'Housey' or 'C.H.'?

[darthmaul]

Do they still wear blazers? We didn't see any on Rock School, although as this was filmed in the autumn it may be that they are only a summer thing.

Blazers are only ever worn when someone purports to be unable to wear their housey - i.e. when on crutches.

[englishangel]

thanks darthmaul

[sejintenej]

I always wanted one of those stripey blazers and cravats that you got if you were awarded cricket colours.
Unfortunately my cricket was never that good.

ISTR blazers (with house badge), grey flannel trousers, white shirts and dark blue cravats but only at thye end of the '50's.
AFAIR we didn't officially have what you are calling half-housey. Full uniform or flannels if it was hot enough to melt the tarmac. de facto one might put o0n a blazer to do an urgent errand.

[Richard Ruck]

Do they still wear blazers? We didn't see any on Rock School, although as this was filmed in the autumn it may be that they are only a summer thing.

Blazers are only ever worn when someone purports to be unable to wear their housey - i.e. when on crutches.

Then again, now you can wear you own clothes when 'off duty'.

We had to wear some sort of uniform the whole time, so blazers were useful when you didn't want to wear your housey coat, especially at weekends (apart from meals / chapel etc.).

[J.R.]

Still got my blue Leslie Phillips style cravat in the wardrobe.

Wore it to a party round our local club a few weeks ago.

Grand-Son said, loudly, "GRAND-DAD ! You look like a poof !"

Cravat has been dutifully returned to the wardrobe !

[Richard Ruck]

Still got my blue Leslie Phillips style cravat in the wardrobe.

Wore it to a party round our local club a few weeks ago.

Grand-Son said, loudly, "GRAND-DAD ! You look like a poof !"

I believe the correct reply is "Ooooh, get you!".

[J.R.]

Still got my blue Leslie Phillips style cravat in the wardrobe.

Wore it to a party round our local club a few weeks ago.

Grand-Son said, loudly, "GRAND-DAD ! You look like a poof !"

I believe the correct reply is "Ooooh, get you!".

Our Grand-Son is somewhat forthright in expressing his views, especially on the football pitch.

[Great Plum]

Do they still wear blazers? We didn't see any on Rock School, although as this was filmed in the autumn it may be that they are only a summer thing.

Blazers are only ever worn when someone purports to be unable to wear their housey - i.e. when on crutches.

Then again, now you can wear you own clothes when 'off duty'.

We had to wear some sort of uniform the whole time, so blazers were useful when you didn't want to wear your housey coat, especially at weekends (apart from meals / chapel etc.).

Indeed, it started changing on my seniors - first of all Deps and Grecians were allowed own clothes for Sundays outside chapel and other official engagements..

By the time I had got to my seniors, this had been relaxed into the free for all that you see today...

[Ruthie-Baby(old a/c)]

In my time (that makes me sound so old) blazers were few and far between and while I was there I tried to find out if girls could wear them but no one seemed to think so. There was the badge available for the pocket (Col B = red sword) but no access to blazers!

I agree about the crutches thing though, lucky it never happened to me.

While I was there no one wore their own clothes until my deps when Grecians alone were allowed own clothes on Sundays when not in chapel/dining hall.

Oh and all seniors on Saturday nights.

[cj]

Yup, housey meant the coat and "HOUSEY!" was a word used extremely loudly to annoy people especially at public events.

Inside the ring fence you can say 'Housey' if you really want to. Outside it C.H. suffices (but needs further explanation) - braying 'Housie' just makes you look like a kn*b.

Touche, and we've all seen it done. That's really made me laugh! My huband's just looked at me in disgust and b*ggered off to bed.

[JustRob]

I just noticed this old discussion while looking for mentions of the Housey toast, so decided to add my own opinion.

I'd always assumed that "Housey" was a reference to the fact that at Horsham the boys were organised into houses whereas in London they were in wards. Are there any historical references to "Housey" ever being a term used in London? No doubt there was a time when it was necessary to distinguish between the two premises. During my time at C.H. we still occasionally encountered Old Blues from the London school. Now that that distinction is no longer necessary "C.H." seems to be appropriate, except in the school "war-cry" of course. I recall an interschools rugger match at C.H. where the visiting team's supporters stood on the touchline shouting "schoooool", which seemed particularly unimaginative and not so easy to shout loudly. Regarding volume, my wife, who was raised in Surrey, has always found my original coarse London accent embarrassing when I revert to it. During a buffet in dining hall at C.H. on a speech day we recited the Housey toast followed by the traditional cry of "Housey!" and the chap standing the other side of my wife at the time visibly winced at my rendition of it. It was only then that we noticed the impressive gold chain around his neck. Apparently the Lord Mayor had been circulating around the hall but we'd been deep in conversation and hadn't noticed him standing there.

[Straz]

Many thanks to JustRob for resurrecting this old discussion. It's been a joy reading the various opinions and anecdotes going back 20 years or so.
My father - John Strange (Mid A 1933-39 and Old Blue Editor, 1980s) - nearly always referred to Christ's Hospital as CH, as did my brother Greg (Mid A 1964-71).
"Housey" referred to the full CH school uniform, as well as the traditional cry shouted after the Housey toast. In addition it was used - at loud volume - by supporters of the school's sporting events.
"Half-Housey" was blazer, breeches, stockings, shirt and bands, worn when the weather became warmer, often a preliminary to flannels.
So that's my family's take on Housey.
As an aside, my wife - not an old Blue - accompanied me to an Old Blues Day some years back. Everything was fine until the Housey toast at the end of the lunch. When everyone shouted "Housey" at the top of their voices, she was utterly startled, to say the very least. I'm pleased to say that she's fully recovered from the shock and will be more prepared for the Housey toast next time we're at CH.
HOUSEY!

[Foureyes]

I suspect that the origin of the term "Housey/Housie" is lost in antiquity. The earliest specific reference I can find is in Blunden's 'Christ's Hospital, A Retrospect' (1924) which includes an appendix on 'Some Christ's Hospital Words' (i.e., Housie slang!) which he says is based on an even earlier 1877 record. Thus, Blunden includes "Housey.... (As adjective or noun) Christ's Hospital."

Certainly in my time (admittedly long ago) 'Housey' as a noun meant the whole institution, but was an insider term used within the school and its alumni and would have meant little to outsiders, when the school would have been referred to by its full title. As an adjective it was used to refer to Housey uniform, Housey special (the end/beginning-of-term train between Victoria and Christ's Hospital station), etc.

The specific description of various forms of dress as 'full Housey', 'half-Housey' etc., etc, only crept in sometime in the late 20th century, but when you think about it, it is only using the term 'Housey' in its traditional adjectival sense.

David

[Foureyes]

Further to my post above, Blundell was quoting from "The Bluecoat Boy" by William Harnett Blanch published in 1877. (p.97.) As Blanch was at Housie in about 1844 this indicates that the word dates back to at the very least the early 19th century.
David