Old English Customs Record C (1950 1959)

A British Travel Holidays Association Film Commentary by John Glen. Produced by Associated BritishPathe Ltd. Continued. Hungerford, Berkshire. C, U of a man in a top hat blowing a 17th Century horn. This signals a kissing custom. Men who carry poles with bunches of flowers on top are Hungerford Totty Men. They knock at doors and demand kisses or coins When a woman answers the door, the Totty Man grabs her and gives her a big smacker. C, U of another of the Totty Men kissing a woman who leans out of her window. She looks a lot younger and prettier than him and it is quite a long kiss An orange is given in return for the coin or kiss. I d want a bit more than that to kiss either of those two blokes M, S of one of the Totty Men throwing coins to the waiting children. They scramble for the money. A proper show of coyness is always expected from the ladies says the narrator as a Totty Man climbs up a ladder where a woman looks out of a window. One woman slams her window so she does