Saturday, 5th October, 2013

Friends Meeting House, Friargate, York, YO1 9RL

There were two presentations:

Costuming the Five Thousand by Janet Hull (Society Committee member)

She described the problems and delights of providing costumes for the York Mystery Plays in 2012.  Her talk was illustrated with many images.

From a background in fashion, Janet, a Committee Member of the Society, eventually took her pattern-cutting skills to the Wardrobe Department of York's Theatre Royal. As well as costumes for the popular `Railway Children' her freelance work since has varied between classical Shakespeare and annual Pantomime -'testing for custard-pie resistance' or alternatively, creating cow-nappies for a veterinary company! After all this, she undertook the massive job of supervising 100 or so volunteers to make costumes for the City's Mystery Plays, the biggest outdoor production in the North.

Colouring the Nation - The Turkey Red Printing Industry in Scotland c. 1840-1940 by Dr Stana Nenadic (Edinburgh University)

This talk was based on Dr Nenadic's recent research and told about what  was a major industry in Scotland in the 19th Century which exported all over the world.  Sadly, with the coming of more modern methods and dyes, little physical evidence of the former facrtories now exists.

Prof Stana Nenadic, is Professor of Social and Cultural History at the University of Edinburgh. As Principal Investigator for a major research project, Prof Nenadic was able to interpret a particular collection of Pattern Books within the National Museums of Scotland. These books document a century of manufacture within the Turkey Red Printed Cotton Industry north of the border, work which formed the basis of a recent exhibition entitled, `Colouring the Nation.'