In 1894, the team presents a very different appearance. In March of 1893, the Games Committee Minute Book records a decision that the First XV should wear broad-striped jerseys and stockings. By looking closely, particularly in the neck area, there are variations in the cut of the knitted jersey fabric, no doubt to provide a range of sizes. There are, unfortunately, no examples of jerseys for this period in the College collections to examine to ascertain the manufacturer. It is known that the Kaiapoi Woollen Mill was producing fabric of this kind. It would be easy to concentrate only on the jerseys, but there are other differences in this photograph. The team is now all in shorts, albeit long ones, having gradually moved from the over-the-knee knickerbockers. The stockings have almost all been replaced by socks with turn-over tops. The monograms evidence variety and some appear to have been re-sewn from previous jerseys.
1894 First XV CCXV/1894/1
Leonard Walter Blunden’s First XV monogram worn 1896, 1897 and 1898. CCPM/10; 1993/46
That is not the end of the changes. By the end of the century, the photographs show that the ribbed cuffs and long sleeves of the jersey were being replaced by shorter ones ending at the elbow.
Christ’s College First XV 1899. CCXV/1899/1
Sources: • 1. Christ’s College Clothing Collection • 2. Games Committee Minute Book, Christ’s College Archives • 3. Ogilvie, G. 2004. Ballantynes The Story of Dunstable House 1854-2004 • 4. Secker, T.M. 2001 Riding on a Sheep’s Back: A Business and Social History of the Kaiapoi Woollen Manufacturing Company Limited 1878-1978 MA Thesis, University of Canterbury
It is often said that a picture is worth a thousand words. Photographs, too, have the power to communicate information that can be easily glossed over, yet when they are “seen’’, they can provide detail about contexts that the written word alone can never convey. - Jane Teal, Archivist
• 5. Teal, F.J. 2015 Bene Tradita Bene Servanda The Christ’s College First XV 1878-1899. Essay written for CLTE452 Social Aspects of Clothing and Textiles, University of Otago. • 6. Williams, Herbert W to [ER] Webb. 30 March 1922. Webb Scrapbook, Christ’s College Archives
62
Christ’s College Canterbury
Made with FlippingBook Ebook Creator