We have just come back from visiting Froghall Station, which is the terminus for the Churnet Valley Railway in Staffordshire. It is run entirely by volunteers, and every so often stages "events". Today's was a 1940's do, and there were stalls selling memorabilia, 1940's clothes and these wonderful hats! I loved them, but not on me!
Loads of people had dressed up accordingly, and it mostly looked authentic. There were lots of military men in various uniforms, Navy, Air Force (both USA and UK) and Army (again USA and UK, and several German Officers in very tight black knee-high boots!) I have to say, a smart military uniform really does something for a man!
However, I do have a smile inside myself - I can remember the war very clearly, and it seems strange to me to want to dress up and wander around in the clothes and uniforms of that very awful time!
The above picture is my Dad in his Home Guard uniform, and below are me and my sister in our Air Raid Shelter, which was very well used, I might add, during the war.
13 comments:
So are you going to buy Dad an RAF uniform to wear at the weekends?
Liked the 1940s hats :-)
Oh, I love hats too! I wish ladies wore them - they don't here.
Thanks for you visit. I will enjoy reading your blog and will list it as one I read.
Oh Gilly, your post takes me back to our own air-raid shelter (well the family one!) in London, and the school one where I learned to read and knit. As for dressing up in uniform - surely it is done for authenticity's sake, and to show people who did not live through that time just what it was like, figuratively speaking.
Loved reading your cherry tree posting also. I love paths, too and like you want to discover where they lead.
I bet this was lovely and very nostalig. What an amazing picture of you and your sister in the air raid shelter - you look as if you are taking it all in your stride!! My grandma used to tell me that she was terrified when the sirens used to go and she was always first in the shelter. I get really annoyed when people my age and younger moan about life/credit crunch etc. We dont know we are born these days. I hope I never have to live through anything like that. PS Is your daughter trying to incite you to spice up your weekends??!!!
Love the pictures of your Dad and of you and your sister.
What smart looking hats. They must have been quite stylish in their day.
I thought the hats were gorgeous! Quite a few women were wearing hats, and clothes to go with them, of course, and I must say they looked really smart!!
People were buying the retro stuff - but then they didn't have to give coupons for it, as we did!!
Thanks to you all for commenting, I love reading them.
Funny how nostalgic things seem for those of us who didn't have to live through the realities of it all. xx
Hello it's me again. You are tagged! Come and see. X
fab photos!
love the hats! your personal photos are touching especially in light of your thoughts about dressing up in war time clothes
We have a steam railway fairly near us and they have "special" days too. I'll have to keep an eye on their programme. Love the photos of the stylish hats and those of your family. A x
I love the shelter picture - of course, what a good place to read! Was it possible to concentrate on a book or was it scarey?
The hats are magnificent. I, too, am not a hat-wearer, but if I lived in another era, I would have loved that small one in the middle - very chic.
Great blog, great pictures, great insightful comments about the nostalgia we add to less-than-charming days of the past.
Post a Comment