3-008-905 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

The Preston Guild Festival: costume ball in the Guild Assembly Room, 1862. 'The ball took place on Friday in the fine centre hall of the Corn Exchange, which was tastefully fitted up for the occasion. There was a good display of the rank, wealth, and beauty of the county, the farfamed Lancashire witches appearing in irresistible force. A list of the guests and their respective characters occupies four columns of the local papers. It was a splendid sight. About 500 ladies and gentlemen, attired in brilliant and fantastic costumes, filled the hall and mingled in the mazy dance, Costumes were adopted from every country and every age. The heathen mythology had been ransacked for appropriate characters. The wardrobes of the beaux and belles of Greece, Italy, and Spain; of Switzerland, Hungary, and Russia; of Turkey, China, India, and Western North America, had contributed to lend variety to the scene, while the dresses of the Tudor times and those of the Charleses were everywhere to be seen. All that money and taste could do to render the ball successful was done. Its arrangements were perfect, and reflect the highest credit upon the managers'. From "Illustrated London News", 1862.