The Ward Lock Guides were one of the standards in their day. The extracts below are from the 24th Edition (revised). That was around 1940 as far as I can make out, and the photos could be earlier.

There are a number of things worth noting in this picture. There are trams rather than busses and the terminus for most of these was at the Pillar. As far as the Pillar itself is concerned, the railings at the top is the waist high version. It was many years later that the whole top platform was caged in after a number of suicides from the top. The controversial Farrell Canopy over the cinema entrance, on the right hand side, four doors up from the bridge, is still in place. The cars look ancient and there is not a lot of traffic. The shot looks like it was taken from the Ballast Office.

The first thing that struck me about this photo was the cars parked in the middle of O'Connell Bridge. Then there was the pleasing perspective of D'Olier St. and Westmoreland St., with Purcell's in the middle, and the Ballast Office balanced by a similar height structure on the seaward side of the bridge. How they ever got permission to build O'Connell Bridge House is beyond me.

The last photo I have chosen is a steam train approaching the Dalkey Tunnel from the south. I'd swear I used to travel to school on a steam train, from 1954 to whenever they were taken off the Westland Row/Bray line. The shot appears to have been taken from the top of Sorrento Park.

And let us not forget that Cholordyne cures all, even life itself in some cases. This stuff was a mixture of Laudanum (opium), Cannabis and Chloroform and was highly addictive. Over time its strength and contents were changed to make it more compatable with longer living.

And, finally, on the back cover, the ubiquitous light meter. These could be quite bulky. This one cost £3/18/6d. Note the circular calculator built into the lid. Once adjusted for the meter reading this showed a range of compatible shutter speed and aperture settings.