View report page

clean air, clean food, nuisance abatement, rodent and pest control, etc.
Reference to plate No.1 illustrates how this was achieved by means of photographs,
cutouts and captions. At this point visitors (having been conducted round the County
stands) were introduced to a member of the public health inspectorate, who explained the
message the display panel meant to convey. It was pointed out that environmental sanitation
could be defined broadly as the control of all those factors in man's physical environment
which exercise a deleterious effect on his physical development, health and survival,
and that this definition summed up the responsibilities of the local sanitary authority. The
conditions in which people live, work and play, the purity of their food and drink and of
the air they breathe have considerable influence on their health and well-being, and the
aim of the environmental health services is to control or eliminate those factors which
are, or may be, harmful. The exhibits which followed this general introduction to the environmental
health services are described hereunder.
STAND No.11 HOME SAFETY
With the co-operation of the County Medical Officer of Health this exhibit took the
form of a castle, the analogy being that an Englishman's home is his castle but has he a
fifth column within, the fifth column being does he take all precautions against accidents
in the home.
STAND No.12 FIFTY YEARS OF LEYTON HEALTH
This exhibit showed 50 years" progress in Leyton's health, and the vital statistics
of 1906, together with photographs of Leyton in that period side by side with similar statistics
for 50 years later, viz. 1956- made quite an interesting comparison of the progress
that has taken place during the lives of many visitors to the Exhibition.
STANDS Nos.13 and 14 DIARY OF A PUBLIC HEALTH INSPECTOR PLATES Nos.2 & 3
The lead in to this exhibit took the form of a bigger-than life silhouette (Plate
No.2) flanked on each side by display panels setting out in broad outline the conditions
of appointment statutory qualifications, duties and responsibilities of a Public Health
Inspector. This enigmatic figure aroused a great deal of comment. It was not long before
it was dubbed "the man in black", "the third man", etc., which,, of course was just what
was anticipated, for this silhouette was intended to be a gimmick designed to catch the
public eye it certainly had the desired effect of attracting attention and thereby
stimulating interest in the exhibit which followed Diary of a Public Health Inspector
(Plate No.3) which was devoted to unveiling the mystery and introducing the Inspector to
the public he serves. The Public Health Inspector performs a wide variety of duties in the
field of environmental hygiene and is mainly concerned with the repair, closure and demolition
of unfit houses, slum clearance, drainage, nuisance abatement, rodent and insect
pest control, diseases of animals, air pollution and smoke abatement, shops, factories
places of public entertainment, water supply, food administration (including inspection
condemnation and sampling of meat and other foods, inspection of food premises, and food
hygiene) registration and licensing of certain types of premises and/or persons ice
cream milk, hairdressers, pet animals, rag flock, food hawkers, shell-fish vendors and
slaughtermen. Much thought was given to the problem of featuring this wide range of
activity in a manner comprehensible to the lay-man as well as to the student of public
health. It was finally decided to take advantage of the fact that a Public Health Inspector
is required by law to keep a daily record of his inspections and of the action taken
in the execution of his duties. In furtherance of this, a greatly enlarged reproduction
of an Inspector's diary (open at a page) 5'8' high and 5.0" wide, was constructed. By relating
the entries in the diary to photographs, captions, models, equipment and other
material exhibits , it was possible to record in handwriting legible from a distance of
6'0' some 35 different facets of an Inspector's work. The photographs showed the Leyton
Inspectorate performing each function
(19)