Sunday
May162010
Forties Nostalgia
Sunday, May 16, 2010 at 11:53 PM 
Once a year, the Pennine town of Haworth sets aside its usual preoccupation with the Bronte family and moves the clock forward a hundred years or so. And stages a 1940s weekend.
It’s fabulous! There’s no requirement to turn up in costume, but many people do. And the whole cast of wartime characters is in evidence: soldiers, sailors, airmen; the ARP warden and the Home Guard; nurses and the WVS; evacuee children clutching suitcases; even babies in 1940s prams.
There’s an abundance of goodwill. People seem genuinely happy and no-one objects to having their picture taken.
The local cafes serve Bovril and supposedly austere fare; while outside a black marketeer tries to flog watches and silk knickers. At intervals, a procession of Land Girls or a marching band parades down the cobbled Main Street. And Winston Churchill even turns up, complete with cigar, to deliver one of his wartime speeches.
There’s constant music as girls in red lipstick and furs serenade the crowds with old time favourites; and there’s jive dancing for all on the car park in the shadow of a borrowed Spitfire.
The event is hugely popular, which means elbowing your way through the crowd if you’re determined to get somewhere. And if you want fish and chips, the queue stretches round the block.
It’s a brilliant day out, though. Tremendously evocative and poignant, too: I saw several elderly men proudly sporting medals. Take a look at the snapshots above or, if you’ve three minutes to spare, sit back and enjoy the slideshow below. And wallow in some forties nostalgia.
P.S. It was impossible to convey the essence of the event without showing shots of people - so I’ve broken my usual rule of not showing faces without permission. If anyone should recognise themselves in any of the photos and be unhappy about appearing here, please get in touch and I’ll remove the relevant picture. But if you are content to be here, then thank you very much!
P.P.S. Today I'm taking part in Mosaic Monday hosted by Mary at Little Red House. Why not pop on over and take a look at some of the other lovely mosaics you'll find there?
Reader Comments (12)
No, Rosanna, I didn't dress up - but next year I am definitely, definitely doing it!
Wow, I felt like I travelled back in time!
Did you dress up in 40's costume? And Nick, as a handsome soldier? :)
My life is incomplete until I go to this. Amen.
This is delightful, Helen!
What a wonderful way to keep those years of courage and sacrifice alive in people's minds and hearts. I am a big fan of your Winston Churchill - probably one of the greatest men of the 20th century. Thanks for taking us along on a special outing!
Amanda
I am bemused. (Don't you love that word? And I never get to use it, so it's doubly fun here.) What a funny, sweet and wonderful day this seems, especially to someone from across the pond where our dress up days usually run to Elvis or Civil War reenactors. Thanks so much for sharing this at MM, Helen -- it literally made my day! :)
What a terrific thing for the community to do! And I imagine it is very meaningful across the generations and makes history relevant and real for the school kids and everyone. I wish we did something like that. Thanks so much for sharing the day with us Helen. Great video by the way as well.
This is brilliant. I just love it and keep playing it over and over again. Perhaps that's because I grew up in that era and people dressed like that were the norm. That really is the way babies looked in their prams - I notice one in your slideshow was dressed in a gas mask - perhaps your friends have puzzled over that one. Children and grown ups had gas masks which simply covered their faces and they were kept in a little cardboard box which had to be worn over your shoulder at all times to be used when there was a bombing raid. But of course children had to have a complete little cover. What memories you've brought back! Thanks a million.
What a neat idea for a mosiac. Looks like everyone had a wonderful time. Happy MM:)
oh my gosh...what an amazing event!
Oh, Helen, looks like it was tremendous fun! I love the look from that era.
[...] recent years, encouraged by the highly popular 40s weekend which takes place here each May, several vintage clothes shops have opened their doors. [...]