Kathleen Edkins There was a big furniture shop here for years and years. It was called Perrin's. I got my furniture from there when I got married in the 1950's.
Emily Henson
When I was young the market stalls in Lewisham were all along the road and there weren't the big shops like there are now. There were just smaller shops. There was one called 'Home and Colonial' where we'd get nice rashers of bacon. They served you from behind the counter wearing white overalls and a hat because of the food. They didn't wear gloves but would pick up the bacon with tongs to put it on the scales.
Joan Benson
There were three small Sainsbury's in the 1950s and you always have to queue. You had personal service at the counters I much prefer it now, because you always had to push and shove to get served. You just had your shopping list and the poor girl had to weigh everything for you. The cheese was cut all on a marble slabs, and for butter pats they used keep wooden spatulas in a bowl of water, You'd ask for a pound or half a pound, and they'd cut it off this big slab and pat it into shape.
Kathleen Edkins Before the war there were the stalls in front of the shops, just like at Lewisham. There were 2 Kennedy's sausage shops. There was a Jewish shop further along where they sold lovely coats, Green's. They'd give you a price, and then take so much off it. It was more of a custom to barter in Jewish shops, my mother would go in and say 'the seam's not quite right' or something like that, she'd been a seamstress and we'd get shillings off.
Doreen Cooper
At one time Len Stiles, the music shop, was huge. I bought my piano accordion there.
Sheila Pender
I remember my first experience of eels, seeing these little black things wriggling around in a big tub outside. People were saying 'I'll have that one'. They'd hook them out and chop them.
Doreen Cooper
I can remember Draper's haberdashery shop, the Draper brothers. When you paid your bill they'd put them in a container with overhead wires, pull the handle and it would shoot across to the cashier. view image >>
Rose Calver
At Catford Broadway down the back of the Town Hall, there was a market . We used to go round on Saturday afternoon, my mother and I. I was interested in this because coming from Canada it was all new to me. This Eddy used to get up on a platform shouting out. He was selling dresses and he would get the ladies to model ....and that was how he sold them.
Ernie Lee
There was a baker's. It was only tiny that was the most fascinating shop I've ever seen in my life. A little old lady used to keep it, Miss Broad. This shop sold everything. Along the front of the counter were biscuit tins, and underneath bundles of wood. Above the counter there were cards hanging up, eucalyptus oil, castor oil, Beecham's pills, all on cards. She would serve you across the counter. If you bought a ha'pence of sweets you got it in a bit of newspaper. If you bought a penny's worth, which would be about two ounces, she would put them in a bag. I used to like Palm toffee - she'd get the toffee out of the old tin, hold it in her hand and break it with a little toffee hammer and put it on the scale. On the right hand side, she sold bacon, cheese, bread, and ham. We used to go in there with a cup, and get a penny worth of jam in a cup, she had a great big jar of jam. She sold penny packets of tea, paraffin oil, for lamps, gas mantels as well. .
Joan Benson If you wanted broken biscuits, you got them cheap, with the dog hairs in them! That was from the little grocery shop further down , they had a dog in the shop. Cracked eggs were cheaper as well.
Sheila Pender I always disliked the smell in Lewisham market of rotting cabbage leaves. I used to try and avoid going in there late because it was awful and it used to lie there. It wasn't cleaned away the way it is now.
Ernie Lee The pawn shop had a door, like going into a prison. It had ropes going over with a big weight on the end. Inside, it was just a small compartment, and a counter with a brass rail running along. The man who had the pawn shop, his name was Sprunts, would look at the ticket. He had a bag which would come down a chute. He'd put the pawn ticket in the bag, pull the top tight, and ring a bell. The boy upstairs would pull the bag up on the string. He'd get the ticket out and go round all the racks. He never put the parcel in the bag, he just chucked it down the chute! view image >>
John Broome
The Misses Pillock were sisters who owned a haberdashery. You used to get change either in farthings or in packets of pins. Now it's a tattoo parlour!
Pauline Payne
In the 1980s there were huge wrestlers where the stones are now. They would stop traffic! They were there a couple of years. They were donated by a corporation. The area was being developed at the time, so they were never going to be a permanent fixture. view image >>
Peggy Holland
The corner of Rosenthal was known as Pets' Corner way before the war in the mid thirties.. Saturday mornings, it was filled with children and animals. There were hutches outside, all along the road, rabbits, tortoises, reptiles and so on. My brother bought a guinea pig there once, and the next morning we got up and it was dead! They weren't noted for their cleanliness .It caused a lot of controversy. The people around didn't like it, it was infested really, they were glad to get rid of it.
Pauline Payne
Opposite the Fire Station, was a most marvellous toy shop called Cabeldus. That sold the metal Meccano, and two of my sons loved Meccano, view image >> so they spent their entire pocket money in this shop. It really helped Steven the elder boy because he designed the Queen Mary! view image >>
Pauline Payne
Chiesmans was a wonderful place for a child to go at Christmas,.the toy department, and to see Father Christmas there. view image >>
