We have so many options for Christmas shopping nowadays but there was a time when it was only by peeping into the windows of shops that you could see what was on offer. Andrew Swift gives us an insight.
With Bath’s Christmas Market in full swing and the shops decked in festive finery, it’s easy to forget that much of this year’s Christmas shopping will be done online. What isn’t so easy is to imagine a time before online shopping, when shop windows offered a powerful marketing tool. To summon up the spirit of Christmas past, here are some of the ways the shopkeepers of yesteryear set out to tempt customers in search of those elusive special gifts.
J R GODDARD, Fruit Salesman, 14 High Street
We begin by heading back to the heady days of 1901 when the first consignments of bananas from Jamaica arrived in Avonmouth aboard newly built refrigerated ships. Before 1901, most people had never seen a banana, let alone eaten one, but, as their price plummeted, a craze for the bendy fruit took hold. By Christmas, they were an indispensable stocking filler and it wasn’t long before stern warnings were being issued about the dangers of dropping banana skins on the pavement – a practice which also gave rise to one of the most popular silent movie routines. John Goddard, a fruit merchant at 14 High Street, ensured that Bathonians knew all about the new exotic delicacy when it first hit these shores by cramming as many as he could into his shop and producing a postcard – seen here – to publicise the event.
A ERNEST MEYER, Chocolate Maker and Confectioner, 11 New Bond Street
While bananas are no longer regarded as a luxury, chocolate – especially the handmade variety – still features on many Christmas gift lists. One of the first chocolate shops in Bath – if not the first – was Meyer’s at 11 New Bond Street. Born in Switzerland, Ernest Meyer trained there and in Paris, before moving to Bath around 1900. He commissioned a new shopfront to show off his wares to their full advantage, and advertised ‘the latest novelties for filling to suit every taste always on view in my window’. He also boasted that ‘my chocolates are superior to others at the same and much higher prices’, and, with a mouth-watering display such as this, it is hardly surprising that his business prospered, so much so that in 1922 his wife opened a café – the Bernina – in Old Bond Street, offering omelettes, then still a novelty, along with Swiss, Belgian and English delicacies.
WALKER & LING, Fancy Drapers, Ladies’ Outfitters and Art Needlework Specialists, 3 Milsom Street, 4 and 5 Quiet Street and 2 and 3 John Street
Ernest Meyer’s elegant shopfront has not survived, but an equally fine shopfront at 3 Milsom Street, seen here shortly after it was installed in 1911, has survived largely intact. It was commissioned by Walker & Ling – ‘fancy drapers, ladies’ outfitters and art needlework specialists’ – who started up here in 1892, before expanding into 4 and 5 Quiet Street, 2 and 3 John Street and next door into 2 Milsom Street. In an age when the idea of browsing rather than standing in front of a counter and having items brought to you was relatively new, Walker & Ling were keen to entice customers inside. They ‘respectfully invited ladies to walk though our various departments’, assuring them that ‘they will not be pressed to buy, but we feel sure they will be interested’. Large adverts in local newspapers also listed the huge range of items available. Among the presents on offer in 1929, for example, were pincushions, calendars, feather boxes, fancy shopping baskets, scent sachets, tea cosies, fancy linens, cushions and table runners’. Also on offer was ‘a large range of maids’ caps and aprons in all prices’. Walker & Ling’s shop on Milsom Street closed in 1950, but a branch in Weston-super-Mare, opened in 1904, is still going strong.
J PUGSLEY & SON, Practical Bootmakers, 9 and 9a Charles Street
While Milsom Street and New Bond Street are still busy with shoppers, some once popular shopping streets have gone. Beyond Kingsmead Square lay Kingsmead Street, which, in the 1930s, was home to three butchers, four confectioners, two printers, a Chinese laundry, a motorcycle shop, two restaurants, two pubs, two hairdressers and much else.
At the end of it was Charles Street, where James Pugsley opened one of Bath’s best-known shoe shops in 1870, the same year that the nearby Midland Railway station opened. By the 1920s, when James’s son Charles had taken over, he placed large adverts in local papers in the run up to Christmas encouraging customers to ‘make a point of inspecting the window show’, which was something of a work of art. Branches were also opened at Combe Down, on Southgate Street and later on Cheap Street. As for the shop on Charles Street, it fell victim, along with much of the surrounding area, to the Bath Blitz. Today, Kingsmead Street – apart from a few shops at the east end – has completely disappeared, while the site of Pugsley’s shoe shop lies under the Apex Hotel.
COMMON’S TOY SHOP, 12a The Corridor (image at top of article)
Summoning up the magic of Christmas Past is this photograph, taken by Dennis Lanham in the 1960s, of Common’s toy shop in the Corridor. Established by John Common around 1903, it was one of the most popular toy shops in the city and its Christmas displays were a magnet for small children. In the run up to Christmas 1919, with wartime restrictions eased, advertisements appeared in local newspapers to let customers know that ‘Common’s have not had such a display of toys, games, dolls, tea sets, and animals for five years. Make your choice NOW.’ By the 1960s, as we can see from this photo, things had moved on a bit. A young girl stands transfixed, eagerly waiting to see cars running along a Scalextric track, while dazzling lights cut through the gloom of a winter’s afternoon. Over half a century on, this astonishing array of vintage toys not only evokes many memories but also shows how much things have moved on again. n
Andrew Swift: akemanpress.com