-insta-V1_.jpg)