Pea soup fog: Difference between revisions
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In Chapter 3 of [[Charles Dickens]]'s ''[[Bleak House]]'' (1852), when Esther arrives in London, she asks of the person meeting her "whether there was a great fire anywhere? For the streets were so full of dense brown smoke that scarcely anything was to be seen. 'O, dear no, miss,' he said. 'This is a London particular.' I had never heard of such a thing. 'A fog, miss,' said the young gentleman." |
In Chapter 3 of [[Charles Dickens]]'s ''[[Bleak House]]'' (1852), when Esther arrives in London, she asks of the person meeting her "whether there was a great fire anywhere? For the streets were so full of dense brown smoke that scarcely anything was to be seen. 'O, dear no, miss,' he said. 'This is a London particular.' I had never heard of such a thing. 'A fog, miss,' said the young gentleman." |
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Contrary to popular impression, the [[Arthur Conan Doyle]] [[Sherlock Holmes]] stories contain only a handful of references to London fogs, and the phrase "pea-soup" is not used. ''[[A Study in Scarlet]]'' (1887) mentions that "a dun-coloured veil hung over the house-tops." ''[[The Adventure of the Bruce-Partington Plans]]'' (1912) describes "a dense yellow fog" that has settled down over London, and later notes "a greasy, heavy brown swirl still drifting past us and condensing in oily drops on the windowpane". |
Contrary to popular impression, the [[Arthur Conan Doyle]] [[Sherlock Holmes]] stories contain only a handful of references to London fogs, and the phrase "pea-soup" is not used. ''[[A Study in Scarlet]]'' (1887) mentions that "a dun-coloured veil hung over the house-tops." ''[[The Adventure of the Bruce-Partington Plans]]'' (1912) describes "a dense yellow fog" that has settled down over London, and later notes "a greasy, heavy brown swirl still drifting past us and condensing in oily drops on the windowpane". In [[The Sign of Four]], Holmes soliliquises; "What else is there to live for? Stand at the window here. Was ever such a dreary, dismal, unprofitable world? See how the yellow fog swirls down the street and drifts across the dun-coloured houses.", and, later; "...the day had been a dreary one, and a dense drizzly fog lay low upon the great city. Mud-coloured clouds hung over the muddy streets." |
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In the phrase "pea-soup fog," the implied comparison may have been to ''yellow'' pea soup: "...the yellow fog hung so thick and heavy in the streets of London that the lamps were lighted" ([[Frances Hodgson Burnett]], ''[[A Little Princess]]'', 1892); "The yellow fog that rubs its back upon the window-panes," ([[T. S. Eliot]], ''[[The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock]]'', 1917); "London had been reeking in a green-yellow fog" ([[Winston Churchill]], ''A Traveller in War-Time'', 1918); "the brown fog of a winter dawn" ([[T. S. Eliot]], ''[[The Waste Land]]'', 1922); "a faint yellow fog" ([[Stella Benson]], ''This is the End''). Inez Haynes Irwin, writing in ''The Californiacs'' (1921), praises what was then the superior quality of California fog, saying it is "Not distilled from pea soup like the London fogs; moist air-gauzes rather, pearl-touched and glimmering." |
In the phrase "pea-soup fog," the implied comparison may have been to ''yellow'' pea soup: "...the yellow fog hung so thick and heavy in the streets of London that the lamps were lighted" ([[Frances Hodgson Burnett]], ''[[A Little Princess]]'', 1892); "The yellow fog that rubs its back upon the window-panes," ([[T. S. Eliot]], ''[[The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock]]'', 1917); "London had been reeking in a green-yellow fog" ([[Winston Churchill]], ''A Traveller in War-Time'', 1918); "the brown fog of a winter dawn" ([[T. S. Eliot]], ''[[The Waste Land]]'', 1922); "a faint yellow fog" ([[Stella Benson]], ''This is the End''). Inez Haynes Irwin, writing in ''The Californiacs'' (1921), praises what was then the superior quality of California fog, saying it is "Not distilled from pea soup like the London fogs; moist air-gauzes rather, pearl-touched and glimmering." |
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Revision as of 13:27, 17 June 2015
Pea soup, or a pea souper, also known as a black fog or killer fog, is a very thick and often yellowish, greenish, or blackish smog caused by air pollution that contains soot particulates and the poisonous gas sulfur dioxide. This very thick smog occurs in cities and is derived from the smoke given off by the burning of soft coal for home heating and in industrial processes. Smog of this intensity is often lethal to vulnerable people such as the elderly, the very young and those with respiratory problems.
London
Pea soup fog was once prevalent in UK cities, especially London, where the smoke from millions of chimneys combined with the mists and fogs of the Thames valley. The result was commonly known as a London particular or London fog, which then, in a reversal of the idiom, became the name for a thick pea and ham soup.[1]
An 1871 New York Times article refers to "London, particularly, where the population are periodically submerged in a fog of the consistency of pea soup..." The fogs caused large numbers of deaths from respiratory problems.[2]
Clean Air Act
The worst recorded instance was the Great Smog of 1952, when 4,000 additional deaths were reported in the city over a couple of days, leading to the passage of the Clean Air Act 1956, which banned the use of coal for domestic fires in urban areas.[2] The overall death toll from that incident is now believed to be around 12,000.[3]
Cultural references
In Chapter XXXIV of Thomas Love Peacock's Melincourt (1817), the Reverend Mr. Portpipe tells his visitors that he has "good ale and a few bottles of London Particular." A footnote by David Garnett, editor of the 1948 edition, explains that this is "a Madeira wine imported for the London market and hence, from its colour, a London fog."
In Chapter 3 of Charles Dickens's Bleak House (1852), when Esther arrives in London, she asks of the person meeting her "whether there was a great fire anywhere? For the streets were so full of dense brown smoke that scarcely anything was to be seen. 'O, dear no, miss,' he said. 'This is a London particular.' I had never heard of such a thing. 'A fog, miss,' said the young gentleman."
Contrary to popular impression, the Arthur Conan Doyle Sherlock Holmes stories contain only a handful of references to London fogs, and the phrase "pea-soup" is not used. A Study in Scarlet (1887) mentions that "a dun-coloured veil hung over the house-tops." The Adventure of the Bruce-Partington Plans (1912) describes "a dense yellow fog" that has settled down over London, and later notes "a greasy, heavy brown swirl still drifting past us and condensing in oily drops on the windowpane". In The Sign of Four, Holmes soliliquises; "What else is there to live for? Stand at the window here. Was ever such a dreary, dismal, unprofitable world? See how the yellow fog swirls down the street and drifts across the dun-coloured houses.", and, later; "...the day had been a dreary one, and a dense drizzly fog lay low upon the great city. Mud-coloured clouds hung over the muddy streets."
In the phrase "pea-soup fog," the implied comparison may have been to yellow pea soup: "...the yellow fog hung so thick and heavy in the streets of London that the lamps were lighted" (Frances Hodgson Burnett, A Little Princess, 1892); "The yellow fog that rubs its back upon the window-panes," (T. S. Eliot, The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock, 1917); "London had been reeking in a green-yellow fog" (Winston Churchill, A Traveller in War-Time, 1918); "the brown fog of a winter dawn" (T. S. Eliot, The Waste Land, 1922); "a faint yellow fog" (Stella Benson, This is the End). Inez Haynes Irwin, writing in The Californiacs (1921), praises what was then the superior quality of California fog, saying it is "Not distilled from pea soup like the London fogs; moist air-gauzes rather, pearl-touched and glimmering."
In the animated television Christmas feature Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (1964), the characters Rudolph, Hermey and Yukon Cornelius are travelling through a thick fog when the following exchange takes place: Yukon Cornelius: "This fog's as thick as peanut butter!" Hermey: "You mean pea soup." Yukon Cornelius: "You eat what you like, and I'll eat what I like!"
The second chapter of the book The Woman in Black (1983) by Susan Hill is titled "A London Particular" and mentions the thick, dense fog of London, which Arthur Kipps witnesses on his journey to work at his solicitors' office.
In the book Un Lun Dun (2007) by China Miéville, the London Fog takes on the role of villain: the "Smog" of UnLondon. The Clean Air Act is misheard as the Klinneract.
See also
- Fog Investigation and Dispersal Operation (FIDO) – an aircraft landing aid intended to allow safe flying during the extremes of 'Pea souper' fog
References
- New York Times, April 2, 1871, pg. 3: "London... fog the consistency of pea-soup..."
- ^ Jo Swinnerton (2004-10-01). The London Companion. ISBN 978-1-86105-799-0Template:Inconsistent citations
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: postscript (link) - ^ a b Fouquet, Roger; et al. (June 2001). External Cost and Environmental Policy in the UK and the EU (PDF). Imperial College Centre for Energy Policy and Technology. p. 18. ISBN 1-903144-02-7.
{{cite book}}: Explicit use of et al. in:|author=(help) - ^ Bell, Michelle L.; Michelle L. Bell; Devra L. Davis; Tony Fletcher (January 2004). "A retrospective assessment of mortality from the London smog episode of 1952: the role of influenza and pollution". Environ Health Perspect. 112 (1): 6–8. doi:10.1289/ehp.6539. PMC 1241789. PMID 14698923.