Articles and Social History Insights
from Aileen her latest is
........
Shops and
Shopping.
In the main, the story of shops and
shopping is of the
upper classes and
the wealthy, with
a significant
middle
class from
the
18th Century
onwards.
They are
the only
ones who
have
left any
record
of their
purchases,
where
bought and
how
much
it cost, what
they
were going to
do
with it or who
they were going to
give it to.
'Consumerism', as
it is called
today, is
totally of our
time,
because,
previously,
people
generally
bought
only what
they
needed
to pursue
the kind
of life
they
aspired to.
Personal
and
social
priorities
were
different to
ours,
as
were money
values.
New ideas
spread
very
slowly, goods
were
more durable,
and
made up the
main
basis
of the
assessment
of
personal
wealth,
not only
during a person's
lifetime,
but
on their
death
as well:
many
wills and
probate
inventories
attest
to
this.
Even quite prosperous farmers
died leaving
little more than a
chair, a bed, its
mattress and
covers,
a
cupboard, a
skillet,
a frying
pan, a
few pewter
plates
and cups,
one
or two
coffers,
a lantern
and a
basket.
Sometimes
clothes
are
mentioned,
extra
bed
hangings, fine
linen
sheets or a
spinning
wheel,
and
of course farm
stock
such as 3
cows or
a pig or
two and
maybe butter
and cheese making
equipment. Very
little actual
money
is mentioned
and
that, quite
often,
was
bequeathed to
the
Church to
pay
for candles to
be
lit and masses
to
be said
for their
departed
soul.
For almost everyone, even the
wealthy, and
certainly for the
lower classes
until
approximately 200
years
ago, shops
played
no part at
all in
their daily
lives,
most of
what
they needed
they
either grew
or
made
themselves.
Bartering was
the
way most
people
paid for
their
goods. Very
early
trading, before
the
Norman
Conquest,
was
usually done
at
river crossings
or
where the
old
ridge trails
met
the green
ways.
Men from one
area
bartered live
stock,
skins and
pelts
for flints
or iron
daggers,
fine
pottery,
silver
brooches
and pins,
in fact
anything
that was
not
naturally
available
to them.
And, as
more
people
settled
the country,
these
trading
meetings
had, by
the 12th
and 13th
century,
become
organised
markets
held in
the centre
of most
villages
or towns,
under
the market
cross
erected by
the
Church to
encourage
honesty
in
dealing.
We
are an
agricultural
economy, so very
little money
changed hands, and
certainly not at
the small
weekly markets. It
was here that
produce,
over and
above the
family
requirements,
was bartered
for
the very
few
commodities
like
salt, pots,
pans
or fish which
could
not be
readily
provided
from the
few acres
each
family
cultivated.
Many
larger towns
had
specific
markets for
cheese,
butter or
corn
along with
more
varied wares,
such
as baskets or
pots,
but town
councils
charged
dues for
these
sites, and
imposed
regulations
on
anyone trading,
and these
regulations were
rigorously
pursued.
Alongside the weekly markets,
there were the
yearly fairs,
granted under
charter from the
King or
held under
the
jurisdiction
of
the nearby
Abbey.
Stall
holders paid
dues
for
the privilege,
either (in the
case of the
former) to the
Lord
of the Manor,
who
had paid the
King
for the
right, or
in the
latter
to the
Church.
These
markets were
in
complete
contrast to
the local
market, being
considerably
larger, and held
outside
the
town or
village in
open
spaces or on
hilltops, and
lasting
for
several days
at
least. Here,
money
was the
currency,
and
the stalls
and
booths were
much
more varied.
Traders came from
all
over the
country,
and even
from as
far away
as the
Continent,
and
brought
fine cloth
and
wine from
France
along
with copper
and
bronze goods.
And
from the
Baltic
States came
wax
and furs;
spices
and
perfumes came
from
the Levant,
and
fine porcelain
from the Orient.
Booths
sold
leather
goods,
purses,
perfumed
gloves
and decorated
belts,
jewellery,
ribbons,
lace,
dried
fruits, iron
from
Spain and
brass
ware from
the
Rhineland.
Stock
was bought
and
sold, as was grain
and wool;
servants, stockmen
and shepherds were
hired; jugglers,
clowns
and
musicians
entertained the
crowds; and
pedlars sold sugar
plums, sugar
candy, hot pies
and gilded
gingerbread. For
many, it was
the
highlight of
the
year, and
warmly
anticipated, for
it was
a great
social
occasion
and
usually came
at a
slack time in
the
farming
year, say
at
midsummer or
when
the harvest
was
in, so a little
time
could be
spared
from daily
work.
There were many regulations
concerning markets
and trading and
craftsmen and
traders were
expected
to be
content with
a
reasonable
profit
and not
take
unfair advantage
of
their customers.
Buying before the
market was open
was not
allowed,
trading
being
forbidden
until
the market
bell
was sounded.
Food
prices were
strictly
controlled by town
officials, who
also
regulated the
amount of bread in
a loaf, and the
strength of ale in
a
gallon.
The standard coin, and for a
long time the only
coin, was a thin
silver penny,
which could be cut
across and cut
again to give
change if needed.
Ordinary people
probably
saw very
little
of this
money,
unless paid
in
coin for
some
service or
task.
Craftsmen
may have
accumulated more,
but would
need it
to
replenish their
stock. Merchants
would deal largely
in coin
for their
goods, while
according to the
Pipe Rolls, which
are the
annual
accounts of
the
English Kings,
those
surviving
from
around the
middle
of the 12th
Century
show that
quite
a substantial
volume of
coined
pennies
were in
circulation.
In those early days there were
no 'shop-keepers',
each craftsman
plied his trade
from his own
dwelling,
the
front of
which, on
the
street, had a
boarded
opening
which
could be
lowered
each day
to form a
simple
trestle to
display
goods,
possibly
being
only some
6ft in
width. He
worked
in full view
of
the passers by,
stopping
his work
to serve
his
customers, for
there
were strict
regulations about
'secret' working,
such as working at
night or in back
rooms, that might
produce shoddy
goods to the cheat
the buyer. At
night everything
was stored in the
cellar. He usually
had a large board
outside the house
showing the sign
of his trade and
these
had to be at
least
9ft above
street
level to
allow a
man on
horseback
to ride
underneath
in
safety. One
exception appears
to be
the
Haberdashers,
who
were in a
different
category, and who
were,
quite often,
the
link between
specialist
craftsman and the
public.
They were
an
organised body
who
kept a varied
stock
of
merchandise.
Contemporary
accounts show that
their best selling
single
lines were
the
coarse woollen
caps worn by the
working people,
but
their stock
was
much more
extensive,
covering girdles,
purses,
buttons,
straps,
spurs,
bowstrings,
paper,
linen
thread,
beads, ivory
combs,
boxes,
dishes and
even
spectacles.
Grocers were merchants who
carried out
business in bulk -
'en gros' and they
eventually formed
themselves
into a
company
covering
spicers,
pepperers,
apothecaries
and
corders.
The craftsman did not keep
large stocks of
goods on his
shelves, as most
items were made as
ordered. Those
following a
particular trade
tended to
congregate
together
so that
certain streets
came to be
associated with
those
trades or
merchandise: for
example, the
Shambles were
where the
butchers
traded.
As mercantile trade expanded,
and goods began to
arrive from the
Continent,
merchants built
warehouses
holding
larger
stocks of
imported
luxury
goods such
as
sugar,
dried
fruit,
wine, cloth and
spices. By this
time many
levels
of English
Society
had become
more
prosperous
through
the wool
trade,
and by the
time of
Elizabeth
1st,
huge trading
companies,
such
as
the Hudson
Bay
Company and
Levant
Company were
importing
large
quantities of all
kinds of fancy
goods.
Gradually, buying and selling
became more and
more separated
from ?making' and
some traders began
branching out in
surprising
combinations.
On record are
?amourers'
selling wine,
and a glover
selling silk
purses and
painted
cloths as
well as
gloves,
while a
merchant
in
Kingston bought
and
sold, in the
same
shop, wine,
fish,
fruit, beer,
butter,
soap,
honey,
dye, horse
shoes,
bonnets,
linen
cloth and
thread.
At
the
time of
purchase,
nothing
was
wrapped or
packaged, it was
up to the
purchaser
to
provide what
containers were
needed, baskets,
jugs sacks,
bowls
or cloth,
with
which to wrap
the
finer
articles.
The sixteenth Century saw great expansion and more
prosperity. Ideas
were changing, new
countries were
being discovered
and
there was more
mobility
between
social
classes.
The
beginnings of
the
middle class
emerged
in wealthy
merchants
with
fine houses
and
prosperous
businesses. In
1567, Sir Thomas
Gresham, a
merchant and a
mercer,
built,
with his
own
money, the
Royal
Exchange, on
land
given
to him by
the
City
Corporation of
London. This was
between
Cornhill
and
Threadneedle
Street. He wanted
to create an
international
mercantile
centre
for trade
on the
pattern of
the one
in
Antwerp. The
Exchange
contained
an
arched
courtyard
where
traders
grouped according
to
the country
with
which they
had
business. In
the
Gallery, above
the
Arcade, were
some
160 small
shops,
little
larger than
booths,
and so
dark
they needed
to be
lit by
candles
even in
the
daytime. But the
rent
of each, at
40
shillings a
year,
would
hopefully
pay for
the
upkeep of the
Exchange. Lock up
shops, with no
living quarters,
were a
new idea,
and at
first
traders were
not
eager to rent.
But the Exchange immediately became extremely
successful as a
meeting place for
merchants, and as
such became the
place
to go to
hear all
the
latest gossip
and
news from
abroad. It
was,
therefore,
not
long before it
became
an elegant
rendevous
and the
'in'
place to be.
Retailers
of
quality fashion
merchandise
realising
the
potential,
swiftly
followed
and
opened shops
selling
some of
the
finest luxury
goods in
London.
London was wealthy and progressive, although some
provincial towns,
like Norwich,
Bristol, Exeter
and York, being
centres
for the
wool trade
in
their area,
also
had their
share of
prosperity.
The
more modest
towns
and villages
still
had the
small,
single
room,
domestic
shop and
their
craftsman
owners
still worked on
the
premises.
However,
they too
were
becoming more
prosperous,
with
the
building of
large
mansions and
great
houses which
needed
the very
best
in paintings,
fine
furniture,
tapestries
and
gold and
silver
plate.
Huge sums
of money
were
spent on fine
clothes, for all
cloth
was
expensive, and
the
embossed
velvets
and padded
silks,
fashionable
at
this time and
coming
from Italy,
had
astronomical
prices.
But, but
if
you needed to
make
a stir at
Court,
then you
had to
dress the
part. Gentlemen's
clothes were just
as costly, and
luxurious as the
ladies,
sometimes
even
more so, and
this
extravagance
continued
for
the
next 150
years. In
1660,
Pepys was
telling us
that, while he
went
to the old
Exchange
and
bargained for
lace
for his wife,
for
his
own lace he
went
to the 'great
lace
man' in
Cheapside,
and
paid £4.
There
was, by now,
a
distinct
difference
between
'marketing'
and
'shopping'.
Marketing was done
daily, by the
lower orders and
servants,
who
bought
vegetables,
meat,
fruit and
fish at
market
stalls,
paying
cash and
haggling
over
prices, while
gentlefolk,
even
with
a very modest
household,
would
not demean
themselves by
shopping
for food
at any
time. Their
shopping was for
luxury goods,
silk,
ribbons,
cloth,
lace,
hosiery,
hats or
various
accessories
and
they
would take
much
thoughtful
perusal
of the
goods on
offer.
Their
leisurely considerations
of things like
household
equipment and
furniture
could
take several
days
and would be
charged to an
account.
Pepys again writes in his diary that, at one
particular time,
with no
maidservant to do
the marketing, he
and his
wife had,
perforce, to do it
themselves. They
went to
Leadenhall Market,
after dark so they
should not be
observed and
recognised
by any
acquaintance,
but
even then drew
the
line at
carrying
it home,
and hired
a woman
to do it
for them.
Approaching the end of the 17th Century prosperous
merchant's houses
were surrounded on
both sides by
saddlers,
gunsmiths,
drapers, mercers,
goldsmiths,
pewterers and
tailors, and
so the
beginnings of the
High Street
emerged.
Booksellers were
coming
into
prominence
and
many gentlemen
were happy to
while away an
hour
or two using
them
like a
library.
Anyone could go
in and read
a
chapter, or a
page
or two, for
books
were sold in
loose
leaf form
and
bound to the
customers
requirements when
purchased. By this
means
a matching
set
could
be provided.
They also did a
steady and
increasing
trade
in
second-hand
books,
for print
runs of
new books
were
quite small
and
ready bound
copies
much sought
after.
Shop premises now began to have window's glazed
with small panes
of glass, instead
of the open
aperture and
wooden
shutter,
and more
and more
'middlemen' were
coming into
the trades
as a
bridge
between the
craftsman and the
customer. Astute
grocery
merchants
were
moving away
from
trading from
their
warehouses,
to
opening
little
shops
selling tea,
coffee, chocolate,
spices, dried
fruits
and other
luxury
comestibles, to
the slowly
increasing middle
class.
The last quarter of the 18th Century saw most small
towns with at
least half a dozen
shops, while the
newly popular spas
and county towns
had small streets
of shops. Not
every town,
or even
city,
could ape
London
and have a
Royal
Exchange,
but with
fashionable
society moving
into places like
Bath, Buxton or
Harrogate
(for
restorative
dalliance
after
the
hurly-burly of
the
social season
had
worn them
down)
select shops
began
to appear,
to
cater for the
whims
and fancies
of the
ladies.
With
little to do
but
meet friends or
take
the waters,
they
would then
repair
to small,
elegant,
premises,
to
purchase the
very
latest East
India
cottons or
muslins,
dashing
bonnets
or a
dainty fan to
bewitch the
current beau while
dancing at
the
Assembly
Rooms.
Meanwhile, at the same time, the arrival of the
Industrial
Revolution had
begun to change
the face of the
countryside.
The
migration of
many
families,
from the
rural
areas into
the
towns, meant
these families
were no longer
able to grow or
make for
all their
needs. So,
for the first
time, small shops
appeared in
working-class
districts to cater
for the factory
workers.
Some mill
owners even went
to the extent of
opening a company
shop
on their
premises,
to
supply standard
groceries
and
provisions.
Some
might even
have
had an
altruistic
motive,
but mainly
they
exploited
their
workers by
charing
high
prices and
giving
inferior
quality.
Encouraging credit, they also tied them into a
system whereby
they paid wages
with one hand and
took them back in
payment
for goods
with the
other. A
whole range of
shops now
came
into being,
catering
solely
for the
lower
classes.
These
included
shops for
cooked
food,
second-hand
clothes and shoes
and pawn
shops.
Most
low class
food was
adulterated,
so in
1844, in an
effort
to improve
their
situation,
twenty-eight
poor
weavers in
Rochdale
save
their money
until
each could
put in
£1, and
with this
small
capital they
founded
the first
Co-Operative
Society, buying in
a
range of staple
foods and selling
them to members at
a reasonable
price.
They
went from
strength
to
strength and
at the
end of
each
year were
able to
reward
their
members by
paying
them back a
small
dividend out
of
the
profits.
Britain was now expanding its Empire overseas, and
goods and food
came flooding in
from all over the
world, while the
growth
of the
railway
networks
rapidly
improved
distribution. Cities
and towns had many
fine shops
providing
jewels,
silver,
silks,
clothes and
household
goods
and on an
unprecedented
scale, but
one of the most
prestigious and
influential
was
a shop
opened
in 1875 in
Regent
Street by
Arthur
Liberty,
named
East-India
House.
It
prospered and
grew,
at first
selling
just
coloured
silks,
but rapidly
expanding into
anything good
in embroidery,
laquer-ware,
cloisonne enamel
or
Satsuma-ware,
Japanese fans and
Kimonos, plus many
other oriental
goods.
Well known
names,
in the Arts
and
Crafts
movement,
designed
textiles,
furniture and
metal work
specially for it
and leading
figures
in the
British Art
or
design world
such
as Whistler,
Godwin,
Burne-Jones
and
Rossetti
patronised it
extensively.
America was also beginning to influence shopping
trends and
Butterick's Paper
Patterns had
opened a shop,
also in
Regent
Street, in
1873,
and Gordon
Selfridge
opened
his
famous department
store in 1909. Big
from the start, it
had window
displays,
the like
of which
had never
been
seen.
Selfridge
brought a
new
concept to
shopping,
appealing to
middle
class women and
tempting them to
use his store like
a ladies club. He
deliberately put
his
perfume
counter
near to
the main
entrance
so that
the enticing
smells
would lure
the
ladies
in.
Although many started in a small, modest way,
department stores
had been growing
slowly until,
between 1850 and
1900,
and at
various
times,
arrived
amongst
others,
Gamages, Pontings,
John Lewis, Peter
Robinson,
Whitelys, Harrods
and
Barkers. And,
although
these
were London
stores, the idea
slowly
filtered
down to
the more
provincial towns.
Tea shops had
opened,
to cater
for
ladies needing
to
refresh
themselves
during
a long day's
shopping,
and many
specialist
shops
had been
opened,
such as
Lillywhites
in
1863. This
first
specialist
sports
shop
catered for the
immense
enthusiasm
for new
sports such as
croquet, lawn
tennis,
bicycling,
archery, golf and
skiing, all now
available to
ladies, as
well as
gentlemen.
Since the turn of the 20th Century, shops, and the
goods sold in
them, have
multiplied again
and again. Family
firms were
joined
by
entrepreneurs
extending their
trading by opening
new branches
all over the
country, mainly in
the grocery and
provision
market.
The
Co-operative
Society
had shops
in
almost every
town,
both large
and
small, and had
gone
on to
extend their
scope
into other
consumer areas.
They now
manufactured, or
dealt in,
confectionery,
furniture,
drapery, hardware,
shoes, and mens
outfitting,
amongst other
things, and in
their grocery
stores sold,
under
their own
label,
many of the
daily
necessities.
They
had a
reputation
for
good quality
at
reasonable
prices
and the
'divi' paid
out
every six
months
was a
welcome
additional
income
to a working
class
family on
low
wages. Many
traders,
like
Thomas
Lipton, who
had
started in
just
one commodity
(in
this instance,
tea) went on to
open
branches
nation
wide,
selling a
much
wider range
of
food than just the
original item.
Some of these
names are now
barely remembered,
like
David Grieg,
Home
and Colonial,
Maypole Dairies
and Mac Fisheries,
while Sainsburys
of course are
still with us.
Jesse Boot had
started
his small
Chemist
business
in
Nottingham,
Marks
and Spencer
had opened
their
Penny Bazaar
in
Leeds and by
the
beginning of
the
second decade
F.
W. Woolworth
had
arrived from
the States and
opened his stores
selling
everything
from
pins to
crockery
for 3d
and
6d.
Mass production has brought down the cost of
countless everyday
items, and many,
which were
previously luxury
goods,
to within
reach of
almost
everyone.
More
disposable
income has
meant that a much
greater proportion
of the population
has
far more
material
goods
than ever
before,
to such an
extent that
shopping
is now
really
classed as
'retail
therapy'.
It
has always
been
a leisure
activity
for the
rich, but
has now
extended
down the
social
scale, and
is
indulged by all
classes
when they
can.
People no
longer
shop just
for what
they
need, but
also for
pleasure, and
naturally
a lot of
what they
buy has
changed in
character. A
gentleman
does not
go out to
purchase
his books
unbound,
but buys
his
paperback
from
Waterstones.
He
does not
visit
his tailor to be
measured for a
top
coat and
breeches,
but gets
his
sweaters and
chino's
from Gap.
No
modern lady
would
be seen dead
these
days in a
mercers
or
mantua makers,
they are busy
trying on dresses
in Monsoon or
Dorothy
Perkins.
And as
for
furniture,
instead
of going
to Mr
Chippendale,
and
leisurely
choosing
graceful
items to
enhance
one's
fashionable
dining, more and
more is bought
flat-packed-put-it-together-yourself
from Ikea.
How times have changed.
All our miniature
food
items are hand made with slight
variations in colour and
texture.
All items shown are for dolls
house food and
miniature
food collectors, they are not toys
and are not
suitable
for small children. care has been
taken in the
production
of our replica food but some
substances used may be
harmful
to small children.