British Witches of 1964

Some photos of the coven headed by Eleanor “Ray” Bone. Possibly from the weekly magazine Tit-Bits. Here is a Wikipedia entry about her.

In 1964, you could wear a white shirt and tie in circle, if you came straight from the office, I suppose.

(Remember, witches in England were hung, not burned during the Early Modern period, the height of the witch trials.)

2 thoughts on “British Witches of 1964

  1. Your headline put me in mind of one of those large, colorful, somewhat nostalgic coffee table books cataloging the now good old days of, say, WWII aircraft, British sports cars, classic English gardens, The Beatles early days, or Monty Python. The b&w pics are fairly conventional and hospitably homely–except that in the background somebody is telling us that there’s really a living Lord & Lady sitting on the sideboard while the Ministry of Silly Witches takes tea.

    In addition, English Witches probably were precursors of Page Three gals. Popocculture everywhere.

    (FWIW, Mrs Ray Bone reminds me of the most English-ish of my great aunts and aunts, the ones born in England and brought over small and the oldest ones born here but raised according to English custom, before much California ways touched the family. And, No, I’m making no claims about my fam-trads or such. Just noting a point of familiarity vis a vis cultural persistence in immigrant families.)

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