As we all know this Tuesday our country celebrates the Queen’s jubilee…60 years since she came to the throne. I have quite a fascination with the coronation in 1953..mainly due to my love of all things 1950s. I have a great collection of coronation memorabilia…mainly Queeny tins.
But what about the rest of my family?
Well here is my mummy in 1953 aged just 5. She is clearly dressed up for the occasion with a giant bow in her hair. She says my Grandma wanted a girl with a great head of curls…as she didn’t (all of us girls in the family have poker straight hair) she compensated by adding huge bows right on the top of her head.
She sits in front of the Coronation picture. She remembers everyone crammed into one room to watch it on the smallest black and white television. Interestingly her main memory is of her dad hanging something out of the window (possibly a flag) and a great commotion from her mum worrying he was going to fall. So my mum’s main memory is worrying her father was to fall rather than of the queen getting her crown. Funny how childhood memories focus on the sideline stuff.
So fast forward 25 years to 1977. Our queen did a whistle stop tour of the UK, driving down ordinary streets waving to her people. She drove down our road! You can just make her out in this picture.
We were clearly very excited about this sitting by the side of the road, dressed in red, white and blue, waving flags. My only memory is my stripey jeans which this photograph clearly shows.
My mum and aunt sit by the road also drinking from a china tea cup…I cannot remember them using one at any other time.
We went to a local celebration in Blunham Bedford. We won a prize for matching our car with the theme!
We made hats.
We ate cake.
I love this photo of the sack race…check out the Spitalfields market 1971 sacks. Who knew I would be selling there over 30 years later.
So now fast forward to this year. We are running a charity vintage tea room for the village. I will of course be wearing red, white and blue (but a 50s dress NOT those funky jeans). We will wave flags again…but this time we have an original 50s flag bought last week from a vintage seller at Milton Keynes.
What are you doing to celebrate in a vintage way?
