In the first part of the Twentieth Century there was quite a tradition of holding fancy dress competitions as part of a celebration such as a Coronation. One such event took place in 1946 as Britain looked back on the conflict during the first half of that decade. Two interesting photos exist of that event, although a detailed report has yet to be identified. As can be seen, the entrants paraded in front of the school.
The characters that would have been easy to identify at the time are perhaps a lot more difficult to pick out these days. As it happens there was an equivalent event held at Long Lawford in the same year, for which a report was published – and probably quite a few of the characters chosen are the same.
One other clue to the sort of characters represented would be from the event held in the village as part of the 1937 Coronation celebrations – an event that was reported upon in the Rugby Advertiser.
The following took part (1937) – Yeoman of the Guard, David Heckford;
No more strikes, Rose Cresswell; Tate’s sugar, Frances Riley;
Cotton Packer, Patrick Newman. Coronation, Mrs Paxton;
King and Queen, Norman and David Parker; Eat more fruit, Murielle Simmonds;
Nurse Joan Earp; Jockey, Michael Woodward; Miss Night, Kathleen Woodward;
Britannia Mrs Bailey; Minnie Ha Ha, Mrs. Round;
Sir Walter Raleigh, Mrs Heckford; Nurse, Malcolm Heckford;
May Queen, Geoffrey Heckford; Belisha Beacon, Marjorie Newett;
Bo Peep, Dorothy Archer; French Legionnaire, Mary Archer;
Minstrel, Mr. Archer; New Zealand, Mrs Newett;
Order of the Bath, Beryl Simmonds; Gypsy, Gladys Thorne;
Rainbow, Decima Thorne; Sheik, Mr. Round;
Granny gives up hiking, Mrs Simmonds; Red Indian, Walter Riley.