dimanche 18 juillet 2010

Le plus beau bébé

[Joe Moran's blog] Rate my baby : En Angleterre en 1952 existait un concours, une parade et la remise des prix des plus beaux bébés, une tradition conçue dans une but démographique et sanitaire:
[The] infant carnivals were first staged in the early years of the last century, to encourage standards of mothercraft. They were often held in the first week of July, unofficially “Baby Week”. The babies would be examined by doctors and public health officers and judged on age, weight, general fitness and cleanliness. There was an award for best baby, but often every child who showed that they – and their parents – met general standards set by the judges would win some kind of prize, such as baby clothes, presented by the local mayor in his chain and robes.

La plupart de nos célébrations ont-elles, au moins à l'origine, un motif politique ou pratique?