French Schools Events: Occassions--Holiday Celebrations


Figure 1.-- This is a French school Christmas pagent in 1957. The children look to be about to sing in front of what lookss like a Christmas backdrop. The children are all dressed in white. The girls wear little dresses and the boys rompers. These look to be the older maternelle children, probably about 5 years old. 

It is very common for American and English schools to organize holiday pagents. We do not have much information yet from our French readers, but this seems to be the case in France as well. We have archived a number of French school photographs showing holiday pagents. So we know that there are also holiday pagents at French schools. Many of the examples we have found are Christmas pagents and parties. We think other holidays are celebrated, but so far we have found less information. We have some information on French holidays in general. Here we are looking into how they are celebrated at the schools. Hopefully our French readrs will provode some insights here. In France and French territories, since 1881, schooling is compulsory. The state school is secular (laïque) but in fact the fêtes celebrated are mostly Catholic.

New Year (January 1)

This is not a holiday celebrated at school because the children are on vacation.

Toussaint


Mardi gras (Mid-February)


Fête des Rameaux (March)

This is a holiday in the Catholic schools.

Easter/Päques (usually April)

We suspect there were also French school Easter pagents, but have not yet found any examples of this.

Fête de la jeunesse (early Spring)


May Day/Fête du travail (May 1)

May Day or Labor Day (Fête du travail) was for many years a major political issue as to where it would be a day off or workers. It is not a school holiday. We do not know it is celebrated in French schools. It is variously celebrated in other countries as both a Spring festival and Labor Day.

Ascension (Middle May)


Fête de la l'Armistice 1945 (May 8)

This is the celebration of the World war II VE Day. It is not a school holiday and we do not know to what extent it is celebrated in the schools. Not as many French peopkle died in World War II as World War I, but there was a painful 4 year German occupation until France was liberated by the Allies.

Fête Dieu (Early-June)

This is a holiday in the Catolic schools.

La kermesse des écoles (late-June)


Fête des écoles (late-June/early-July)


Fête du patronage


Grandes Vacances (July-August)


Bastille Day/Fête Nationale (July)

We are not sure what Bastille Day i celebrated at French schools. Like the 4th of Jukly in America, it seems to occur during the school summer vacations.

Fête du patronage (July)

This is a Catholic holiday, but the schools are closed.

Armistice 1918 (November 11)

This is the celebration of the end of World War I. The losses in the ar were staggeing. France in essence lost a generation of men. This is not a school hiliday, but we are unsure how it is celebrated in the schools.

Saint Nicolas (December 6)


Marché de Noël (a week before Christmas)

This is a holiday at the Catholic schools.

Christmas/Noël (December 25)

Christmas pagents were particularly common in the photographic record. We note a number of examples in French schools. We also note a Christmas pagent held at a French school in Senegal with a not very Christmassy look. We are less familar with how common other such pagents were in France. Other holidays may be less important because Christmas in Western Europe is an event especially associated with children. And to a much greater degree than Easter, the other major Christian celebration, there are many secular aspects to Christmas and is not a purely religious holiday. There seem to be Christmas events at both maternelle and primary schools. We are less sure at this time about events at secondary schools.

Unknown Celebrations

We note children celebrating some kind of occassion, but we are not sure just what the celebration is. Christmas events are usully easy to figure out from the trappings. Other holidaysare not quite so obvious. Perhaps our French readers will be able to identify the images we have archived.






HBC-SU







Related Chronolgy Pages in the Boys' Historical Web Site
[Main Chronology Page]
[The 1880s] [The 1930s] [The 1940s] [The 1950s]
[The 1960s] [The 1970s] [The 1980s]



Related Style Pages in the Boys' Historical Web Site
[Main country page]
[Long pants suits] [Short pants suits] [Smocks] [Socks] [Eton suits]
[Jacket and trousers] [Blazer [Rompers [School sandals] <



Navigate the Boys' Historical Clothing School Uniform Pages
[Return to the Main French school event page]
[Return to the Maun French school page]
[Return to the Main School Uniform Page]
[Australia] [England] [Germany]
[Italy] [Japan] [New Zealand] [Scotland]
[United States]



Navigate the Boys' Historical Clothing Web Page
[Introduction] [Activities] [Biographies] [Chronology] [Clothing styles] [Countries]
[Bibliographies] [Contributions] [FAQs] [Glossaries] [Images] [Links] [Registration] [Tools]
[Boys' Clothing Home]





Created: 11:22 PM 12/31/2012
Last updated: 12:18 AM 1/2/2013