Rhubarb Issue 2

r h u b a r b

OSE/School Tie Display Following a suggestion from the Martyrs, the OSE Office has produced a display of School and OSE ties which is currently displayed in the entrance to the New Hall. The Office would be delighted to receive donations of any other School ties not already represented for this display.

r h u b a r b r h u b a r b

r h u b a r b r h u b a r b

Youmay remember in the last edition of rhubarb there was a short article on the origin of the rhubarb colours. We asked for your recollections andMajor John Le Bas FreemanMBE (G, 1947-52) has been in touch to provide us with his story: “My recollections as to the origins of the Rhubarb colours are as follows; In the mid 1880’s it was decided to form an old boys cricket team and do a summer tour. At the beginning of the year the sporting of striped blazers in multi colours had suddenly become the vogue with Oxford and Cambridge colleges. The OSE cricket team decided that they too should follow the fashion but apparently when they started making enquiries as to the availability of a suitable striped cloth all the university tailors, bar one told them the same story, that they did not have enough striped cloth left to make up the required number of blazers. The one may have been Walters in the Turl. They had just enough cloth left in a ‘brown, pink and green vertical stripe’ to meet the requirement. It would seem to have been a ‘take it or lose it decision’, and stripes of any colour were obviously considered to be better than none. I cannot recall my source, but it could have been my housemaster, Gerald Segar during one of the talks he gave to new boys or advising those about to leave as to what OSE ties to buy. I know that it was said that when the Martyrs Club was first formed, only those with school colours were eligible to become members but I do not believe that this sort of qualification ever applied to the wearing of the ‘Rhubarb’. I hope this may help. Congratulations on r h u b a r b , The picture of Rupert Stevens prompts me to think I might indulge myself in getting a similar waistcoat!”

And continuing the theme of ties… RhubarbMakes Appearance at Goodwood

The following post on www. paigntonpeople.co.uk written by a ‘Mr H’ was brought to our attention…. “Thanks to Paignton’s leading private eye – my mum – one of the mysteries of my summer has been solved. Guideliners who were paying attention back in September may recall that Mrs H and I spent a fantastic day at the Goodwood Revival motor racing meeting. Much more than a race meeting, it is one of those occasions that demands the wearing of period costume, and I had opted for what I thought the well-dressed Austin Healey or Riley owner might have worn for a day at the races about half a century ago. This included a rather lovely tie which I bought in a charity shop in Paignton for a pound. It is striped in vivid pink, olive and burgundy, and I thought I looked pretty dashing in it. So did two chaps in the paddock, who were wearing the same ties. They were eager to talk to me, right up until the moment I blurted out the fact that I had bought it in a charity shop. I should have tried harder. I should have babbled on for a few minutes about prep, rugger and tuck, but I am just too honest. At the point where they realised the truth, their faces fell and I was shunned. Since then I have

been trying in vain to work out the significance of the tie, but my mum has come up trumps. In a Christmas catalogue she found a section featuring gifts in old school colours, and one of the illustrations on the tie. A little bit more internet clicking traced the colours to St Edward’s public school in Oxford, which is apparently known as ‘Teddies’. You can buy ties in the colours, for sure, but also cummerbunds, dressing gowns, silk Teddies is said by some to be the top co-educational public school in the country and its former pupils include Douglas Bader, Guy Gibson, Kenneth Grahame and Lord Olivier. Not me, though. But if you’re the OSE, as St Edward’s old boys are known, who donated the tie to the Paignton charity shop, thank you very much. Not only did you provide me with some stylish neckwear for Goodwood and the charity with a shiny pound coin in return, you also gave us a lot of fun in getting to the bottom of the mystery.” Source: www.paigntonpeople.co.uk pyjamas and all manner of things for well-dressed Austin Healey owners.

I thought I looked pretty

dashing in it. So did two chaps in the paddock, who were wearing the same ties

9