Coronation helped nation forget post-war austerity
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THIS week in 1953 the drabness of post-second World War austerity was pushed aside to make way for the fairytale coronation of 25 year old Queen Elizabeth II.
Meat, bacon, sweets and more were still rationed, but across the county people pooled their coupons to put a spread on trestle tables and stage street parties fit for the right royal celebration.
Children were able to toast the new monarch on the national holiday from the coronation mugs presented to them in school. Some received special spoons.
Red, white and blue bunting was strung from lamp posts that had been unlit for the duration of the conflict.
God Save The Queen banners fluttered from windows that not long before had been blacked out.
Shops were decorated with Union Flags much in evidence and electrical shops enjoyed a boost to business as demand for televisions went into overdrive.
The Coronation did wonders for sales of TV sets.
In 1950 there were 350,000 televisions in the country, but by coronation day on Tuesday, June 2, 1953 more than
two million sets were tuned in.
TV coverage of the big day began at 10.15am. The Queen travelled in a golden coach pulled by eight grey horses from Buckingham Palace, along the Mall, Northumberland Avenue and Victoria to Westminster Abbey.
The ceremony, at which the 300-yearold St Edward’s crown was placed on the Queen’s head by the Archbishop of Canterbury Dr Geoffrey Fisher, was watched on TV by 20 million people in Britain and millions more worldwide.
The procession threaded its way back through the capital to Buckingham Palace where the newly crowned Queen made the first of six appearances on the balcony with Prince Philip at 5pm.
The magical day came to a close at midnight with a spectacular display of fireworks on Victoria Embankment.
People in Cheltenham who did not have access to a TV could go to the Town Hall where
13 TVS and a number of four feet by three feet projector screens were set up.
A capacity audience of almost 3,000 watched the splendid occasion, many of them having queued for hours from early morning.
In a report of events in the Town Hall the Echo wrote: “A perfect close-up of the Queen as she passed on her way to the Abbey in her glittering state coach brought spontaneous applause from the viewers who stood when the National Anthem was played”.
On coronation day evening a twomile long procession, including 98 floats and eight brass bands, set off from the Rotunda at Montpellier, passing through the town centre and on to Pittville Park.
There a tableau depicting the history of Cheltenham was performed, along with dance displays, a table tennis championship, fun fair, music and free rides on the miniature railway set up by servicemen from RAF Little Rissington. The extravaganza was brought to a close with a firework show which concluded with a portrait in fire of the new Queen and Prince Philip.
A few days after this national outpouring of patriotic pride, a film of the coronation was screened at Gaumont cinemas and umpteen schools in the county crocodiled their pupils to watch the replay.
Many youngsters were fascinated by Queen Salote of Tonga who was dressed in bright colours and would not have the hood up on her coach even though it was pouring with rain because she wanted to wave to the crowds.
The same Pathe News presentation carried news of another event that captured the public’s imagination. Edmund Hillary and Sherpa Tensing had conquered Mount Everest.