Coronation Day 1953

Brighton Palais, now the Sea Life Centre

The Brighton History Centre will be presenting a free talk about life in Brighton in June 1953. Come and find out where you could have gone dancing, what films were on at Brighton’s many cinemas, where you could collect your ration books and, most importantly, which coronation festivities you could have taken part in.

Essoldo Theatre, North Street

The talk is free but limited to twenty people so it is best to book on 01273 296972.  It will take place at the Brighton History Centre (first floor of the Brighton Museum & Art Gallery) on Wednesday 30 May from 11 – 12 and will be repeated on the Wednesday 6 June at the same time.

Paul Jordan, Senior History Centre Officer

May Day!

Today is May Day, although many of us may need to defer our celebrations until the bank holiday next week. Although traditional May Day festivities have a long and interesting history,  when the May Day Bank Holiday was introduced in 1978 it was not timed to coincide with any pagan festival, but with International Workers’ Day.

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The idea of a day devoted to the celebration of working-class culture has its origins in the 19^th century struggle for an eight-hour day. In Brighton, as in many cities across Europe, history is often recounted through the eyes of the upper classes, those who rubbed shoulders with royalty, perhaps, and occupied the town’s grandest crescents and squares. But as historian Antony Dale pointed out in his introduction to Brighton Town and Brighton People, ‘these people were never the real residents of Brighton’. The real residents were ordinary, working people, many of whom lived in unimaginable squalor.

A local Trades Council was established in Brighton in 1890. The idea was to promote solidarity among workers belonging to different trades, but the council also tried to address some of the issues affecting the workers, such as health, housing and education. In the years leading up to World War One, a wide range of unions were active in the town, and Labour Day demonstrations were an annual affair. Flyers were distributed to promote the events, some of which were translated into French and German, to include foreign hotel and restaurant workers based in the town.

Despite the militant tendencies of some groups, there was often fun to be had at these gatherings. A procession would head from the Aquarium to The Level, where speakers would address the crowds. One of Brighton’s most memorable May Day Fairs took place in 1969; it featured activities for all the family, from live music and football matches to Punch & Judy shows, street theatre and, of course, food and drink. According to a report published in the Brighton and Hove Herald on 9 May 1969, ‘The posters billed this event as a “Levelution”. But it was really a workers’ playtime.’

For more about the history of ordinary Brightonians, Underdog Brighton by local author Rocky Hill is a fascinating account of life in ‘the other Brighton’. A reference copy is available at Brighton History Centre.

Kate Elms, Brighton History Centre

Brighton’s Royal Revels: Coronation Day in Brighton

Herald, 16th May 1953

With jubilee celebrations planned around the country, staff at Brighton History Centre have been finding out about life in the city at the time of the Queen’s Coronation. Using cuttings from local papers and ephemera from our collections, we have created a table-top display that, we hope, captures the spirit of the day.

It seems the people of Brighton and Hove celebrated the events of 2 June 1953 with great enthusiasm. Newspapers reported all sorts of initiatives to commemorate the occasion, including concerts and balls, Coronation cake-making and fancy-dress parades. And despite a disappointingly damp day, streets across the city were festooned with bunting and filled with people.

Perhaps the most striking of the public decorations was a giant model of the Imperial State Crown. Measuring 17 feet high and 12 feet wide, it was displayed on the roundabout in front of the Aquarium where, according to the Sussex Daily News, ‘its facets take on an adamantine brilliance and its mundane traffic island site acquires the aspect of a cushion for a royal diadem.’

Princes News Theatre screenings of the Coronation, Herald 13th June 1953

In the days before a TV could be found in every home, following the ceremony was not straightforward. In the weeks leading up to the big day, retailers such as Lambert & Whistlecroft of Western Road, Hove, urged the public to make the most of the occasion and buy their own set.  ‘The Coronation is very near, but there is just time to have your television installed – if you hurry…’ stated an ad in the Brighton and Hove Herald on 9 May.  700 people made alternative plans and booked seats at the Gaiety Cinema, where the Coronation was screened live; others gathered in public places, such as Moulsecoomb School, where three TVs had been installed, or on the seafront, where the BBC coverage was broadcast via loudspeakers.

Our display will show what was on at the theatre and the cinema (Agatha Christie’s The Hollow and Niagara, with Marilyn Monroe, among other things), what was on offer in local restaurants (‘continental’ dishes such as spaghetti Bolognese) and what the stylish women were wearing (beautiful tailored suits and dresses, or more comfortable ‘television loungers’). Fans of 1950s fashion can also admire the Swoonsuit, a fabulous five-piece ensemble that transformed from promenade dress to bikini. Designed for Brighton Corporation, it was worn to mark the opening of the summer season by local showgirl Janet Ball.

If you were married in Brighton in June 1953, your photograph may have appeared in one of the town’s papers; come and have a look! A film reader has been reserved for those who wish to see how events were reported at the time.

The Mayor of Brighton's invitation to Westminster Abbey

The display runs in the History Centre from 1 May – 30 June. And if you’d like to learn more, Senior History Centre Officer Paul Jordan will be giving an informal talk about Brighton in Coronation Year at 11am on 30 May and 6 June. For further details and to reserve a place, please call 01273 296971/2.

Kate Elms, Brighton History Centre