Unofficial Christ's Hospital Forum

NEILL THE NOTORIOUS wrote:Apropos "Berets" -----

I seem to remember that, in the early 40s, there was a cabinet of "Museum" items in the upper floor of the block, to the left of Big School, as you face it.

Names of buildings seem to have changed a lot in 70 years (Surprise surprise !) but that should identify the site.One of the exhibitss was a, proposed "Hat" to be worn with CH uniform. It was rejected, but it may be that the current Museum has one ?

Neill!

You posting that has got me thinking about the names of buildings now!

Looking at Big School from the Quad: block on right Classics Block block on left Maths Block (?) but cannot remember for sure!


Someone put me out of my misery please!!!!!

Mid A 15 wrote:

NEILL THE NOTORIOUS wrote:Apropos "Berets" -----

I seem to remember that, in the early 40s, there was a cabinet of "Museum" items in the upper floor of the block, to the left of Big School, as you face it.

Names of buildings seem to have changed a lot in 70 years (Surprise surprise !) but that should identify the site.One of the exhibitss was a, proposed "Hat" to be worn with CH uniform. It was rejected, but it may be that the current Museum has one ?

Neill!

You posting that has got me thinking about the names of buildings now!

Looking at Big School from the Quad: block on right Classics Block block on left Maths Block (?) but cannot remember for sure!


Someone put me out of my misery please!!!!!

Sorry that file must have been deleted when my brain was downgraded to my new 57 year old version.

Mid A 15 wrote:

NEILL THE NOTORIOUS wrote:Apropos "Berets" -----

I seem to remember that, in the early 40s, there was a cabinet of "Museum" items in the upper floor of the block, to the left of Big School, as you face it.

Names of buildings seem to have changed a lot in 70 years (Surprise surprise !) but that should identify the site.One of the exhibitss was a, proposed "Hat" to be worn with CH uniform. It was rejected, but it may be that the current Museum has one ?

Neill!

You posting that has got me thinking about the names of buildings now!

Looking at Big School from the Quad: block on right Classics Block block on left Maths Block (?) but cannot remember for sure!


Someone put me out of my misery please!!!!!

In my time, Classics block on the right, with English upstairs. Clarence had a classroom downstairs which appears to be office space now.
Maths block on the left with Modern Languages upstairs.

Foureyes wrote:Neill,
It is possible that your memory of the existence of the cap in the Museum in those far-off days is accurate, but that your recollection of its origins may be slightly awry. The boys at C.H. possessed a headdress from 1553 onwards. This was a round, Tudor-style cap, with a narrow brim, and is believed to have been black, but with a red band and, possibly, also a red pompom. For reasons now not known, this cap grew smaller and smaller, and by the early 1800s was only worn on ceremonial occasions or for throwing water-bombs in the playground at Newgate Street. Existing pictures only rarely show it being worn, and mostly it was carried, either in a hand or tucked into the girdle. In the 1850s it was decided to discontinue it on the grounds that: A. It was a nuisnace and pretty useless as headgear; B. If worn in a wind it blew off; and C. The boys never marked their caps so they were moved from one child to another, which was disastrous if one in the chain had some form of skin complaint or headlice. So, I think that the cap you saw may have been one of the discarded model and there is still one in the Museum today, which could be the one you saw.
I have never heard if any attempt subsequent to the 1850s to resurrect any form of boys' headgear - but I am repeatedly taken by surprise where C.H. dress is concerned, so I may be wrong.
David

Oh David, you have ruined one of my stories. I should never have believed my dear Papa - he told me that the then Senior Grecian organised all the boys to throw their caps in the air when they were assembled on the Embankment for Queen Victoria's Jubilee (can't remember which). They had to ensure they all landed in the river and the powers that be took the hint and never replaced them. What a shame it's not true!

Katherine,

Oh David, you have ruined one of my stories.

I am really sorry to spoil your story.. However, I wonder whether the story you heard had got twisted as it was passed down from one generation to another - as tends to happen.
When I was at Housie 1949-55 I have a very clear recollection of being told that the reason for not wearing caps was that, on some occasion in the 1850s, Queen Victoria was present. The caps were being worn, the wind strengthened and the majoirty of caps were blown off, whereup Her Majesty remarked that if the boys of C.H. couldn't keep their caps on then there was no point in having them in the first place. So, the Governors took the hint and the practice ceased forthwith.

I have never seen that version verified, but there are similarities between that version and your's, and both feature Queen Victoria.
I wonder if anyomne out there can add anything ????

David

Perhaps the story was twisted in the telling but my dear Papa was there before you! He was born in 1914, I don't know what age he was when he started. I know he was in Mid B. Possibly different houses had different versions of the story!

There used to be a cartoon from Punch (in the classics block I believe) where a man asked a Blue if he regretted not having a cap. The answer was "only when I can not take it off in the presence of a lady".

Yes, it should be remembered that CH boys were almost unique in those days for not having any kind of headgear. If you look at photos of any group of people outdoors in the 19th century, whatever their age or class, they are almost without exception wearing hats or caps.

Thanks for all the information, "Foureyes" is probably right about the cap I saw in the 40s.

It is incredible that one's memory fails--- after 70 years !!!

But have you noticed that memories of long ago are remarkably clear --- whereas memories of last week are not so !

Where did I put my glasses ?

in 1980's the classrooms were still the same. from the quad looking at Bigschool to your left "old science school" mainly physics downstairs and chem upstairs.

Left of BigSchool was Maths block, Modern languages upstairs with language lab and language library on the quad frontage. Downstairs there Maths (Mr McLean fronting the quad closest to Bigschool) and the RMS office at the music school end. The computer room was at the cloister end but was accessed by a door from the garden quad into a small corridor with the server room off it DEC PDP-11 i think), then the room with the doors into the end of the cloister which had the 10 xenix workstations and the BBC ecconet server, then the end of the ground floor corridor of the maths block leading towards there had been partitioned off and had BBC model B machines in it and the door to Mr Wolstenholme's classroom which was the only IT classroom.

Right of BigSchool was the Classics block, Latin (and Mr Flemmings Clas Civ/Archeology) downstairs centre, French in the 2 classrooms at the back (Mr Martin in the corner one), Mr Keeleys Latin classroom near the school office and also the careers room. Upstairs was English throughout I think with Mr West's classroom above Mr Keeley's. There were also some maths classrooms in the prep block (Mr Wright and Mr Sutcliffe in that order from the top of the prep block stairs turning right), but it was mainly divinity and when the girls arrived the home economics classrooms

Something like this

YE GODS !!!

I would have had to be bound and gagged to wear anything like that !!

NEILL THE NOTORIOUS wrote:YE GODS !!!

I would have had to be bound and gagged to wear anything like that !!

I'm reliably informed you can pay a fortune for that sort of thing in certain establishments in the major cities, Neill !!

"Reliably informed" ------ ??

They all say that JR !

J.R. wrote:

NEILL THE NOTORIOUS wrote:YE GODS !!!

I would have had to be bound and gagged to wear anything like that !!

I'm reliably informed you can pay a fortune for that sort of thing in certain establishments in the major cities, Neill !!

NEILL THE NOTORIOUS wrote: "Reliably informed" ------ ??

They all say that JR !

Neill; don't forget that that was his business

(or rather, controlling it!)