The 20th Century
Louis Wain - 'A Teaparty at Napsbury' (1930s).
Two great building booms, in the 1930s and 1950s, changed St Albans enormously and the town more than doubled in size.
With a mix of light industry, shops and markets, St Albans remained prosperous throughout the difficult 20th century and two world wars, when many local factories went over to war production and the nearby DeHavilland works designed the famous Mosquito bomber.
See nostalgic household objects from the 1910s and 1930s, or sit at the original formica table of a once busy city café.
Learn the story of Arthur Melbourne-Cooper, the city's own pioneer of film in the 1920s. And don't forget to look out for the famous cats drawn by Louis Wain, as they enjoy a purr-fect tea party on the lawn…
