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Capturing the essence of the Great Plague… More newspaper funnies

A whole page to fill, and lots of smiling children’s faces to sell more papers – and boost those photo sales.

And yet, while credit has to be given to the Burton Mail photographer who gamely managed to caption all these pictures (it must have taken a while), we were left wondering if many of the proud parents did actually come forward on this occasion.

For what it’s worth, the beak-like masks worn by the children of this Staffordshire school were an enduring image of the Great Plague of 1665, worn by doctors treating the sick.

So here goes with those pictures and captions: