Date and thoughts please

[justontime]

I would appreciate a date for this photo please. The person I think it is was by no means well to do, so what were they doing, was it a day out or a special occasion?

[japeflakes]

Boaters were popular as casual summer headgear in the late 19th century and early 20th century,

Flowers in lapels so off to a wedding?

[Pels.]

Could they have been going out for a day at the races ?

Pels.

[justontime]

Thanks for your help japeflakes and Pels. Would it have to be before WW1 or is there any possibility that it could have been just after?

[Billyblue]

My first thoughts were a wedding, too.

With that conveyance I'd say early 1900s but I'm no expert on that.

Dawn M

ADD:  I think post WWI they'd be more likely to be in the latest model Ford etc.      

[Pels.]

I'll stick with a sporting occasion of some description. Straw boaters ( as JF has already said ) with button holes were worn for casual summer dress. That mode of transport looked like something that was organised to take them to the event, similar to a taxi - possibly following a rail journey taking them to, or from whichever venue.

http://www.victoriana.com/victorianhat/strawboater.html

Would a wedding be classed as casual and somewhere a boater would be worn - I don't know the answer to that, because I've never seen an example of one being worn ?

To me the men in this pic look like they come from a working class background and were having a lads day out. What did this person do for a living and which country did he come from ?

Pels.

[teaurn]

Hi,

Cant answer your question but I do remember watching a programme a couple of years ago. There is a company that still makes them...mainly as part of a school uniform for well to do schools

[chinakay]

I'm with Pels...flat caps and straw boaters to a wedding?...a bit cazh, wouldn't you say?

I think the boaters were gone by the end of the war. They were very popular in the late 1890s and early 1900s. They were mostly made in Luton because the fields in Bedfordshire produced the best straw. Straw-plaiting was a huge industry in Bedfordshire...men, women and children practiced it. No special equipment was required and a woman could plait a line of straw while walking down the street.

So the boaters that are still being produced likely come fom somewhere around Luton.

Cheers,
China

[japeflakes]

Only suggested a wedding!

Day at the races then