Uploaded September 2026 | Updated September 2026, 3 weeks ago
Buckle up for part 2 of our look into how gin sent Georgian London into a full-on meltdown.
Alt text: The reel focuses on William Hogarth's Gin Lane (1751). We video pans right, showing a skeletal man slumped unconscious in the lower corner, his shirt open to reveal his ribs. Beside him are a basket, a bottle and a paper titled “The Downfall of Mrs Gin.” The shot then moves to the centre of the print, where a drunken woman sits on a staircase attempting to breastfeed while her baby slips from her arms and falls over the bannister. The video ends by cutting to Hogarth's contrasting print Beer Street, zooming in on a cheerful, rosy-cheeked chap holding a large tankard of beer with a long pipe jutting from his mouth.
Credit: Gin Lane. Engraving, c. 1751, after W. Hogarth. Wellcome Collection. Reference: 26961i
Credit: Beer Street. Engraving, c. 1751, after W. Hogarth. Wellcome Collection. Reference:26979i
Buckle up for part 2 of our look into how gin sent Georgian London into a full-on meltdown.
Alt text: The reel focuses on William Hogarth's Gin Lane (1751). We video pans right, showing a skeletal man slumped unconscious in the lower corner, his shirt open to reveal his ribs. Beside him are a basket, a bottle and a paper titled “The Downfall of Mrs Gin.” The shot then moves to the centre of the print, where a drunken woman sits on a staircase attempting to breastfeed while her baby slips from her arms and falls over the bannister. The video ends by cutting to Hogarth's contrasting print Beer Street, zooming in on a cheerful, rosy-cheeked chap holding a large tankard of beer with a long pipe jutting from his mouth.
Credit: Gin Lane. Engraving, c. 1751, after W. Hogarth. Wellcome Collection. Reference: 26961i
Credit: Beer Street. Engraving, c. 1751, after W. Hogarth. Wellcome Collection. Reference:26979i
