Visual Narratives: Pearly Kings and Queens

Basics

After being very fascinated by the Pearly King and Queen featured in the This Morning video, I decided to have a browse around and find out more! From Wikipedia: "Pearly Kings and Queens, known as Pearlies, are an organised charitable tradition of working class culture in London, England. The practice of wearing clothes decorated with a so-called pearl, actually mother-of-pearl buttons, originated in the 19th century. It is first associated with Henry Croft, an orphan street sweeper, who collected money for charity. At the time London costermongers (street traders) were in the habit of wearing trousers decorated at the seams with pearl buttons that had been found by market traders. Croft adapted this to create a pearly suit to draw attention to himself and aid his fundraising activities. In 1911 an organised pearly society was formed in Finchley, London."

Websites
Looking further afield from Wikipedia, I have found a whole heap of websites dedicated to the charities of the Pearly Kings and Queens. Again, Henry Croft is mentioned - who must be the father of the Pearly tradition. They are registered charities and show who is the Pearly King and Queen for each borough of London. Many seem to have been awarded MBE and OBE awards by the Queen herself for their services to charity in London.

• Pearly Society
• The Pearlies
• Pearly Kings and Queens Guild

Videos
On YouTube I had a bit more luck with uncovering what the Pearlies do.



An interesting reply on this video from a YouTube user had me thinking... "I fear these traditions will be lost." I had no idea who the Pearlies were before my research and I feel this will be the same for many people. It is a shame as they seemed to have such a huge influence back in 'the day'.

Pearlies seem to incorporate Cockney Rhyming Slang and traditional London songs such as "Roll Out Your Barrel", "Sling Yer Hook" and "The Lambeth Walk" at pubs, clubs, weddings and events to raise money for charity.

I find this old footage from 1926 of the Pearlies, their donkeys and carts very charming. Is this vintage aesthetic and traditional viewpoint something I want to incorporate into my work? How do I combine this with collage, cut paper and mark making?

Images
Some really interesting images from the above websites, rather than Google images:

Their outfits are incredible! I wonder who designs them - are they hand-made by each pearly? Do they have someone who makes them? Why each one is different? Are any outfits the same? What do the emblems mean? I'm seeing a lot of horseshoes, bells, swirls, flowers, hearts, etc. Why are they chosen?

Books

I have visited Wikipedia, YouTube and Google images as my first port of call - and I do realise that in a project that focuses on alternate research methods - but I'm having a hard time finding any books in the college library, on Amazon, Wordery, the Book Depository, Waterstones, Kindle, and so on.

Reflection
After some basic researching online, I have managed to uncover that the Pearlies have big charitable ties and have been going since the late 1800's - inspired by a chap called Henry croft. 

Next Steps

As this is all very basic information, I need to branch out and try to get in touch with a few Pearly Kings and Queens somehow. Their first-hand experiences will be invaluable to my line of enquiry should I choose to focus my book on the Pearlies! I am very excited by my find though, the aesthetic are so strong and the idea of being selfless and charitable is something that appeals to me a lot as someone who has worked tirelessly with organisations such as Henshaws, RNIB, Guide Dogs and action for Blind People. I think my project is now starting to take shape!