Boys' Clothing for Different Activities: Recitations


Figure 1.--A HBC reader has provided a copy of a book used for recitations, The Boy's Own Reciter: A Popular Book of Recitations for Home, School and Public Platform. I'm not sure when the book was published but imagine somewhere in the 1930s. It looks to be British. It's a charming book packed with poems that allude to boyhood. Click on the image to read the opening poem.

A popular activity in the 19th and and early 20th century was reciatations, although that is now seldom done. There was no uniform of course for such reciations, but boys often were dressed up in their finest outfits as mother wanted to ensure a good impression. Most children did these reciations. I think that they were more common for boys than girls who might instead play a piece of music. This requires further research. Some reciataions were also done in school classrooms and chosen children might do them at school assemblies or presentations for parents. There were also competitions prganized by schools and civic organizations. Recitations were also an important part of sunday school classes and presentations. Unlike modern sunday schools which teach children about the Bible, many early sunday schools actually taught the Bible in that rge children memorized many passages. Recitations were common for children in most European countries as well as America and Canada. We are not yet aware of country differences here, but presumably there were some.

Chronology

A popular activity in the 19th and and early 20th century was reciatations, although that is now seldom done. The recitations gave parents the opportunity to show off the talents of their prodigny to family and visitors.

Clothing

There was no uniform of course for such reciations, but boys often were dressed up in their finest outfits as mother wanted to ensure a good impression. Most children did these reciations.

Gender

I think that they were more common for boys than girls who might instead play a piece of music. This requires further research. A exception here are Bible recitations. Here I think both boys and girls commonly did thdem.

Social Class

We believe that having children doing recitations were common for both upper and middle class children. We note that the children of English monarchs (Victoria, Edward VII, and George V) were all made to do recitations, sometimes in German, on special occassions. We bdelieve that these recitations were also very common in middle-class families.

Ages

Genernally speaking, these recitations were most common for primary school age children. They were less common for teenagers. The exceoption here is the children who competed in competions, here some older children may have been involved.

Material

The material matter for these reciataions varied widely. Probably the most common was Bible passages and poetry. Passages from books were also done, some favored authors were Shakespere, Dickens, and Twain. There were even books that parents could provide with collections of material for recitations. A HBC reader has provided a copy of one such book, The Boy's Own Reciter: A Popular Book of Recitations for Home, School and Public Platform edited by A.L. Haydon. I'm not sure when the book was published but imagine somewhere in the 1930s. It looks to be British. It's a charming book packed with poems that allude to boyhood. It has a most fascinating section in the beginning giving instruction on how a boy must give recitations on a public platform, i.e. poetry, debate etc. at school. It has quite a comprehensive content section that's divided into three sections and an index of first lines. There is also an index of authors. Some of the titles are: 'How Tommy tricked the Conjurer' ; 'The Absent Minded Schoolboy' ; 'Our New Master' ; 'A Boy' ; 'Our Dormitory Battle' ; 'The Midnight Feast' and much more. It's really a wonderful book with a humorous and insightful look at boyhood and public school life. Some are poignant and sentimental with a yearning and fond remembrance of youthful days. The opening piece is a poem about boyhood.

Quotations

BC readers will find a wide rang of interesting quotations here. Some famous quotations about boys provide some fascinating insights into boys and childhood over the years. We will list some of our favorite quotations. We will include quotations by boys as well as adult quotations about boys. We will also include quotes from famous people about their boyhood or quotes by other about the boyhood of famous people. We will archive them by author. Some of these quottions are instantly recognizble, but many are lesser know comments that we believe are insightful or of some value to our HBC site. The quotations here are generally a bit short to be used for these recitations, however, quite a number come from poes that would hve been used.

Venues

There were many different venues and places where recitations were made. The most common of course was the home where junior might be brought out at a moment's notice for a recitation. Some large families might have children performing a series of recitations. Many families had special pccassions such as Christmas, Easter, 4th of July, or other times where the children were expected to do their recitations. Some reciataions were also done in school classrooms and chosen children might do them at school assemblies or presentations for parents. There were also competitions prganized by schools and civic organizations. Recitations were also an important part of sunday school classes and presentations. Unlike modern Sunday schools which teach children about the Bible, many early sunday schools actually taught the Bible in that rge children memorized many passages.

National Trends

Recitations were common for children in most European countries as well as America and Canada. We are not yet aware of country differences here, but presumably there were some.
Australia: A Australiam minister described recitations at a Perth Subday school in 1905: "The old-fashioned Sunday School had no frills. It opened with a hymn, one of Watt's or Charles Wesley's usually; sometimes a paraphrase, sung to the tune of "Dundee" or "Mear," or "Devises," or "Ornonville;" if long metre then "Duke Street" or "Hebron." A prayer followed, then the lesson or lessons, for each class usually followed out its own line of study. We had no lesson leaves consequently each scholar had his Bible. The teacher did very little so-called teaching. We were there not to learn about the Bible, but to learn the Bible itself, the very word of God. Each scholar was expected and encouraged to commit to memory a portion of the Word. Sometimes a hymn was selected, or a paraphrase, such as: "O God our help in ages past, Our hope for years to come". Or " As when the Hebrew Prophet raised, The Brazen Serpent high". The first duty of the teacher was to hear these recitations, and mark the number of verses to the credit of the scholar. At the approaching anniversary the names were read out with the verses standing to their credit. I remember that one boy had committed to memory and recited perfectly, more than three thousand verses of Scripture and stanzas of hymns." [Rev. Andrew Murdoch, M.A., LL.D., "An old Sunday school," Perth Courier, June 30, 1905, pp. 11-15.]
England: Master portratist Sir Thomas Lawrence was used by his as entertaiment for the guests at his inn. He taught Thomas recitations from from Pope, Collins, and Milton. He would stand young Thomas on a table to do his recitations for his clients. Thomas also demonsrtrated his artistic talent at an early age and was a child prodigy. At the age of 5 years, introduced him to the inn's clients by announcing, "Gentlemen, here's my son. Will you have him recite from the poets or take your portraits?"
United States: Recitations are not entirely ended. For example the Sunoco corportion in 2002 sponsored, "Sunoco Welcome America! Freedom Speaks!" poetry competition. The competition salutes freedom of expression with patriotic recitations of poems honoring the Declaration of Independence. Winners were selected during a 3-day competition open to children, youth and adults residing in Philadelphia, Bucks, Chester and Montgomery counties who submitted original poems incorporating the phrases "Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness," or "All Men Are Created Equal".

Theatrical Depictions

A reader writes, "I just noticed that this practice is beautifully illustrated by one of the shots from the film, "Ah Wilderness" (U.S., 1935), in which we see a 17 or 18-year old highschool boy in knee pants reciting Poe's "The Bells" at his graduation."







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Created: August 1, 2002
Last updated: 5:57 PM 12/18/2004