The British High Street has always been something of an institution, and I’ve been sad on recent visits to Britain to see empty shops, fewer shoppers (they have gone to large and faceless shopping malls in the suburbs) and sometimes a real sense of desolation. I have just been reading The Bookshop, the Draper, the Candlestick Maker: A History of the High Street by historian Annie Gray, which takes the reader on a fabulous stroll through the history of shopping.
It begins with the 1600s, where market stalls and goods offered from house windows were the main forms of shopping, through to the 1960s when hideous concrete monstrosities began to blot the picturesque high streets of England. Annie Gray gives so much rich historical detail – I learned about the start of department stores, the social status of shop girls, the terrible lack of women’s toilets in any shopping district for such a long time, the shop signs used before street numbering began, the ways in which shop owners advertised their wares, and so much more. Did you know that originally a ‘toyshop’ sold goods for adults, not children (their goods were usually made from metal)? The author shows us the human element of the High Street (which got its name because it was literally higher, thanks to paving stones, than the surrounding area) and shows how the British High Street was the beating heart of a community. Those of us who love English novels will find so much to enjoy. I thought so often of literary characters as I read it – Christopher Robin going to the sweet shop with Nanny, Harriet Smith buying ribbons at Ford’s in Emma, Miss Mapp doing her marketing and catching up on the gossip in E.F. Benson’s hilarious Mapp and Lucia series, and Miss Matty of Cranford setting up a genteel shop selling tea.
Annie Gray is primarily a food historian. I loved her book The Greedy Queen about Queen Victoria’s eating habits. I will look for her next book with interest!
Do you also feel the demise of ‘The High Street’ shops? Even in Sydney? Let me know your thoughts in a comment.
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Heather Grant
It’s on the List
I agree that shopping malls can be extremely boring. I always go for the boutique shops, small bookshops etc. live now in Port Macquarie and the town doesn’t have a shopping mall as such – just independent stores and now that we are getting back to a real world, many boutique small shops are popping up.
John
I am indeed a fan of High Streets, and the book sounds great! I know some lovely ones in Sydney. My understanding is that faceless shopping malls are struggling too, replaced by online shopping.
Ruth Wilson
as always Susannah you introduce me to small curiosities that make the literary life so fascinating, Thank you