Alison Hilton, Marketing Officer, shows how, with a little bit of research, it is possible to link chocolate and English Rural Life, and invites you to come and talk about your perceptions of the countryside at our first Our Country Lives Information Day on Sat 4th October.

Staff and volunteers spent last weekend on the University of Reading’s chocolate-themed (award-winning!) stand at the Berkshire Show. MERL has been a part of the stand for several years, adding a historical element and a family activity to dairy, bread and fruit themes. After last year’s show, when the other departments involved suggested that the 2014 stand could be on the theme of chocolate, we were worried that we would find it hard to find a link with our collections – not much cocoa is grown in rural England after all! Fortunately, Assistant Curator Ollie Douglas was quick to remind us of the concept of the ‘chocolate box’ image of the countryside.

I’d heard of this term, but had never asked myself why quaint pictures of cute cottages and pretty rural scenes have come to be labelled ‘chocolate box’ images. Preparing our display for the show, colleagues explained all; it appears to be down to Cadburys:

Bournville is a ‘model village’ developed in the late-nineteenth century by the Cadbury family to house the workforce of their chocolate factory. At that time Bournville was on the rural outskirts of Birmingham, though it has now been subsumed by suburban expansion. The Cadbury family believed they had a paternalistic responsibility to provide a healthy and moral rural community for their workers. Families moved from inner-city slums to a planned village with large semi-detached houses, schools, a boating lake and a picturesque cricket pitch next to the factory. This scene was made famous on Cadbury Milk Tray chocolate boxes throughout the 1950s and early 1960s.

The term ‘chocolate box art’ is now often used to refer to such quaint countryside scenes, and the use of this imagery in the arts, entertainment and popular culture is often idealistic and sentimental. Our ideas about the countryside are often influenced by these representations.

Although we don’t actually have one of these chocolate boxes in our collections, we’ve recently deliberately acquired objects, as part of the HLF-funded Collecting 20C Rural Cultures project, which portray this kind of image of the countryside, such as a collection of ‘rural nostalgia’ plates, by Wedgwood…

The most popular image with visitors on our Berkshire Show stand was this one from a Wedgwood plate

This Cottage Ware tea set from the 1940s, made by Keele Street Pottery of Stoke-on-Trent, captures the quintessential image of the quaint thatched English country cottage. (MERL 2009/52 – 2009/54)

1940s Cottage Ware teaset (MERL 2009/52 – 2009/54)

This 120 piece wooden jigsaw puzzle entitled ‘A Cotswold Alley’ was made by Chad Valley, in the 1920s. The jigsaw depicts a classic ‘chocolate box’ cottage scene. (MERL 2008/99/1 – 2008/99/2)

1920s Chad Valley jigsaw (MERL 2008/99/1 – 2008/99/2)

We copied, traced and reproduced these images for children to colour in on the stand at the show and used them as a starting point for talking about how our perceptions of the countryside are influenced.

The working title of one of the new galleries is ‘Rural views and perceptions’. It will tell the stories of the home in the countryside (as a place for both living and working) and the changing nature of crafts. We really want to explore the idea that the popular image of the countryside is part-myth and part-reality, and to consider the contrast between the idea/ideal and reality of living in the countryside, and think about how these ideas have come about.

Our ideas about the countryside are often influenced by how rural people and places are represented in the arts and popular culture.  Sometimes we are given a nostalgic sense of a golden rural past, idealising the countryside way of life.

In contrast, the countryside can also be represented as a remote and frightening wilderness, removed from the rest of society.  Film makers have often portrayed the countryside as a harsh and brutal place, with the quietness seeming sinister rather than peaceful.

For people from more urban backgrounds, the countryside is sometimes seen as a place to retreat at weekends and for holidays, yet for rural dwellers, living and working in the countryside can mean a life of hard labour and sometimes even poverty.

At the Information Day on Saturday 4^th October, we’ll be asking visitors to look at contrasting images of life in the countryside from our photographic archives and talk about how they affect their perception of the countryside.

Information Day, Saturday 4th October, 2-4pm
Come and see the current displays for one last time, learn more about the project, see the first artist impressions of some of the proposed new galleries, and find out how you can get involved…

• Hear a short presentation outlining plans for the new galleries, facilities and activities
• See artists impressions and initial plans for the new galleries
• See some of the hidden treasures from the stores which will feature in the new displays
• Have a go at object handling – an example of the kind of activity which will be available in the new museum
• Take part in an ‘image keywording’ activity with staff to discuss contrasting images of the countryside & help inform one of the new galleries focussing on percetpions of the countryside
• Make a chocolate box decorated with nostalgic rural images and see the objects which inspired them
• Find out about the new Family Forum & Youth Forum and sign up to take part in consultations to have your say in the future of MERL
• Enjoy delicious tea & cake!

Having heard the news of our project funding earlier this summer, you may be wondering what happens next? So in this post Alison Hilton, marketing officer, answers some ‘frequently asked questions’

Has work on the project started yet?

We are still going through the processes required before work on the Our Country Lives project can start. There are contractors to engage, project staff to employ and plenty of red tape to cross!  You will, however, notice some small changes taking place in the Museum already, as our Conservator prepares for the process of moving the entire collection out! The Museum is still open and there’s plenty to see, but if you’re planning a visit to see a specific object, it would be a good idea to check in advance that the item is still on display. There is also the ongoing conservation work on the Festival of Britain wall-hangings taking place in the ‘farming cycle’, which means we are currently unable to offer the brass rubbing activity.

The collections team are already well into the in depth research phase, combing the object records and archives for details relevant to each of the new themed galleries. They will be blogging regularly about their fascinating finds here and on the research blog.

When will the Museum close?

We are hoping to have everything in place in the next few weeks, and are expecting to close by the end of October – we will let you know as soon as we have a confirmed date. We expect to reopen at the end of 2015 / beginning of 2016.

Will the reading room be closed?

The only part of the building to be affected by the closure will be the Museum itself. Access to the reading room and Special Collections Services, shop and rooms for hire will be unaffected.

Are you running events this term?

We are holding a public Information Day on Saturday October 4th at which we will be able to share more details about our plans, including the latest artist impressions of the new galleries.

To give us time to concentrate on Our Country Lives, we will not be running our regular Autumn events such as Apple Day, the Traditional Craft Fair and the Annual Lecture.  These popular events will be back when we open!

Our monthly Rural Reads book club will continue to meet on the last Thursday of every month but will move into the Staircase Hall and expand it’s remit to include the University’s Special Collections.

Toddler Time will run as usual on Friday mornings throughout September and will then from October 3rd will take place next door in the Learning Hub on the first Friday of each month.

There will be one family workshop, The Our Country Lives Big Draw, during half term.

You can find details of the Our Country Lives events programme here.

How can I get involved?

Once the project is up and running there will be lots of new volunteering opportunities and community projects to take part in. Our Volunteer Coordinator will keep you updated via the Volunteers’ Voice posts. In the meantime, we are launching a Family Forum and a Youth Forum this Autumn. If you’d like to find out more, call Rob Davies on 0118 378 8660 or email merlevents@reading.ac.uk