"Marland" wrote in message
...
Rod Speed wrote:
michael adams wrote
Rod Speed wrote
and where else did people go on sundays other than church,
Down the pub most likely with navvies.
If you spent a whole 5 or 6 days a week covered in mud, while earning a
good wage wouldn't you want to clean yourself up
Yes.
and wear a clean suit
Nope, stupid uncomfortable things to wear on the day off.
And stupidly expensive compared with better clothes too.
on at least one day a week ? If it was only to spend it in the pub.
I'm not actually stupid enough to wear a suit when I dont have
to because they wont let me in unless I am wearing a suit.
One of the most stupid forms of clothing ever invented IMO.
But very cheap to acquire in the 50s and early sixties , almost every
British serviceman leaving the forces at the end of WW2 had been issued
one as part of their civilian clothing issue as it was recognised that a
serviceman who had been away from home for a fair time especially a
younger person would no longer fit any clothes still around at home,that
is if they hadnt been reworked into other items during wartime rationing.
That same rationing still being in force would have made obtaining
a set of new clothing difficult so a set of civilian clothes was issued
of which the infamous demon suit was the main part.
We never did that here and never had labourers wear suits when working
either.
I live in the biggest irrigation area in the entire country and there are
plenty
of pictures of the irrigation canals being dug using horses and scoops and
none of the labourers are wearing suits. None of the supervisors either.
You do see some wearing suits at opening ceremonys, but that all.
Reasonable quality but lack of suitable sizes and the reluctance by some
to
be seen wearing the same suit design as 1000s of others meant many saw
little use by the original owners but were available on the 2nd hand
market
cheaply by those were had little money to spare on more fashionable or
practical clothing and were not too worried about being seen wearing them.
Irish Navvies of that era often fitted that category.
And yet few in here are wearing suits.
https://www.google.com/search?q=navvies+uk&tbm=isch