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Clip description
Children wearing party hats at the Dyer family home are seated around a table. Janet, the birthday girl, wears a blue dress and matching ribbon in her hair. A suitably coloured birthday cake topped with six candles is iced with the words ‘Happy birthday to Janet’. Janet attempts to light the candles then blows them out. The candles are lit again and the lights turned out so the flames flicker in the darkness before they are blown out once more.
Curator’s notes
Children’s birthday parties are a rite of passage and a part of growing up. This party from the 1940s records not only glimpses of this (such as Janet burning her fingers while attempting to light her candles with a match), but also the types of dresses and costumes that children wore to events like these.
