The Minchin Sisters
LORD HELP THE SISTER!
Although it could never be called unpopular, being a sister seemed to come more into fashion during the Fifties and Sixties. In Britain the harmonious Beverley Sisters were a ubiquitous presence on the new black and white television screens which were invading the living rooms. In America, their equivalent was a trio called the Andrews Sisters.
Thelma and Peggy. The hair, the dresses, the white shoes so redolent of the early sixties, so different from the pre-War world into which they had been born. Photo Vic Riding. (Click to enlarge)
Not to be left out, Bourton’s answer was the Minchin Sisters – Eileen, Peggy, Nancy and Thelma and, like their TV versions, they introduced a sense of style and colour into a sepia existence. Although there was a long way to go, it was an early milestone on the road to female liberation, a huge advance on the restricted pre-War world into which they had been born.
On occasions, while doing her housework, Eileen would sing a song she’d heard many times over the radio (lyrics by Irving Berlin)…
Sisters, sisters…There were never such devoted sisters…
Nancy, Eileen and Peggy in the garden at 12 Rissington Road. Photo Vic Riding.
It’s punchline was frequently quoted…
Lord help the mister who comes between me and my sister…And lord help the sister, who comes between me and my man
Eileen and Peggy, beside the Windrush at Bourton. Photo Vic Riding.
As it was, the Minchin sisters were all attractive and got their men – Eileen and Ken, Peggy and Vic, Nancy and John, Thelma and Reg, and the sisters and their husbands always remained close.
27 July 1963, Grimsby. Susan’s aunties Nancy, Thelma and Peggy pose at the wedding of Susan Dale to John Waite
Peggy and Eileen in 1981, at Eileen and Ken’s Ruby Wedding at 19 Philip Avenue, Waltham, Grimsby.
Website request: Please send more pictures of the sisters together, with information and comments.