Fun in their Finery

The Crown Film Unit produced a film called “Festival in London”.  It is a colour trip around the South Bank on a gloriously sunny day, a light breeze rippling the flags.  Anybody attending the festival on that day must have remembered it for the rest of their lives.  People look happy, engaged and vital.  In the days before we got spoiled, this outing must surely have been a highlight of their existence.

Another really notable thing about the people in the film is their dress. Everyone has turned out in their finery.  All of the women look like Princess Elizabeth and every man wears a blazer – either over his suit or a V neck sweater and tie.  Even the young boys all wear blazers and it looks like a hot day. This is so noticeably different to today.  Look at a queue to visit an attraction during the summer holidays – people dress in their most comfortable clothes and quite often show off acres of pink and wobbly flesh. Not so in 1951.  This wasn’t an opera or a ballet, it was a day of fun meant to appeal to all but self respect was maintained at all times.  Along with respect for all the others that have to stand in the queue behind them.  They made a day of it and this included bedecking themselves in their best clothes and really making an effort. This is a midcentry attitude that I want back!

Selling Britain

Despite the Festival of Britain taking place over sixty years ago, official guidebooks are still in abundance.  It may well be easier to secure a copy now than it was back then, thanks to eBay. As far as I can tell, an average of one copy per week is listed on this one site.

I got hold of my copy through the father of a work colleague. He donated the near pristine book to our charity to sell on our fundraising book stall, which I snapped up myself (paying the full asking price I hasten to add!) I love my guidebook and I keep it in a locked tin most of the time to try and keep it in good condition.  But in a way this is a shame, because I can’t just pick it up and have a flick through when the fancy takes me.  It’s such a palaver finding the key and dragging the tin down from the wardrobe.

The best thing about the guide is the adverts.  You can tell a lot about a society from the companies taking out advertisements in such a high profile publication as this.  I had another look for some thoughts on 1951 Britain, and tried to pick out the themes.  Both the advertisers and the style of the adverts show an interesting mix of two styles.  There is a strong show for modernity, just as you would expect from a festival that wanted to put austerity behind it and plunge into the second half of the 20^th century.  There are adverts from those companies that were going to build this brave new world and those that wanted to drive everyone into it. Carter-Horsely Engineers, Dunlop, Costain, Shell-Mex, British Electricity, Marconi, Siemens and Simplex are all there. 

They give us a glimpse into the proposed future, all clean lines and no fuss. But there is a secondary theme, and that is a traditional, sometimes even pastoral view of 1950s Britain.  Several companies use their advertising space to promote the heritage of their brand.  They do not say “look at us, we are the future” but “look how long we’ve been here and we’re still going strong.” The Heinz advert near the front is a good example of this latter theme, using a painting which depicts a scene from the year that the company was established.  Lloyds Bank, Curtis Gin and Liberty also adopt this sort of method.

Does this reflect on the age?  Was Britain mostly peopled by those that wanted to move on, to rebuild and bring the benefits of the modern in? Was there a select few – the establishment – that still harked back to another golden age and wanted Empire and pastoral simplicity to return? It’s probably quite true.

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