Valentines Day Ball, Loughborough, 1928

Mayor’s Valentine event, 1928

Loughborough Market Place January 2020

The following is a newspaper report of an event held by the Mayor of Loughborough at the Town Hall on 14 February 1928, which appeared in the 'Sheffield Daily Telegraph' of 15 February 1928:

"Mayor as Host of 350 Girl Clerks.

CUPIDS AND VALENTINES

Quiet little Loughborough was last night the most romantic town in the world. St Valentine held his Court in the Town Hall, and decorated it specially with statuettes of Cupid. For perhaps the first time in his history. “municipalised romance” was organised, and at the invitation of the Mayor (Councillor Alan Moss (i)) 320 excited Loughborough girls attended a “lady clerks’ ball” – each girl bringing a partner.

“I am hoping that a good many romances will date from this evening,” said the Mayor. Beneath their shimmering frocks feminine hearts were beating just a little faster than usual, and even the young men were looking strangely serious as their partners brought them along to be introduced. In two of the dances the girls chose their own partners, and as they whirled around beneath the many-coloured light scores of men wondered whether, by the privilege of Leap Year, they would be invited to extend the partnership.

Dancing took place in the Corn Exchange and the Victoria Room, both of which were crowded to capacity.

Loughborough Town Hall

A Loughborough man in mid-Atlantic sent to the Mayor a wireless message congratulating him on the idea. More Valentines were sent in Loughborough this year than probably ever before, the ball having given a fillip to romance. The evening was full of surprises. There were three supper rooms and in each there was a lucky chair. The girl who sat on it received a little mauve box tied with ribbon and inscribed “The Mayor’s Valentine.” Inside the boxes were pearl necklaces. A similar Valentine went to the first girl to dance the Paul Jones with the Mayor. Then there was a surprise for the Mayor too. Amid enthusiastic cheering he was presented with two bronze statuettes by Rancoulet entitled “Amor Innocent” and “Mesager d’Amour.” (ii) These were given by the women clerks of Herbert Morris, Ltd..

“They are indicative of our appreciation of the kindly thought which caused us to be here this evening,” said the girl who made the presentation.

Dancing Mayors

The Mayor, in robes and chain of office, danced the Paul Jones (iii) and the Mayors of Nottingham (iv) and Leicester (v) also danced. The Mayor of Leicester said it was not only a novel idea as regards Loughborough, but a novel one as regards the whole of the United Kingdom and he had never heard of such a thing in any other country.

He hoped to see before very long a considerably increased column of marriages in the local Press. He had never seen so many charming young ladies, and he was sure that they would have some definite “results” from that gathering.

The Mayor of Nottingham said that in Nottingham they had some prominence in connection with an effort he had made to find the wife for a man in Australia.

“I have 160 girls now wanting husbands, and about 68 men wanting wives. Yesterday two gentlemen from New York made their requests to me, and today two from Australia. I am going to be inundated with correspondence and photographs, and I am sure I shall make a mess of it. (Laughter.) I do not know what may eventually come from this evening. I foresee a great deal, but whether it may be embarrassing to the Mayor afterwards I am not quite sure, but I hope you will have mercy upon him if there should be any mistakes.” (Laughter.) "

If you want to know more about the Moss family, pop along to the Local and Family History Centre in the public library and visit the exhibition which is open until 27th March 2022.  

You can find further information about the legacy of Alan Moss here. 

Notes

(i) Alan Moss was Mayor of Loughborough from 1927-1929, a Justice of the Peace from 1932, and in 1939 was granted the Freedom of the Borough of Loughborough. In 1946, on the occasion of his golden wedding anniversary, he gifted the 46-acre Outwoods to the people of Loughborough. he was part of the William Moss dynasty of builders in Loughborough, a company which had been created by George Moss in 1820. 

(ii) Ernest Rancoulet was a French sculptor, recognised for creating sculptures from bronze, usually of a mythological, allegorical, or figurative nature. See here for some examples of his work.   

(iii) The Paul Jones is a 20th-century mixer dance (a dance that involves changing partners), and is named after John Paul Jones, a hero of the American Revolution, who rather famously said to the British during a naval battle with the Americans "I have not yet begun to fight". Here's an example of how this dance might have gone.

(iv) The Mayor of Leicester at the time was James Thomas, a native of West Bromwich, but who had lived in Leicester for 40 years. By profession, he was an accountant, and had represented the Aylestone Ward on the city council since 1908. 

(v) The Mayor of Nottingham was Albert Reuben Atkey, who founded the first motor dealers in Nottingham and who was knighted in 1935.

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

Dyer, Lynne (2022). Valentine's Day Ball, Loughborough, 1928. Available from: https://lynneaboutloughborough.blogspot.com/2022/02/valentines-day-ball-loughborough-1928.html          [Accessed 13 February 2022]

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