Pearly Kings and Queens

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A pearly King and Queen

A Pearly King (feminine form Pearly Queen) is a person dressed in a traditional cockney costume covered in mother-of-pearl buttons. These costumes were treasured heirlooms, hand made and sometime representing much of a family's material worth.

According to one account, the pearlies derived from London costermongers who sewed pearl buttons onto their clothing. An orphan costermonger named Henry Croft collected any pearl buttons that had fallen off others' clothes and covered his clothing with them. [1] Another story claims that in the 1880s a cargo of Japanese pearl buttons was salvaged from the River Thames after the boat carrying it foundered. One of the salvagers, Henry Croft, decorated his suit, hat and stick with pearl buttons, making him the first pearly king.

The pearlies were originally elected by costermongers to safeguard their rights from rivals. Modern pearlies no longer have this role, but tend instead to devote their time to charitable activities. Each individual area of London once had a king and his 'donna' (from the Italian for woman), as their wives / queens are sometimes called -- one for each of the London boroughs, one for the City of Westminster, and one for the City of London.

The patterns used on pearly coats, which sometimes run in families, have special meanings, among them:

Horseshoe = Luck
Doves = Peace
Heart = Charity
Anchor = Hope
Cross = Faith
Wheel = Coster's barrow
Symbols of Playing Cards = Life is a gamble
Flower Pots = Costermongers
Donkey Carts = Costermongers

Henry Croft's great-granddaughter is a Pearly, holding title to Somers Town.

[edit] In Pop Culture

In the Disney film Mary Poppins, the musical number "Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious" features a troupe of Pearlies.
In the film Trainspotting, when the protagonist moves from Edinburgh to London, Pearlies are featured.
The Traffic song "Pearly Queen" refers to a Pearly Queen several times, though it refers to sequins.
During the 1970s, British rock star Pete Townshend of The Who wore a Pearly King outfit for concerts and other events several times.
The White Stripes have donned the traditional garb for their 2007 album Icky Thump's album cover and related press photos.
The Pulp song 'Mile End' contains a reference to "The pearly king of the Isle Of Dogs".
The film Moulin Rouge! contains a character named the Pearly Queen - a can-can dancer wearing the traditional garb, with designs featuring the card suits.
In the British stage musical "Me and My Girl", when the working-class protagonists introduce their jovial friends to their stuffy upper-class relations, two of the friends are the Pearly King and Queen. The cover of the 1986 Broadway recording shows the protagonist wearing a royal crown and cape over Pearly King trousers.