Created as an advert for Maypole tea in 1945, By The Fireside begins with a focus on a flickering open fire. Camera pathway moves out and away from the hearth across a farmhouse or cottage interior, closing in on details: a grandfather clock, a copper kettle. A quietly authoritative voice-over invokes cultural touchstones from Agincourt to horse brasses, as a dog brings slippers to a middle-aged, pipe smoking male, and camera gaze shifts across a table-top set with crumpets, cake and strawberry jam.