What did we do on the 12th May 2024?
As the Mass Observation Team, and a handful of trusty volunteers and placement students, reach the end of cataloguing the diaries we received as part of our annual diary day, we ask how did we spend it?
In total Mass Observation received over 600 hundred diaries from up and down the country. Writers came from across the UK and the image below demonstrates the most prevalent locations// A diary drive from Bolton Museum saw an increase in voices from the North West, in total MO received 63 diaries from the North West. However, they were overtaken by a school in Burgess Hill, which sent in diaries from every child in the school, which meant we received a 343 diaries from them in total!
As ever the diaries varied in length, with some only spanning a couple of lines and others stretching over many pages. How people choose to record their day can also vary greatly, for example, some choose a more narrative format with others electing for times and bullet points. A group of Brownies chose to record their day in a comic strip format, inspired by a diary from our Covid collection!
As with previous years, diaries from came from writers of all ages. This year our youngest writer was four years old and our oldest was one hundred.
Lots of writers started their days tired. Many had stayed up hoping to see the Northern Lights, which had been visible in many parts of the UK the night before. However, few were able to see much, or anything at all and many writers expressed disappointment about this.
Other diarists had stayed up late to watch the Eurovision song contest. As ever, opinions about the contest were divided. Some avid fans among our writers thought it another entertaining year, whereas others felt that the contest was either overly political, overly stylised and lacking in substance. A handful commented on the discussion surrounding Israel’s participation in the competition.
As the day progressed many writers across the UK commented on the fact that it was a sunny day, following what felt like a long grey winter. In these comments, some express concerns about the changing climate and the impacts of climate change on the world around them.
For many, this sunny weather meant it was finally time to head into the garden. Lots of writers spent the day gardening, visiting garden centres or plant shows. No Mow May was also recurrent across entries, with many writers observing how their garden was different as a result of the initiative. Many others used the opportunity to clean the house and get ready for the week ahead.
As ever with our 12th May diaries, whilst there are similiarities in experiences there are also many differences. These derive from age, location, gender and employment type.
For anyone interested in accessing the 12th May diaries, these will soon be available to view at The Keep, or remote access can also be provided to digital diaries. You can contact the team to find out more about remote access. If you would like to see an example of how 12th May diaries are used in research, we reccomend Nick Clarke’s new book ‘Everyday Life in the Covid-19 Pandemic: Mass Observation’s 12th May Diaries’.