Dinner Time
Evlyn Raistrick, member of the Scottish Hockey Heritage Group, combines her love of food and hockey, finding some tasty Dinner menus while sorting through recently acquired Scottish Hockey collections
Photo - SWHA Diamond Jubilee Dinner, in Glasgow 1960
Here are a selection of menus to “whet” your appetite for our Scottish Hockey Heritage.
In a private collection of Jean Bryce, captain of the Scottish team who played at the IFWHA Conference in Philadelphia, are two menus, one from the outward journey on TSS Transylvania, Glasgow to New York,17th October 1936 and the second from the return journey on TSS Cameronia, New York and Boston to Belfast and Glasgow, 21st November 1936
Matches in Philadelphia were followed by a tour and matches in Washington, Cincinnati, Richmond, Chicago, Cleveland and Boston - as well as the menus, there is a map of the itinerary in the collection, and yes a tour lasting some five weeks. Reports of the tour and the IFWHA Third Annual Conference can be found in the IFWHA report from Philadelphia 1936.
“To paint the picture, imagine the Chestnut Hill Country Club in October in Pennsylvania, complete with lounge, dining room, ballroom, changing rooms, two perfect pitches, surrounded by trees aglow with scarlet and gold autumn tints, all within reach of beautiful country houses, hosting the hockey teams. Visits included Washington, Valley Forge, Arlington Cemetery, Bryan Mawr College.
Mrs Franklin Roosevelt, the President’s wife consented to be the patroness of the Conference, and the banquet given by the USFHA was indeed a grand finale - the high and the mighty on the dais serene - the toasts and speeches, presentations, national songs and anthems, the Star Spangled Banner, all a fitting prelude to Auld Lang Syne”.
Menu from the outward journey aboard the TSS Transylvania
Menu from the return journey aboard the TSS Cameronia
The next is from the dinner following the men’s international match against England on the 10th April 1948, played in Inverness. Importantly the result from this match, 1-1, and the impressive play from Scotland, led to the selection of five Scots in the 1948 GB Olympic team at the London Olympics - W N White (Cambridge University, Western), David Brodie (GK, Babcock and Wilcox), the brothers Robin Lindsay (Army), William Lindsay (Corinthians) and George Sime (Stepps)
Three years later the SHA celebrated their Golden Jubilee with a dinner, held in Edinburgh on the 3rd November 1951. Two matches were played as part of the celebrations, one against the Dutch which they unfortunately lost 8-0, and the other a combined Scotland, Ireland team v England, Wales
The SWHA similarly celebrated their Golden Jubilee with a dinner, reception and match v Ireland in Glasgow.
Both Associations celebrated their Diamond Jubilees in 1960, the men played Belgium, the women played Wales, at Muirton Park, the old St Johnstone FC ground.
Golden and Diamond Jubilee Books for both the SHA and SWHA are held in the SHHG archives.
The final menu is from 2000, when Scottish Hockey celebrated its Centenary at the Sheraton Hotel, Edinburgh with a grand banquet attended by some 300 members and guests, including the FIH President, Juan Calzado, the EHF President, Alain Danet and EHF Executive, the Presidents of the four Home Countries, and the chair of Sport Scotland - many of you reading this will remember it as a very fine occasion
A taster from the collections held by the Scottish Hockey Heritage Group and perhaps you might be tempted to add to our collections or even join the group.
We hope to join you at the Scottish Hockey Awards Dinner on the 7th February 2025, and share more of the work we do on collections, records and memorabilia - and make mention of the 125th Scottish Hockey Anniversary in 2025!
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