Basic HTML Version
4
City & Village Tours: 0845 812 5000 info@cityandvillagetours.com
in London. Dickens & Smith opened in Oxford Street
in 1790, but by 1835 they were in Regent Street and
known as
Dickens & Jones.
In 1833 a Yorkshire man
, Peter Robinson
, opened
a drapers shop in Oxford Circus. He specialised as a
‘Court and General Mourning House’ – to become
known as
Black Peter Robinsons
. Apparently, a
carriage was always available to take shoppers
immediately off to the appropriate ‘mourning house
or Chapel of Rest’ after having purchased the suitable
mourning outfit, of course. Peter Robinson employed
a young buyer who learnt his trade with the company
for 14 years before moving on in 1870 to open his
moving to Bond Street in 1830.
The introduction of plate glass, the use of gas for
better lighting and a change to shop displays was
leading to a shopping revolution.
The poet Shelley wrote:
‘Oh, the lamps of light! Her rich goldsmiths,
print-shops, toy-shops, mercers, pastry cooks…
These are thy Gods, Oh London!”
In 1804 a German visitor was moved to write:
‘The street looks as though it were illuminated for
some festivity: the apothecaries and druggists
display glasses filled with gay-coloured spirits: the
confectioners dazzle your eyes with their candelabra
and tickle your nose’
And talking of druggists – you can still visit an
‘original’ druggist and chemist store in St James
Street
,
D R Harris
. Founded over 200 years ago,
they hold the Royal Warrant for the Prince of Wales
and supply all of his toiletries, including his
Cologne. They’ll even tell you what his favourite is.
Very nice for a last minute Christmas present!
In the 19
th
century, shops began to get bigger.
This initiative was led by the drapers. Ladies
clothes needed to be displayed, to be taken out,
to be shown in detail and to be tried on. There was a
huge improvement in manufacturing techniques and
transport was becoming quicker – so goods could be
transported from the factory to the shop quickly and
easily. Gas lighting and plate glass manufacture
were improving so there was the ability to build
what we now call ‘department stores’. Maybe the
French got there first with ‘Bon Marche’ – but we
were soon on their track. Regent Street and Oxford
Street were beginning to be the centre of shopping
Jermyn Street