Whatever happened to Lobby Ludd? Some Mercurial musings.

 

Family Group in London, 1950s. Personal archives. Is that Lobby Ludd in the hat?

An inconsequential incident at home has provoked a few Mercurial musings, mainly about how ingrained the symbolism of the planets is in our daily lives and our culture.

The question, "Whatever happened to Lobby Ludd?" arose as my husband was  giving a touch of fresh paint to the area between our kitchen door, which leads to the utility room and also has a door  giving access to the garage. I call it the lobby. He calls it an alcove. Daughter calls it a porch.

Using the word “lobby” had us both remembering a certain character called Lobby Lud, who was around in the late 1950s/early 1960s when we were taken on seaside holidays with our respective parents – me to Clacton-on-Sea, him to Blackpool and Scarborough.

Mercury, the winged messenger

As I remember, Lobby Lud was a mystery man who roamed around the resort, probably wearing a trilby hat and carrying a newspaper. People were encouraged to look out for him, and if they recognised him from his picture in the newspaper, to approach him and say “You are Lobby Lud and I claim my £5”.

The whole thing was a promotional ruse to get people on holiday to buy a daily newspaper. As I recall, it was probably either The Daily Mail, or The News Chronicle who ran this event, and it was done to boost newspaper sales. People often didn’t bother to buy a paper whilst on holiday so this was a way to encourage them to do so, with the potential £5 as the prize. £5 was quite a lot of money in the 1950s. Enter the planet Mercury and some of its manifestations in our world. We speak of mercurial minds, mercurial wit, and the speed at which this planet orbits the Sun in our solar system is relevant here. 

 

Mercury, closest to the Sun, completes its orbit in 88 days as opposed to our 365 days for Earth, with Saturn clocking up 29 years. Mercury, in astrological parlance, symbolises speedy communication of all kinds plus the learning and gathering of facts and sometimes snippets of useful information. English-speaking Newspapers have adopted the qualities of this planet of communication in their names, such as The Daily Mail, The Daily Express, and The Telegraph all have associations of speed and communication. Other regional newspapers attach a Mercurial association to their name by using the word Courier. 

 

Mercury, renowned as a trickster too, is also known as the messenger of the gods. The delivery company Hermes uses this name, which is the Greek version. Hermes was the Greek god of trade, language and travel, amongst other things.

Back to Lobby Ludd carrying his newspaper, and with a nod to Mecury in trickster mode, the whole thing had a quaint, slightly quirky ring to it. I don’t think my dad ever saw Lobby Ludd when we were out and about – or if he did, he tried to get me, but an innocent young child at the time, to go and challege Lobby and ask for the £5. I would never have dared to do this, but I was always on the lookout for a man in a trilby hat, carrying a newspaper when we were walking around in the central promenade area near the pier.

Those were days of innocent holiday family fun alright. In Clacton, as well as Lobby Ludd, there was a concert party on the pier twice daily and live entertainment and shows to go to. Today’s holiday makers are more likely to go to a multi-screen cinema with a bar, and read the news on their smart phones or tablets. And more often than not it’s only the older generation who have a folded, well-thumbed tabloid tucked under one arm. 

The essence Mercury prevails, but now it comes in different, technological forms.