A Very Different Kind Of March

Last year I bought two old photographs dating back to the early 1900’s showing processions in the streets of Britain. The first one I bought appeared to be all children. Something about the girls pretty straw hats made me wonder if it was linked to a Sunday school or an Easter parade.

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Then I bought this one and realised there were those girls again in their spotless white dresses and floral straw hats. But this time there were lots of adults participating and a large banner at the front of the procession.

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It turns out they are likely to be captures of temperance processions linked to the temperance movement which promoted alcohol education, the demand of new laws against the sale of alcohol, either regulations on the availability or total prohibition.

This wasn’t just happening in Britain, but also in many other parts of the world. [During the 19th and early 20th centuries, the temperance movement became prominent in many countries, particularly in English-speaking and Scandinavian ones, and it eventually led to national prohibitions in Canada (1918 to 1920), in Norway (spirits only from 1919 to 1926) and in the United States (1920 to 1933), as well as provincial prohibition in India (1948 to present)] Wiki

I had heard of the temperance movement, but didn’t know enough about it to recognise these two photos could be of smartly dressed Edwardians on a peaceful march against the consumption of alcohol. I accidentally discovered a similar march in one of the clips of the Mitchell and Kenyon films shown in the video below (Manchester Band Of Hope … 43:54mins)

Absolutely loved watching this video. The narration greatly helps clarify what is occurring in each scene.

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If you would like to use the images, you can get free full size image downloads on the Vintage Found Photos collection on my Pexels photography page.
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So Much Has Changed

.2020 was a year of huge public protests worldwide and the objections are not over yet. Clothes for street protests and processions appear to be largely about comfort, or expressing character and sometimes humour. I can’t help wondering… what would those Edwardians think of the way we dress on marches today?