Christmas is over, but the shopping frenzy continues as we finish with Black Fridays and Panic Saturdays, and move onto the January Sales bonanza.
It seems like, these days, the shops are never shut and we spend our lives queuing for the bargain of the century – but has it really always been like this?
Well, apart from the fact that shops used to be closed on Sundays, the appetite for a good sale bargain has always been there: Documents at the East Riding Archives in Beverley show that while the Shops Act 1912 ensured opening hours were closely regulated with a weekly half holiday in which shops closed at 1pm on Thursdays; local businesses in our region could open until 7pm during the week and 10pm on Saturdays – not much different to nowadays.
Archivist, Sam Bartle said: “We’ve been trawling through the archives uncovering images of shops from the early 20th century to see what shopping was like in those days, and the main difference between then and now appears to be that shops were smaller and more locally-oriented.”
The types of shops and our shopping trends may have changed but the January sales have always been there. It’s a natural part of the retail trade to sell off what remains from the last year’s Christmas spending spree and clear the stocks for the forthcoming year.
So, what kind of shops were people searching in the early 1900s on their January bargain hunt? Well, in the town of Beverley, they were treated to a variety of wares including Arthur Peabody’s ‘high class menswear’, W Fawcett’s groceries, Richard Care’s cooked meats, Percy Whiting’s dried fruit, C A Skinner’s saddles, and Walter Evans’ boots and shoes. With the high street chains still in a minority, it was local traders on whom people relied for buying their worldly goods.
You can search the East Riding Archives to learn more about local shops of the past by visiting the research room at the Treasure House, Beverley. For more details visit http://www2.eastriding.gov.uk/leisure/archives-family-and-local-history
