Knobbly knees competition
A knobbly knees (or knobbliest knees) competition is a parody of a beauty contest, in which the winner is the person judged to have the knobbliest, or most misshapen, knees.[1][2]
Such competitions were popular entertainments at British pre- and post-war era holiday camps such as Butlin's (where they were introduced in the 1930s)[3][4][5] and Pontins.[2] The competitions became a byword for the holiday camp lifestyle.[6][7]
A June 1947 knobbliest knees contest at Butlin's Skegness camp was judged by Laurel and Hardy.[3] The denouement of the 1973 British comedy-drama film The Best Pair of Legs in the Business—from which the film takes its title—relies on a character having participated in a knobbly knees competition.[8]
References
[edit]- ^ Lewis, Barry (7 May 2020). "Hi-de-Hi! The knobbly knees and birdie songs of a Butlin's holiday – in pictures". The Guardian. Retrieved 13 August 2021.
- ^ a b "A Nobbly Knees competition at Pontins Holiday Camp at..." Getty Images. 11 February 2021. Retrieved 13 August 2021.
- ^ a b Tait, Derek (2012). An illustrated history of Butlins. Stroud: Amberley. p. [unnumbered]. ISBN 9781445611372.
- ^ Mason, Rocky (2013). Butlins in its prime: those golden years. Lulu. ISBN 9781291448504.
The Knobbly Knees Competition had for years been the butt of music-hall jokes but, up to the 1970s it was always one of the most popular and entertaining competitions of the week. Johnny O'Mahoney often compered it, and I did it myself, and of course it was done, by someone or other, on all the Butlin camps.
- ^ Leadbeater, Chris (18 June 2020). "Glamorous grannies and knobbly knees: The story of Butlin's, and how it changed Britain". The Telegraph. Retrieved 13 August 2021.
- ^ "Goodnight, Knobbly Knees". BBC Genome. 23 July 1994. Retrieved 13 August 2021.
- ^ "Russell Harty at the Seaside". BBC Genome. 3 September 1982. Retrieved 13 August 2021.
Sun and fun, dads and lads, knobbly knees, bingo, beer and punch-and Judy... It's all part of the entertainment on offer to guests at that famous holiday camp at Clacton.
- ^ "Best Pair of Legs in the Business, The Review (1973)". The Spinning Image.