Dancing in the streets
Alex Lloyd looks back at great British tradition
Street parties have become a beloved British tradition on dates of national importance but their history only goes back a century. The first documented ones took place at the end of the First World War to celebrate the signing of the Treaty of Versailles, with July 19, 1919, declared Peace Day.
Community tea parties were chosen as the ideal way to mark the date, in the hope of giving children who had suffered due to the war and 1918-19 global flu epidemic a bit of fun.
The key elements of patriotic decorations – banquet tables, games, piles of sandwiches and dressing up – were all established by this first event, although using flags and garlands for dates of national importance goes back much further.
“Peace teas, as they were called, signified an optimism shared by the whole country and an urgent desire for peace,” says social historian Kate Thompson, author of The Little Wartime Library (£19.99, Hodder & Stoughton).
“As the 20th century progressed, street parties became embedded in our culture.
PARTY
“Neighbourhoods were far more connected then, especially in working-class culture where neighbours were part of the fabric of people’s day-to-day lives.
“In many cases, the old saying ‘neighbours are as close as family’ was often true with extended families – of aunts, uncles, cousins and siblings – often living down the same street or turning.
“In the absence of television and social media, people used a street party as an excuse to get together for a good old knees-up.
“Working hours were longer in the early 20th century and the concept of leisure time was only just taking off. A street party was a welcome break from the grind of life.”
The Silver Jubilee of King George V on May 6, 1935, saw an enormous outpouring of patriotism and parties were part of this.
During her research, Kate came across the memories of a scullery maid called Mollie Moran, who noted that street parties were planned all over the country and “bunting and flags fluttered from every street lamp”.
Kate says: “Mollie was a scullery maid in service in London’s posh Cadogan Square, but she was allowed the day off and walked all over London, marvelling at the spectacle. She
noted, ‘Babies dressed in Union Jacks were pushed along in their Silver Cross coach prams and children dressed in red, white and blue crepe paper dresses ran through the streets.
“‘Every street was ablaze with colour, balloons, floats, fancy dress competitions, bunting and afternoon tea.
“‘At Hyde Park, I squeezed in with the crowds and then I saw them in a magnificent carriage drawn by six white horses. Queen Mary, dressed in a white coat, glittering with diamonds in the spring sunshine and the King so upright and regal. It was magical.
“‘After that it was back to work and emptying chamber pots but| for a brief time, the country was united in joy’.”
Two years later, the bunting was back out to mark the Coronation of his son, King George VI.
There were similar scenes, albeit with more austerity, when the country
celebrated VE Day and the end of war in Europe in May 1945, with the street parties captured on canvas by artist L.S. Lowry.
The Festival of Britain in 1951 and the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II in 1953 gave further excuse for a get-together as life slowly recovered from the horrors of the Second World War.
When the monarch marked her Silver Jubilee in 1977, around ten million Brits are thought to have joined their neighbours for a bash.
Parties have also been organised en-masse for occasions like the wedding of Prince Charles to Lady Diana Spencer in 1981 and later their son Prince William’s marriage to Kate Middleton in 2011.
The last time we joined together for a proper national street party was in 2016, when the Queen celebrated her 90th birthday – although The Big Lunch event organised by The
Eden Project has been running since 2009 to bring communities together once a year each June.
While the main elements remain the same as 100 years before, today they might feature ready-made decorations instead of homemade, pre-prepared or exotic foods, modern pop songs rather than traditional anthems, paid-for entertainers and maybe a TV to watch official events.
The closing of streets will also need council permits and for millions of children, being able to play in a car-free road outside their house will be a delightful novelty.
Kate says: “With a country struggling to come to terms with Covid and economic instability, and loneliness an epidemic, coming together collectively with your neighbours to celebrate the Queen’s Jubilee could be just the medicine this country needs.”