Unofficial London - Step Back in Time.

Of these wonderful old shops, which is the cuckoo in the nest?

 

Last Saturday I visited St James's Street and Piccadilly, London, to research gentleman's clubs (but that's another story and another blog post!). I was delighted to find some wonderful old shops that appeared as they might have done when Beau Brummell strutted down St James's or Oscar Wilde went to buy cigarettes. An added bonus were the lovely Christmas displays - so as I'm getting into the festive spirit I've posted some photos and a little trivia associated with each shop.

But which shop is fake and only pretending to be old…read on for the answer!

 

Fortnum and Mason - this photo courtesy of Andrew Marriott.

Fortnum and Mason.
The Fortnums were originally high-class builders who moved to London after the Great Fire, to cash in on the capitals reconstruction. William Fortnum became a footman to Queen Anne. William had the idea of collecting the royal households waste candle stubs and melting them down to make new candles, which he then sold to Hugh Mason who in 1705 had opened a small shop in St James's market.

Fortnum and Mason - Christmas window display 2012.

Over the centuries Fortnum and Masons have continued that tradition of entrepreneurship. From 1795 to 1839 they offered their own postal service, with collections made six times a day. At the Great Exhibition of 1851, Fortnum's won first prize as importers of dried fruit (incidentally, they also supplied dried fruit to the troops at the Battle of Waterloo, 1815) And when Queen Victoria wanted to send strong beef tea to servicemen tended by Florence Nightingale during the Crimean War, it was Fortnum and Masons she turned to.

Hatchards - 2012.

 

Hatchard's.

Also just around the corner from St James's Street, on Piccadilly, is Britain's oldest surviving bookshop. Since 1797 the current site has been occupied by a bookseller, pioneered by John Hatchard.

Lobbs window - 2012

 Lobbs.

Lobbs was founded in 1829, and the original John Lobb was a lame farm hand, whose skill with the last and awl won him awards and brought him to the attention of royalty. His shop was established at 9 St James's Street, on site of Lord Byron's bachelor pad, and to this day still sells traditional hand crafted boots

Truefitt and Hill - 2012

 

Truefitt and Hill
William Francis Truefitt first sold gentlemen's grooming products in 1705. Just six years later he had established himself as "Court hair cutter" and "Court head dresser", and along with his brother Peter, later went on to became Wigmaker to King George III.

Berry Bros and Rudd - 2012.

 

Berry Bros and Rudd
Another business with links to George III is Berry Brothers and Rudd. Being close to St James's Palace, no doubt their attractive window displays of exotic goods such as tea, coffee, cocoa, spices and snuff, soon attracted royal attention.

 

They were established in 1698, and still trade from their original site, 3 St James's Street, London. Today they are principally known as fine wine and spirit merchants, and in 1994 were the first wine retailer to open an online shop.

James J Fox -2102

 

James J Fox - cigar merchant
This is the world's oldest cigar merchant - so old that they there is a museum in the basement! They first started retailing cigars in 1787, although the Fox family wasn't involved until 1881 when the great great grandfather of the current owner opened a retail shop. Customers have included Winston Churchill, who bought his cigars here, and Oscar Wilder, who defaulted on his bill of 37 pounds, for gold tipped cigarettes of which he reputedly smoked 100 a day.

Burlington Arcade - 2012

 Burlington Arcade -

No post on Victorian shopping would be complete without a mention of the Burlington Arcade. The arcade was built to stop litter and dead cats being tossed over Lord Burlington's garden wall - (for more see a previous post here:  http://graceelliot-author.blogspot.co.uk/2012/08/dead-cats-and-commercialism-london.html  )

 And the cuckoo?

Did you guess?
The answer is: Truefitt and Hill - because although the business dates back to Georgian times, this shop was only established in 1994 and merely looks old, as opposed to the other premises which really are old! 

The contents may have its roots in Georgian times
but this shop was established in 1994.

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Dead Cats and Commercialism - London Trivia #3

Today's tale of London trivia tells how the exclusive shopping venue, the Burlington Arcade, Piccadilly came into being.

The original triple arch entrance to the Burlington Arcade.

For those unfamiliar with London, the Burlington Arcade is a parade of high-end shops housed in Georgian splendour, beside the current home of the Royal Academy, Burlington House. However, did you know that in 1819 these Georgian shops came into existence to stop dead cats falling on Lord Cavendish when he sat in his garden?

Interior of the Burlington Arcade today.

 In the early 19th century Lord George Cavendish was the owner of Burlington House. But no matter how splendid his residence, Lord Cavendish derived little pleasure from sitting outside because of a constant rain of oyster shells, apple cores, bottles and even the odd dead animal. This was because an alleyway ran alongside his property and the passers-by liked to lob their rubbish over his garden wall.

The Burlington Arcade - interior.

Cavendish's solution was to commission Samuel Ware to design a arcade of small shops in the alleyway, and do away with the nuisance of the uncouth public dumping their rubbish over his wall. The result was the Burlington Arcade, which still exists as a retail mall to this day. Opened on 20th March, 1819, the mall reputedly cost 49,000 pounds to build, rent for a single unit was a little over 12 pounds a year. One of the first lease holders was patronised by the Prince Regent to supply gold lace for his uniforms.



The Burlington Arcade to the left and the edge of the Royal Academy to the right.

Originally a single storey building, an upper level was added in 1906 with apartments to let (as one wit put it, "To a better sort of courtesan".) The original triple arch entrance was removed in 1931 and a new design added, which was much disliked at the time. The shops are small but famous for selling expensive, luxury goods - hence quality over quantity.

Lord George Augustus Cavendish.

 A beadle (the Georgian equivalent of a security man) patrolled the mall in order to stop the 'wrong sort' entering. The first beadles were recruited from the Cavendish family regiment of the 10th Hussars to enforce a strict code of conduct within the arcade which included: no running, whistling or playing musical instruments, no carrying large parcels and no babies' prams. In the 19th century the beadle had a leather armchair at the entrance on which to sit whilst keeping an eye on visitors. It was also the beadle's job to ring a hand-bell to tell the shops to close. To this day there is still a team of four beadles(but no chair) and they have the authority to eject you from the arcade if behaving inappropriately.

Widget- because she's cute...and I wouldnt want her falling on my head!

So finally, if you visit the longest covered street in Britain, spare a thought for the Burlington Arcade's original reason for being - to stop dead cats falling on Lord Cavendish's head!