[Magdalen] Dressing Up.

[cantor03 at aol.com]

There's an article in this month's "Pennslvania' magazine that features
the Thanksgving Day (USA: 23 November this year) Berwick, PA footrace,
the oldest continuous footrace of any kind (Starting: 1906) in the State.
Berwick is about 30 miles from my location.
 
The article picture is at the start of the 1908 Berwick Race.  There are
perhaps 30 runners, but a much larger crowd of onlookers.  The male onlookers 
are, without exception, dressed to the nines in three piece suits, ties, and hats,
and the women are in tailored dresses and hats.  The runners are in tank-tops
and shorts.
 
This is a FOOTRACE!
 
Part of the onlookers' dressing up may be related to the Thanksgiving holiday, 
but it seems still bizarre formality by contemporary standards.
 
How the dress codes have changed!
 
There was a fair amount of this dressing up for everything until the Viet Nam
War, at least in the USA.
 
 
 
 
David S.