Humor in Uniform etc.

 Dear Reader

This is the penultimate write-up in the series blog post about cloths. I was wondering about what to write about the theme today. In fact, this series about cloth/es began with a query about the number of cloth materials available--whether we have lost several important natural cloth materials that our ancestors used.  

  I remember a very ordinary, simple material for saree-voil sarees. These are available in the market today, but that which was available during the 1980s was much softer. With the number of manufactured goods available to us today, I fear some of the local materials may just vanish.  It was this aspect of cloth that I wanted to explore--not just sexist/class-ist politics. 

  I had read In Search of Indian Folktales- Pandit Ram Gharib CHaube and William Crooke by Sadhana Naithani as one of the primary texts for research. This is a fascinating 'detective research' that unfolds the journey of folktales collected from the present day Avadh region to the neglected dark corner of the Folklore Society, London, in British India. Even as Naithani describes the heart-wrenching story of the protagonist-Pandit Chaubey, she discusses how progressive a researcher he was. She notes that he had sent Sir William Crooke some 25 pages of information on cloth and clothing. He also lists 14 types of silks that were in use.   

    But, cloth and clothing are as much about all this and humour is one aspect of it. I remember how Readers Digest was one of the many books I peeped into for many inconsistent numbers of years. What repeatedly took me back to RG were these two columns--Life's Like That and Humour in Uniform. The short writeups which were based on real-life incidents made an exciting read for me. I have shared just two from the Humour in Uniform (pic courtesy-google images)  

  

      This also led me to look into the history of uniforms. Today, we understand that it is one way of establishing equality among children in the school. (It's yet another issue that there is elitism at work here too--some schools are more equal than other schools 🙆) There is a history to Uniforms as well--not just the personalised memory of our School Uniforms. Most middle-class people of the 1980s will be able to relate to this--the joy of getting a new uniform stitched (mostly, one size bigger so that it will last at least two years😁), the irritation of White Uniforms and that moment of eureka (for girls) to find a pocket in the Uniform skirt--are indescribable.

         Here is a brief account of the actual history of Uniforms: 

    i. I believe the introduction of Uniforms in schools began in the United Kingdom in the 16th C.  

  ii. As school became popular, it became an increasingly Upperclass affair and so, it was very formal 

   iii. In the 1900s the USA enforced uniforms in the School

 

   iv. Ancient India--3rd Century BC or so, had Gurukuls.  There was no 'uniform' but there was 'uniformity' in their dress. This serves the purpose of equality better I suppose. . . But, modern school uniforms and their notions  

 v. As early/late as 1665, Jan Steen's painting school in Europe depicts Village School casually dressed for school.

 

vi. The French Revolution is supposed to have started the tradition of military uniforms at school. This trend was imitated by the military regime under the Ottoman Empire. 

vi. Japan is one country that was not influenced by Britain.  Though today the uniform is modern, the early uniform of girls was modelled after the sailors and the boy's uniforms were modelled after the military. 

  So much for uniforms . . .  what about costumes?! That's my last blog post (in this series of clothes 😀, of course!! I am hopeful of continuing to write for at least another two decades 👀, dear reader, with your permission and encouragement )

Dear Reader, if you have anything to share about uniforms, please do👇 and if you are happy to read this blog, hit the follow button 👉 and if you would want to, share this blog with your friends and like-minded readers. 

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