King of the Kindred
1920s: the decade that changed London
John Hargrave, a 26 year old advertising copywriter and designer, established the Kibbo Kift on 18 August 1920. The name meant ‘great strength’ in old Kentish dialect. Hargrave hoped that the Kindred, disciplined by fresh air, exercise and the mastery of crafts would act as a catalyst on an apathetic society. These ideas attracted young middle class Londoners - teachers, shop clerks and artists - united by a belief in a better world.
Among the seven aims of the Kibbo Kift were open air education for children, training in nature craft and the health of mind, body and spirit. Their core activities in the early twenties were hiking and camping. There was also a strong ceremonial aspect, including naming ceremonies – Hargrave, the ‘Head Man’, for example, was known as White Fox.
The symbols and practices of the Kibbo Kift came from many sources, including ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs, traditional folk tales, Red Indian woodcraft and Eastern yoga. Followers were encouraged to decorate their tents and rucksacks, keep illustrated diaries and carve totem poles. Many beautiful and striking artefacts survive today as a result. Hargrave took care of the central imagery – today we’d call it a ‘brand’ – and in the way he controlled the organisation’s identity, his work was very modern.
Hargrave’s political views became increasingly fervent, and by 1931 he had shifted the agenda to campaign for an economic system that would balance consumption and production for the good of all. By 1935, Kibbo Kift had become the Green Shirt Movement of Social Credit and where once its members hiked, now they marched in military style. It eventually fell foul of the Public Order Act of 1937, designed to curb Oswald Mosley’s Black Shirts. By 1950, the movement had been disbanded.
Novelist D.H. Lawrence said of John Hargrave, ‘If it weren’t for his ambition and his lack of warmth, I’d go and Kibbo Kift along with him.’ Other young urbanites felt the same, that the early progressive ideals of the movement were a breath of fresh air, but that the reins were held too tightly by its leader.
You can learn more about the Kibbo Kift at 1920s: the decade that changed London.
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