Showing posts with label vintage Punch and Judy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label vintage Punch and Judy. Show all posts

14.4.15

Viking Hoard and a spectacular dress


A visit to the Museum of Lancashire, principally to see the Silverdale Viking hoard while it is still on display. Buried for more than a thousand years, it's an amazing find - and the painstaking conservation work done is incredible.


Yes, I do seem to have taken mostly photos of jewellery! Well, an ingot is just an ingot, isn't it?


The museum is dedicated to local history, in all aspects. Joe was particularly interested in the First World War memorabilia. 


I always find the little personal details almost unbearably poignant and wonder how many of the card senders made it home.



Even I was taken with the Hussars jackets, delightfully glamorous - how hearts must have fluttered upon seeing an officer in one of these uniforms!


My favourite bits? Well, the entertainment section and the vintage Punch and Judy set - 


My lovely neighbour Jean, confessed recently that she used to find Punch and Judy terrifying when she was a little girl. Brought up a sheltered country child, and in the days before mass entertainment, she found the whole thing a bit too much on the occasional visit to the seaside.
 

And my other top pick, this spectacular 'roller skating costume' dating from 1910, entirely made from sewn together cigar bands, cigar box labels and stamps. 


It was designed by a cleaner, Charles Hamer, for his wife Anne; he saved the bits and bobs he found at work - both Charles and Anne took part in skating contest in the Burnley (Lancashire) area. 



How wonderful that other people's rubbish was turned into such an object of beauty - and undoubtedly worn with great pride. 



Kings and Queens will always have their place at the top of the history hall of fame, but I find the history of the humble 'common' people just as much - if not more - fascinating.