I know how much you all enjoy a mystery photo – and this one has certainly got me stuck. I cannot imagine why a collection of youngsters would be dressed in what
look like Klu Klux can outfits.
There must be a perfectly simple explanation – but what?
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I have no idea what the children in the above photo are depicting but it is obviously along ‘The Esplanade’ at the bottom of Dukes Mound towards Sussex Square and the old Black Rock Volk’s Railway Station. If you look under, ‘Decorated Car at Brighton Carnival 1923’ you will see the same background. Same year, same place.
Just a thought- looking at the (very racist) depiction of what seems to be a colonial-considered ‘native’ on the float, and the fact that it’s advertising a printers- could it be an attempt to capture the ‘black and white’ of printing?
The ‘native’ looks more like a ‘cave-man’ to me. Is he chiselling some inscription on a rock?
I would also go for the caveman interpretation – there is what seems like a dinosaur head next to the leading upright of the Moultons’ sign.
The children all appear to be in white with a chest embellishment which I think could be meant to represent individual letters of a type face – you can just make out that the letters spell out MOULTONS – the U and the S are the most easily identifiable.
I agree it looks similar to the KKK costume but I think its an innocent costume – the masks are tucked in and they are all wearing white clown hats. Well done for seeing the lettering on the shields. I agree with the caveman theory – ie. letters have been around since cave dwellers sort of thing.
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