Pearly Mandeville

Back in July just before the Olympic games began I introduced you to one half of the London 2012 Olympic mascots in the form of Wendlock.


Today I would like to introduce you to Mandeville captured in Spitalfield Market kitted out as 'Pearly Mandeville'.

Mandeville is named after the Stoke Mandeville Hospital, Buckinghamshire where in the 1940s, Dr Ludwig Guttmann established the Stoke Mandeville games at his Spinal unit at the hospital. From here it is said the foundations were laid for the modern Paralympic games.

So why the pearls? The practice of wearing clothes decorated with 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 (apple sellers) 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 fund-raising activities. In 1911 an organised pearly society was formed in Finchley, north London.(Wikipedia)