I woke yet again in the wee hours of the morning unable to sleep and thought I’d read my book for a while. No, too cold to pop out from under the covers and I’d get cold. Brain clicks mmmm, what ever happened to the Bed Jacket?
Designed to be ‘nice’ to wear while in the hospital or while having taken to your bed when ill, these little gems would have to have been some of the ugliest items ever introduced. I decided that they would take forever to get on, do up and probably wouldn’t do much to add warmth either. Thank goodness these are no longer around!
I would love to have added some pics here but just couldn’t find anything.
Off on its next wave, back to my first part-time job at Allen’s drapery store in High St Preston. I hated the idea of going there, but mum had stitched up a holiday job and I had no choice. I swear back then I thought the ladies on staff were probably about a 100, but now I would bet that was certainly not the case. Allens was one of those beautiful old stores with ladies wear down one side, menswear down the other, haberdashery and all the embroidery cottons in the back corner, mixed items down the middle and I clearly remember shower curtains on rings down the back near the lay by office where money was loaded into bullets that flew around the roof to each department. Anyway, back to bed jackets, I clearly remember on my first day working, an elderly gentleman went to a lot of trouble selecting just the right bed jacket for his wife who was in hospital. He was back for a refund the next day as she had passed away that night……..have never quite worked out why he was back the next day but people are funny little creatures.
I remember all the block and tackle type underwear, slips and nighties both practical and fashionable that was sold at Allens, all in cardboard boxes wrapped inside with tissue wrap and stacked carefully on the shelves behind the counter and the Mrs Slocombe twin could almost blindfolded, put her fingers on the box that was the correct size for ‘Madam’.
I’ve searched and searched for some pictures that resemble a shop similar to Allens, but couldn’t really find much. I do know that the creators of ‘Are you being served‘ nailed it completely though as far as stuffiness.
I found this link which has some wonderful pics of the undergarments, lingerie and nightwear of decades gone by. I still like my flannelette jarmies though!
So the brain goes from bed jackets to Mr Jones’s fruit truck. This is probably where my passion for fresh fruit & veg started. Mr Jones had a big old red removal truck that resembled this. The overhang was loaded with full bags of spuds, there was a weigh and wrap station on the side wall and everywhere else was stacked with boxes goodies. I can still smell the dirt and hessian bags of those potatoes.
It was loaded with all of the freshest things he had secured at the Vic market and he then did a selling run going up and down the streets of Preston, stopping at the top, middle and bottom of each street and people would come and buy whatever they needed. They could leave a basket out with a note and he would fill the basket. He stopped at our place for tea on Thursday night and it was my job to ‘mind the truck’ while he ate his dinner. I still know that there are about 3 bananas in a pound, how to cut newspapers (that were used for wrapping) with a knife like a machete, and how to stuff my face with as many strawberries and passionfruit as possible in a short amount of time. I think we need some more of Mr Jones trucks now!
My brain then went onto a few more connections but slowly I went back to the land of nod. Probably thinking I should order something like this little number. What do you think?
Around The Mulberry Tree 