|
|
D -Ludgate
Circus Teashop
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
.....Teashop..Interiors.....
|
|
|
One
of the very few photos taken of
the inside of a teashop in the
early 1920s.
|
|
|
|
This
is a picture of the inside of the
temporary teashop in Broadgate,
Coventry, after it was destroyed
by bombs on 30 November 1940. It
was built from scaffolding and
corrugated steel sheets. The
poster on the bread counter shows
an airman in his flying jacket
with the caption 'careless talk
may cost his life'. The Nippy
seen on the R.H. side of the
picture will be clearing
tables.
|
|
|
|
This image
is of the inside of the London
Wall (D5) teashop after its
conversion to a Jolyon in
1973.
|
|
|
|
Photos
of post WWII teashop counters are
unfortunately extremely rare.
This one from a Feb 1951 Lyons
Mail, has many points of interest
and is still being studied. In
this example the customer would
approach at the far end and move
along the tray rail up to the
coffee urn. The first counter the
customer meets is for cold items,
known as the 'model' counter.
This is followed by the Bain
Marie for hot items. Then comes
the tea counter, with it's six
pot turntable which can be
clearly seen to the left of the
coffee urn - the shiny box below
the R.H. ceiling light. The cash
desk is just out of the picture
on the right. Note the tariff
board just above eye level. Often
a soda fountain would be fitted
between the 'model' counter and
the Bain Marie for the dispensing
of ice-cream and sundaes.
|
|
|
|
A
picture of the service counter at
K9 - Holborn teashop, dated
October 1952
|
|
|
|
|
The top
photo above showing the interior of 321
Oxford Streets is dated in the early
1920s. This
is known because of the style of their
dresses along with the style of the menu
on the left hand table. One other
important point is that all the teashop
tables, throughout the country, were laid
up in precisely the same way. The iron
framed tables with marble tops were later
replaced because cleaners found them too
heavy to move for cleaning
purposes.
The two
waitresses in the photograph are not
Nippys but Gladys'. Nippys did not come
about until 1925. Prior to this they
were known as Gladys'. Nippy dresses were
very different. (See the page on Nippys)
The condiments and menu were placed in a
particular way on the tables. Thus if
girls were moved from one teashop to
another they would know precisely how
to go about their duties. This particular
teashop appears to have had a very modest
retail counter associated with it. The
retail counters were known in Lyons as
Front Shops. The girls who served here
were dressed differently and were known as
Sally's. 'Sally the sales girl who sold in
the shop'.
|
|
©
Peter
Bird 2003
|
|
We
acknowledge with grateful thanks
permission to show the above three images
of the interior of Lyons Teashops from The
Design Archives at the University
of Brighton Faculty of Art and
Architecture
and
J.Lyons & Co. Ltd' (who gave the
photographs to the Council of Industrial
design in 1951)
|
|
The upper floor of
Southampton Row teashop.
|
|
|
|
Interior shot of X9
Marble Arch teashop. The walls are clad in
yellow Vitrolite glass panels.
|
|
|
|
