At the Fair

At the fair, 1919

For this week’s blogpost, I was going to post some of my photos of fairs in years gone by, but re-considered this idea, and instead tried to hunt down some reports of the fair 100 years ago, in 1920. However, because libraries and record offices are closed, I haven’t been able to locate any, so I hope reports from the event in 1919 will be acceptable. I've also put some of my photos from last year's fair at the end of this post. 

A review of the fair which was held on 13, 14 and 15 November, appeared in the Loughborough Echo of 21 November 1919. It was quite a nostalgic report, first reminding the reader that the origins of the fair could be traced back many, many years, and that even as recently as 10-15 years ago, the fair was still a statutes fair – described as “The Stattits”, so presumably the local dialect. The statutes fair was an annual event concerned with the hiring of labourers, particularly for farms. So, 10-15 years ago, on Fair Friday, lads and lassies would stand in the Market Place, waiting to be hired by farmers. By accepting the shilling on offer, this gave the farmer the right to hire the servant or worker until the following Martinmas, which was St Martin’s Day, which falls on 11 November.

By 1919, this tradition of hiring workers had now passed, and the character of the fair changed completely, since entertainment like that previously provided at the annual fair, were available more widely, through theatres and ‘picture houses’.

“Booths for the performance of stage plays have vanished, Wombwell’s Menagerie (1) has forsaken the Market Place stand, Wall’s pantoscope [sic] (2) with the painted lady a-dancing, the boxing booth, nay, even the fat woman – all, all have gone, the old familiar faces. In their stead we now have the Cake Walk, (3) the noisy “Scienic [sic] railways”, the helter-skelter towering upward. Machinery has captured the fair, mechanical roundabouts rule where there used to shine the bohemianism of a penny gaff, or the school-girl sensation of a ride on horses, commonly known as roundabouts. To these, the rougher element of the fair, enjoyed by the youth through thick and thin, accompanied the jostling promenaders with squibs of water, confetti, and many other of its kind. Now they are forbidden, the promenaders promenade soberly, whilst the noise of the machinery and the loud organs’ mechanical sounds – all teel that the fun of the fair is of the past and that in its place we not have not [the] glamour of the swashbuckler, no “Maria Martin” (4), no “Pepper’s Ghosts” (5). Thus, the November fair of last week was chiefly an exhibition of mechanism, brilliantly lighted by electricity, in which the chief appeal for support lay in a motor ride on a circular switchback.”

The fair of 1919 also scored a first, being “the first time that a football team in Loughborough has hit upon such an idea.” So what was that idea? In a letter written to the Loughborough Echo, according to F.H. Cayless (6) explains that:

“The canteen of the Loughborough YMCA was much appreciated by the men connected with the various shows which travelled to the town for the annual three-days’ pleasure fair. Demands for food and hot drinks were always numerous, and at times the ladies, who readily gave voluntary help, had as much as they could do to cope with it, particularly on the Saturday.

During the whole period of the fair many weary showmen found the lounge a comfortable resting place, and obviously enjoyed the good fellowship to be found amongst those who regularly congregate there. Particularly this was noticeable on Sunday. Many men stayed in Loughborough the weekend owing to the paraphernalia only being partially dismantled after closing at midnight on Saturday. The weather on Sunday was very inclement, and the lounge became a comfortable shelter during the afternoon and evening.

An interesting feature of the evening was the hearty manner in which the men took part in the usual Sunday evening service. Such well-known hymns as “Jesu lover of my soul” and “Abide with me” were sung. It was intended to conclude with “God be with you till we meet again” but after this had been sung with much feeling there were loud requests from some of the showmen for “Eternal Father, strong to save”, and this had to be sung before the services could be closed.

A novel feature in the fair was a coffee stall run by the Loughborough YMCA Excelsior Football team. During the three evenings of the fair they staffed the stall, and at ten o’clock on Saturday they had to close down owing to the total failure of supplies. It is quite possible that this is the first time in the history of the fair that a stall has been run other than for the purposes connected with the earning of a livelihood. It is certainly the first time a football team in Loughborough has hit upon such an idea. That there was a need for such a venture was proved by the number of customers, over 1,000 people being provided with tea, coffee, sandwiches, or buns, at reasonable prices. During the fair week, the weekly takings of the Loughborough YMCA created a record.”

 

Further to that comment about the “paraphernalia only being partially dismantled after closing at midnight on Saturday” the Loughborough Echo also reported about Corporation Sunday:

“To those residents who knew Corporation Sundays before the war, one circumstance prominent on Sunday last would not escape notice. That was the presence in the Market Place of the stalls used at the fair. The November fair is fixed for the second Thursday in November, and the Corporation Sunday the first day of the week following the ninth November, so that the two events are closely in evidence. Probably the expense now arising from labour prevented the clearing of the streets so quickly as in former years, and as a consequence the Mayoral procession had to keep strictly to the highway. In the procession there was goodly company …”

As well as the procession, there was a service in the parish church, and a further procession to the Town Hall, where light refreshments were served. The sermon, delivered by the Rector, George Wallace Briggs, was of some length. On the subject of the mayoralty, he had this to say:

“We are here to welcome the new Mayor of this borough [Loughborough]. For his year of office the Mayor of each town is placed upon a pedestal above his fellows. But the Mayor has a better title; he is also a magistrate; and, unlike other magistrates, the Mayor, our chief magistrate, is delegated directly by us. At any rate, he is appointed by the Council, which is appointed by the direct will of the burgesses. Therefore, the Mayoralty of the town is the most demonstrable institution that the town has. Pure democracy is, perhaps, impossible; but so far as democracy is possible its highest point is evidenced in the Mayor of each borough. He is our man, our delegate, and, therefore, he is not only responsible to us, but we are also responsible to him, because it is we who have chosen him.

And I should like this morning, in the name of this old parish church, and, I hope, also in the name of the whole Christian community in this town, to tender to our new Mayor our respectful welcome, and to wish him God speed in the very difficult year which lies before him.”

The new mayor, welcomed in 1919 was William Charles Frederick, owner of the Zenobia perfume manufactory, who would serve for two consecutive terms.   

(1) Wombwell’s Menagerie – George Wombwell (1777-1850) collected exotic animals, and toured these around the country. Having bred the first lion in captivity in Britain, he named it William and had a carved lion put atop his tomb in Highgate Cemetery.

(2) George Wall’s Phantoscope – the Phantoscope was also known as the Ghost Entertainment, and comprised illusions and transformations. Mr Wall’s phantoscope wasn’t just a phantoscope – it was a Grand Phantoscope!

(3) The Cake Walk – was a fairground ride which you actually had to walk over, whilst the floor beneath you moved. I think these are still around?

(4) Maria Marten – thank you so much to one of my readers for advising me about who Martia Marten was. Apparently, in mid-Victorian fairs there would have been peep shows based around the murder, although this was clearly not part of the 1919 Loughborough fair. If you are unfamiliar with the name Maria Marten, you might have heard of the Red Barn murders.

(5) Pepper’s Ghost – is an illusory technique, which is still in use today.

(6) F.H.Cayless – the use of initials in the signatory of this letter initially made me think this was written by a male, but, not usually one to make assumptions, when I checked it out, I am now convinced that this was written by a woman, a private governess, by the name of Frances Harridge Cayless, who is listed on the 1911 census as living at 11 Radmoor Road, and at the time of the 1939 register, and her death in 1956, was living at 60 Leicester Road.

A 2019 cake walk?

Maintenance!

A 2019 helter-skelter

It's a dog's life

A barrel organ

The mayor reading the charter of 1221

You are welcome to quote passages from any of my posts, with appropriate credit. The correct citation for this looks as follow:

Dyer, Lynne (2020). At the fair. Available from: https://lynneaboutloughborough.blogspot.com/2020/11/at-fair.html [Accessed 15 November 2020]

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Lynne