The Fabulous World of London's Lost Department Stores

London’s department stores were far more than shops. By the late 19th century , they were destinations. Where else would you find a ‘reading room for husbands’ (Selfridges)? A crèche with giant toadstools (D.H Evans). A service to clean and repair your entire winter wardrobe (Bradley’s)? This wonderfully nostalgic and captivating day will take you on a sensory, highly immersive journey backwards in time. We will be making a stop at:

The West End, guided by Edwardian shopping lady Olivia (author of ‘A Prejudiced Guide to the Shops) seeking out the latest ‘temples of desire’.
The flirty Thirties and its fabulous Deco department stores, from roof gardens to curved glass walls, coronation fever to marketing stunts
The Showmen and Shopgirls who made it happen. Big personalities and disgruntled workers, strikes and lavish lifestyles, shopgirls and emancipation.

How to book this event:

Email anntaylorfirth@hotmail.co.uk

THE ARTS SOCIETY ACCREDITED LECTURER

Ms Tessa Boase

Tessa Boase is a freelance journalist, author, lecturer and campaigner with an interest in uncovering the stories of invisible women from the 19th and early 20th-centuries – revealing how they drove industry, propped up society and influenced politics.

She’s the author of three books of social history: The Housekeeper’s Tale: The Women Who Really Ran the English Country House (2014); Etta Lemon: The Woman Who Saved the Birds (first published as Mrs Pankhurst’s Purple Feather in 2018), and London’s Lost Department Stores: A Vanished World of Dazzle and Dreams (2022).

Since uncovering the feminist origins of the RSPB, Tessa has been campaigning for public recognition of its female founders with plaques, portraits and a statue.

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