OHYADBY: Midwinter Redux

ONE HUNDRED YEARS AGO DAY BEFORE YESTERDAY:


It was Midwinter! Somewhat of a more subdued affair than last year, though there was a 'Christmas tree' and a goodly amount of alcohol.

It has been tacitly accepted by all of us that the tragedy of the autumn must not intrude itself upon us, and consequently we are able to throw it off at times and behave as if it were not intruding.

– Frank Debenham

A new edition of The South Polar Times had been presented at lunch so much of the day was spent passing it around. The officers sat down to dinner with their menus on little penguin cards ... the main card, which you can see in the photo above, had quite an adventure over the next hundred years, but is now safely part of the exhibition at the Natural History Museum in London.

After dinner, when various healths had been drunk, Gran jumped out of the dark room dressed as a clown, with his face powdered and painted. His acting was splendid, with a joke for everybody and sometimes a piece of poetry which he declaimed to the men as they came forward to receive their presents. ... Then Debenham put up his lantern and gave us a lot of pictures of all kinds ... he had taken a lot of time and trouble over these slides and they were excellent and added to the enjoyment of everybody.* The evening was closed by a sing-song. Each day now we knew meant one more towards the return of light and usefulness ...

- E.L. Atkinson, Scott's Last Expedition, Vol. II

*Debenham wrote in relation to some slides he had shown in a lecture a week before, '[they] are not good as I have not yet got into the knack of making them.'