International Town Criers Day

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How is this Holiday celebrated?

This holiday is celebrated by remembering the honorable art of town crying.

► Host a town crier party! Have everyone come dressed as a town crier. For fun each person must take turns ringing the town crier bell and proclaiming some bit of news for the day. It's fun to see just what each person will come up with.

► Class rooms read history about town criers. Have your kids do the same thing at home.

► Have the kids color pictures of town criers.

Pictured Above:

The town crier in water color -Charles Green (1840-1898)

Origin of this holiday

Our research did not find the creator, or the origin of this day. We did however find that this holiday has been celebrated for years. There is plenty of documentation to support that this holiday does indeed exist. This holiday is referred to as a "National" day. However, we did not find any congressional records or presidential proclamations for this day. Even though we didn't, this is still a holiday that's publicized to celebrated.

The history of town criers itself goes back for centuries.

Now let's learn:

What is a town crier?

A town crier, or bellman, is an officer of the court who makes public pronouncements as required by the court (cf. Black's Law Dictionary). The crier can also be used to make public announcements in the streets. Criers often dress elaborately, by a tradition dating to the 18th century, in a red and gold robe, white breeches, black boots and a tricorne hat.

They carry a handbell to attract people's attention, as they shout the words "Oyez, Oyez, Oyez!" before making their announcements. The word "Oyez" means "hear ye," which is a call for silence and attention. Oyez derives from the Anglo-Norman word for listen. The proclamations book in Chester from the early 19th century records this as O Yes, O Yes!

History

England: In order to gain the attention of the crowd, the crier would yell, "Hear ye" - "Oyez".

In Medieval England, town criers were the chief means of news communication with the townspeople, since many were illiterate in a period before the moveable type was invented. Royal proclamations, local bylaws, market days, adverts, even selling loaves of sugar were all proclaimed by a bellman or crier throughout the centuries—at Christmas 1798, the Chester Canal Co. sold some sugar damaged in their packet boat and this was to be advertised by the bellman.

Europe: As in England, town criers were the means of communication with the people of the town since many people could not read or write. Proclamations, local bylaws, market days, adverts, were all proclaimed by a bellman or crier.

Criers were not always men, many town criers were women. Bells were not the only attention getting device - in Holland, a gong was the instrument of choice for many, and in France a drum was used, or a hunting horn.

North America: The office of town crier persisted into the early 20th century in some places. At least as recently as 1904, Los Angeles and several adjacent towns had official town criers. Even to the current day, the village of Mariemont located within Cincinnati still employs a town crier.

Australia: As of October 2010, the City of Sydney, City of Hobart, City of Greater Geelong, City of Portland, City of Ipswich, City of Gosford, City of Salisbury, Gold Coast City and 22 other local councils have an official town crier.

Herald, another type of messenger sent by a monarch or noble.

Vic Garth, reputed in 2005 to be the oldest town crier in the world.

Dead bell used to announce deaths and funerals.

Vic Watson, Huddersfield Town Crier, Yorkshire is the first Town Crier

resource town crier

We found recognition about this holiday from:

Calendar sites, News sites and personal Internet sites that blog and share information about this holiday.

staceyreid.com tell us "Town criers were an important source of news before the internet and print. I will be celebrating International Town Criers Day by going to the American border and shouting all the great news that is about Canada."

youtube.com: watch the video: "Wacky News on International Town Criers Day"

bethmmpromos.com says: "Relive and revive the tradition by using your own bell outside or inside your office building telling the world of your value, services and products. Before newspapers, people got their news from a court-appointed town crier. Launching a new product? This would be great time to notify the press and help generate some additional PR."

zanyholidays.com says: "....so when members of the ruling class (aka “the man” aka Royalty, nobility, fuedal lords, etc.) needed to inform the common folk of news rather than send out a flyer they sent out the town crier...etc"

References

• Ontario Guild of Town Criers

• Nova Scotia Criers' Guild

• American Guild of Town Criers

• Town Criers in Australia". Ancient and Honourable Guild of

Australian Town Criers.

• British Town Crier

External Links:

• Ancient and Honourable Guild of Town Criers

• 26th Annual Ontario Guild Of Town Criers Championships at

Brantford Ribfest 2011

Resources:

• This article is licensed under the GNU Free

Documentation License. It uses some material from

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cookie

• Top photo: Charles_Green / http://www.mutualart.com/Artwork/The-town-crier/CFCE9B1A3696DEAB