Suzi Clarke <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote
I don't know who or which group started the Living History thing in
England, or whether the term Living History came from the U.S. However,
I do remember going to a huge open air event in 1953, where history was
celebrated by people dressing up. I believe it was called a pageant,
and was all amateur, although the team organising it *must* have been
professional. These pageants have been happening in England since at
least the Middle Ages, and some say are the origins of theatre in England.
<snip>
Suzi
I was lucky enough one time to visit Benenden School - a very
exclusive, old established private girls' school - and see round their
costume cupboard. My mother got the invitation because she was an
examiner
for needlework GCSE (public examinations). They had real antique
clothes, which had been donated by the girls' families for use in their
annual pageant. They were obviously just thought of as something out of
the attic, but because of the kind of families these girls came from,
great-grandma's Presentation dress had been put away and not worn, not
re-used, and pulled out in 1910 or 1920 for young Jemima to wear as an
attendant to the May Queen, or whatever. Luckily at some point one of
the teachers had realised what they had, and I think they got a grant to
provide proper storage for them. It's one of those collections which is
valuable because the items have been altered and worn and damaged, so
it's there for people to handle and look at the insides, rather than to
be strictly preserved.
Jean
--
Jean Waddie
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