Soho is an area of the City of Westminster, part of the West End of London. Originally a fashionable district for the aristocracy, it has been one of the main entertainment districts in the capital since the 19th century.

Before the capital was blighted by the Blitz, London of the 1930s was a juxtaposition of old and new. The city was in the process of switching to electric street lights.
While many of the names remain the same, a series of eye-opening snaps has shed light on daily life in a decade on the cusp of change.

Berwick street market in Soho, London, with stalls selling fruit and vegetables and fur coats and stoles, circa 1930. (Getty Images)

Pedestrians crossing Great Windmill Street, Soho, London in 1930. (Getty Images)

A view of Greek Street in 1932. (PA Archive/PA Images)

Interior of a public house in London’s Soho in 1933. (Getty Images)

Berwick Street Market in Soho, London in 1933. (Getty Images)

A fancy dress party at a night club in Gerrard Street, London, circa 1935. (Getty Images)

London motorists in an MG M-type receive a ticket from a traffic policeman on the corner of Wardour Street, circa 1935. (Getty Images)

Archer St, Soho, London musicians are waiting to see if there is any work available in 1935. (Getty Images)

A hosiery stall in Berwick Street market, London, circa 1935. (Getty Images)

Old Compton Street, Soho, London at night in 1936. (Getty Images)

A small crowd in a street in Soho, London watch a man trying to extract himself from chains, circa 1937. (Getty Images)

Victor Berlemont, a French publican working in an establishment of London’s Soho, circa 1939. (Getty Images)