Music Hall Memory Box
Memories from the archives...
The Burnett Archive of Working Class Autobiographies, held at Brunel University London, is a collection of working class memoirs written by individuals who lived in England, Scotland or Wales between 1790 and 1945. Considering how integral music halls and variety theatres were to working class culture in the 19th and early 20th century, there are frequent references to them throughout the collection. The selected memories below, show that a visit to the halls was something to look forward to during the working week, and that the songs themselves featured in daily routines.
''Modern theatre goers would probably laugh their heads off at some of them, but they were great entertainments in their day".
William Spencer, born circa 1900 in Collyhurst, Manchester, refers here to the meodramas and pantomines he watched as a young boy at the Queen's Park Hippodrome.
''In the side streets the barrel organs literally bombarded the air with 'Yip I Addy I Ay', 'Ta-Ra-Ra Boom-de Ay', 'Yankee Doodle', 'Oh I do like to be beside the seaside', 'All the Nice Girls love a Sailor'. All the little girls danced and I danced with them"
Edna Bold, born in 1904 in Beswick, Manchester recalled how she used to dance to music hall songs as a child on the streets of her home town when going out shopping with her parents.
'The weekends found us in the city of Newcastle where we found entertainment in its theatres and music halls...Harry Lauder, Wilfie Barr, Gertie Getahner, Marie Lloyd brought us into the music hall; Charlie Chaplain was just being heard of"
"Usworth railway station at the weekend was full of people waiting for the train to Newcastle. The 11:30 pm return was a sight to remember. Some had been to the match- Newcastle United- others to the pubs there- they're open all day; and the rest mainly at the Empire Variety Theatre: all of them good humoured and telling of their experiences of the day'.
Thomas Jordan, born in 1892, worked as a miner at Usworth Colliery in Durham. In his account, he describes how as a young man any surplus money was spent on leisure activities, including attending music halls and variety theatres.
Thank you to Brunel University's Special Collections who kindly agreed I could use these quotes on my website. For questions regarding the copyrights of the autobiographies, please contact me, and if appropriate, the quotes will be removed from the website.
Memories collected for The Music Hall Memory Box...
"My maternal grandfather (Earnest Townsend) was the stage door manager at the New Cross Empire (Deptford) in the 1930's onwards. My mum (Hilda Townsend, born 1929) used to watch Jessie Matthews rehearsing and used to sketch pictures of her. She always said how it spoiled her impressions seeing behind the scenes, things like twinkling stars which were lights behind a curtain with holes in it. She also said to me don't ever sit too close to the stage because you see all the flaws. Her dad would often go home and say one of the stars of the day couldn't find digs- his wife used to say don't you bring anyone home here. She didn't want show business people in her house for some reason"
Elaine Johnston
The splendour of music halls and variety theatres was the appeal for many, so it is interesting to note that Hilda saw this splendour as a façade.
If you have any memories regarding music halls or variety theatres that you would like featured on this page, please contact me at musichallmemorybox@gmail.com.