Fandom and The Archers audio book Chapter 12, Felicity Macdonald-Smith

Crowd-sourcing material culture: A History of Ambridge in 100 Objects

Felicity Macdonald-Smith

The term ‘material culture’ was probably first used by Augustus Henry Lane-Fox Pitt-Rivers in 1875, when he defined it as ‘the outward signs and symbols of particular ideas of the mind’. Pitt-Rivers donated his collection of ethnographic and archaeological objects to found the Pitt-Rivers’ Museum in Oxford. The museum now holds over 500,000 items, organised by functional categories. Since the mid-1970s, there has been a growing interest in material culture across many disciplines: history, archaeology, social anthropology, history of art, human geography, design, and the decorative arts. Following the authors paper at Academic Archers conference on this topic in 2019, the Academic Archers Facebook group was invited to add to the limited list first presented: 143 different objects were suggested, leading to considerable online conversation as to the context in which items had featured. After some sifting and classifying, the proposed a list of 100 objects reflecting the material culture of Ambridge was formed, divided into different categories, including agricultural machinery/ vehicles/ implements/ buildings; food and drink; clothing and jewellery; character. 

Felicity Macdonald-Smith originally studied French Language and Literature at University College London; she also holds an MSc in Teaching English from Aston University; and an MA in European Language and Intercultural Studies from Anglia Ruskin University. Her professional experience includes teaching English as a foreign language both in the UK and abroad, and international youth work (World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts, and Council of Europe). After 16 years in university administration, first at UCL and then at Newnham College Cambridge, she is now happily retired. She is a volunteer house guide at the David Parr House, Cambridge and her interest in material culture was inspired by helping to catalogue the 5000+ objects in the house. She started listening to The Archers in the 1970s and after a few breaks while living abroad has been a regular listener for over 25 years.