MERRY GOURMET MINIATURES
1/12^th Scale miniature replica English
Food from the Medieval, Tudor,
Georgian and Victorian times.

Tudor Dining Foods


Tudor Kitchen Foods


Georgian Dining Foods


Georgian Kitchen Foods


Victorian Dining Foods


Victorian Kitchen Foods


Market Baskets
thru  the ages

There cannot be many people in Britain who from one
source or another, have not heard of Harrods and its
colourful owner Mahommed Al Fayed.  This unique
store with its motto of Omnia  Omnibus Ubique (All
things for all people, Everywhere) is famous as one of
the two largest department stores in the world.  Sited in
Knightsbridge London, one of the capitals most up-market
shopping districts its sheer size is staggering as it occupies
a prime 4 and half acre site, has over one million square
feet of selling space in over 330 departments, staffed by
over 5,000 employees, selling luxury goods of the highest
quality.  Among its many beautiful interiors are the
spectacular Food Halls. 

               

The grand re-building work in 1901 put terra cotta tiles
with cherubs, swags and pilasters along the main frontage,
palatial Art Nouveau windows, while inside French
craftsmen created fine rococco plaster work and vivid
Royal Doulton tiles designed by W. J. Neatby, were
installed in the Meat Hall, which are still there today. 
Coupled with the opulence of the interior design all the
displays of foods themselves, cheese, fish, wine, patisserie,
cakes, confectionery, delicatessen, meat, fruit and vegetables
all have the most sumptuous displays of mouth-watering
food, sourced from the best suppliers all over the world.  

            

All this started from very humble beginnings when in
1834 Charles Henry Harrod opened a small wholesale
grocery in Stepney in Londons East End, with a special
interest in tea, but in 1849 to escape the inner city dirt and
to capitalize on trade to the Great Exhibition in 1851 in
nearby Hyde Park, Harrod obtained a small shop in
Knightsbridge on the site of the current store.  Starting in
a single room with 2 assistants and a messenger boy, Harrods
son Charles Digby Harrod built the business, acquiring
adjacent properties and employing 100 people by 1880 selling
medicines, stationery, perfumes, fruit and vegetables. 
Disaster struck in December 1883 when the store burnt to t
he ground, but Charles Harrod rallied to fulfil all his
commitments to his customers for their Christmas deliveries
that year and made a record profit in the process.   New
buildings were soon raised on the same site and once again
the store continued to expand, 1898 saw the installation of
the worlds first moving staircase (the escalator) where nervous
customers were offered brandy at the top to revive them
after their "ordeal".

        

When the extensive re-building ended in 1905 its sumptuous
interiors continued to make it London?s most fashionable
store, with many famous customers such as Oscar Wilde, Lily
Langtrey and Ellen Terry, over the years this has continued,
Noel Coward was sent an alligator from the pet shop and
Ronald Regan was the recipient of a giraffe called Gertie.
A.A. Milne bought the original Winnie The Pooh bear for
his son Christopher here, and Alfred Hitchcock had them
send out herrings to him in Hollywood by air, and they also
supplied various services to the Royal Family.

         

Harrods is always worth a visit, but if you are especially
interested in food, its Food Halls are unrivalled, the men
and women who create the wonderful displays are masters
of presentation guaranteeing that you will not come away
without buying some indulgence as a souvenir of a remarkable
store.

       

 

The Project Archive:

 

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.