School Picnics
This photograph is of a school picnic at Pearson Park on Bonson Road. The word picnic comes from the French term “pique-nique” which in the mid-1600’s onwards was used to describe gourmands who brought their own wine when dining out. Picnics occurred earlier however, as necessity allowed. Someone working in a field or hunting would not return to the home to each, they would bring food with them to eat while outside. Aristocracy were able to hold picnics in their homes or hired locations as originally picnics were viewed as an indoor activity. The Victorian era picnics were the luxury of the wealthy, as lower classes could not afford to pack up a feast. It was the middle class of London that took the picnics outside. There isn’t a clear reason why there was a shift from indoors to outdoors, but this is the point that picnics started taking on their more relaxed nature. It was not until the 20th century that the outdoor picnic dominated the indoor picnic. It created a need for a specialized basket to carry the picnic supplies, and this is the time that you see the commercialization of picnic baskets.
Details:
Latitude: 49.2220264200368
Longitude: -122.68080961700
Direct Link: https://www.pittmeadowsmuseum.com/locations/school-picnics
