donkeys, paddling and making sandcastles on the beach. In old photos you'll notice
most people are wearing ordinary clothes, with trousers and skirts rolled up to keep
dry.
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Travelling shows
Funfairs and circuses travelled around the country. Funfairs had roundabouts
(worked by steam engines), slides and swings, coconut shies, shooting galleries and
sideshows with strongmen, fire-eaters, jugglers and fortune-tellers. Circuses put on
shows in big tents, and often paraded into the town on arrival with the clowns,
elephants, horses and camels. Children laughed at Punch and Judy, a one-man
travelling puppet show.
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Theatre and Pantomime
The Victorians loved theatre, and most towns had at least one theatre or music hall.
At Christmas, lucky children were taken to the pantomime. This
was often a lavish show with exciting special effects (lights,
smoke, loud bangs, live animals). Poor children who could not
afford a theatre seat might get a job in the pantomime as
'juvenile dancers' or 'crowds'. Children paid a penny to get into
the cheap music halls, and came out whistling the latest
popular song.
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Rich and poor families
In Victorian times, many families had 10 or more children. Sadly, many children died
as babies, or from diseases such as smallpox and diphtheria. Child-death struck rich
and poor families.
In a Victorian town, it was easy to tell who was rich and who was poor. Children from
richer homes were well fed, wore warm clothes and had shoes on their feet. They did
not work, but went to school or had lessons at home.
Poor children looked thin and hungry, wore ragged clothes, and some had no shoes.
Poor children had to work. They were lucky if they went to school.
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Why did children go to work?