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Friday 26 August 2011

Sepia Saturday Takes The Biscuit




I thought it would be a piece of cake to meet the theme this week. Then I found I had no photos of corner shops nor could I find any from years ago on the web. I had to settle for this in the end.

Jewelry - Corner Shop
 
Next I searched for aprons, registered milk vendors and even Mothers Choice (that was a mistake.) Finally I latched on to the Biscuits sold in Alan’s shop and found something much closer to home.

Wright's Biscuits in South Shields
 (Turners Photographic of Newcastle)
 By TWAM - Tyne & Wear Archives and Museums@Flickr Commons
Wright’s Biscuits was a well known company in South Shields. Set up as a maker of biscuits, they started out by supplying ships in 1790. After a fall in demand, Wright's turned to making more up-market biscuits. The factory closed in 1973.

There is a shop in the corner of Preston Hall's Victorian Museum which I have shown before.

John Walker's Chemist Shop - Preston Hall Museum
 John Walker was the inventor of the first safety match. Other shops in the Victorian street include this one next to Walker's.
Shop - established 1783
The only 'modern' shop among my photos is one from St Mawgan in Cornwall - Roger, the owner, makes an excellent marmalade.
St Mawgan Village Store & Post Office
 Don't forget to visit other shops at Sepia Saturday 89

If you want a prize for this I suggest you take a biscuit - but what's on offer is this:

Dog biscuit
(By Five Rings - Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 unported license)


29 comments:

David Robinson said...

You run such varied and interesting pictures, Bob, I'm envious.

Arabella said...

The brick storefronts are quite charming, Bob. Thank you for this lovely exhibit.

Hope you enjoy your weekend.

Hugs,
Marie

Little Nell said...

Crumbs Bob! An interesting selection. I love those museums where you can get the old fashioned experience of shopping.

Now then, St Mawgan P.O. As your resident stalker, I have to inform you that .................well you knew what I was going to say don’t you? Ex RAF.

shelly said...

Very tasty biscuit history.

Unknown said...

Wonderful post Bob with great pictures. There was a shop very similar to the Chemist's shop in Ormskirk when I was growing up, not far from the clock tower, that was exactly the same. It had the huge wooden counters and floor and long shelves with jars on. It was like going back in time going in that store. In St. Helens also there was a store that was kind of an 'everything' store. It had the old fashioned wooden floors also, and a distinct smell of a bygone era. Thanks for some wonderful memories - I live in Canada now, and sometimes miss yesteryear.

Unknown said...

Biscuits and corner shops, such a unique combo. This made me remember the Grande Mrs Irwin (my uncle's mother) who served a special brand of imported English tea biscuits at afternoon tea with warm marmalade. I cared for neither but as the polite girlthey expected me to be I would take a couple bites and then beg off. I am only reading this week as we are still on the road yet again.

Postcardy said...

I'm not a dog, so that's not the right biscuit for me. I'd rather have a Wright's Biscuit.

Martin said...

I feel I should know the shop in St Mawgan. Is it anywhere near 'The Falcon'?

Howard said...

Intersting post Bob. I don't recall Wright's biscuits at all.

Bob Scotney said...

Martin, The Falcon is just round the corner - on the right, less than 50 yards away. We go in there every time we visit St Mawgan.

Sandra Heska King said...

Delightful! I love stepping back in time. This is the first I've heard of Sepia Saturday. What a fun concept.

RJ Clarken said...

I love your post today - and all the terrific shots. I do think you captured the theme marvelously.

(And you've inspired me, too!)

tony said...

Slightly Off Topic but , I Wonder where & When Dog Biscuits were firstinvented????

Jinksy said...

Erm... make mine a Bourbon? LOL

Anonymous said...

These pics really take the biscuit, Bob :-) I couldn't come up with one single shop in my collection. I guess ship's biscuits weren't what we would consider "biscuits" these days? Jo

Sheila @ A Postcard a Day said...

I'm sure we used to buy biscuits like that for our dog. I'm less sure about Wright's biscuits. They don't ring any bells.

Tattered and Lost said...

Oh my, that's my uncle's name on the biscuit. I've always wondered if I threw him a bone if he'd just go away. Now I can try it!

Fascinating post. Love the shops.

Liz Stratton said...

My dog is drooling ....

Mike Brubaker said...

A medley on the theme. But all this talk of biscuits makes me a bit peckish.

Alan Burnett said...

A great collection which had the additional bonus of transporting my mind back to the days (forty-odd years ago) when I worked in a biscuit factory (Meredith & Drew in Halifax)

Oregon Gifts of Comfort and Joy said...

Hi Bob ... what a wonderful collection that you did find though. I enjoyed the color pictures very much too. There is nothing like a great biscuit or a good corner store, that is for sure.

Thank you so much for stopping by to visit yesterday.

Kathy M.

Christine H. said...

Once again you have managed to come up with an incredible medley surrounding the theme. The medley has left me with an appetite for a biscuit with some marmalade from St. Mawgan's...another saint I've never heard of.

Brett Payne said...

I rather like those museum shop fronts, I must say.

Bruno Laliberté said...

for someone claiming to have nothing, you certainly spun something fun. and i like the doggie biscuit at the end... Tony brought up an interesting question here.
:)~
HUGZ

Bob Scotney said...

@Tony & Ticklebear; according to wikipedia Spratt's was the world's first large-scale manufacturer of dog biscuits. Its "Meat Fibrine Dog Cake" was the brainchild of American entrepreneur James Spratt who launched the biscuit in London circa 1860.His company was established in Holborn, London and his first dog cake, a concoction of blended wheat meals, vegetables, beetroot and meat, was prepared and baked on the premises of Walker, Harrison and Garthwaite, a firm which then claimed to have baked the first dog biscuit.

dakotaboo said...

I particularly like the biscuit factory picture.

Bruno Laliberté said...

WOOF!!!

Anonymous said...

I"m slow coming around this week. Wonderful photos! The Victorian museum is particularly interesting to me. Is it an entire street? Are there characters walking around in costume? My friends and I do this in an 1890s era silver mining town but most of the shop owners don't get into the swing of things for some reason.

Bob Scotney said...

@whowherethey;there are more shops that just the two I have shown. At intervals the shops are manned with people in period dressed who will explain what went on at the time. A printers will do posters and cards for you I believe.