Jackson's department store in Reading closed down on 24 December 2013, after 138 years of trading. It was THE place to get your school uniform, balls of wool, and sensible underwear, among many other essential items.
All the fixtures and fittings are due to be auctioned inside the store on Saturday 4 January 2014, and with two public viewing days beforehand, I made a lunchtime visit to see and say goodbye to the store. It was quite an emotional experience, with many now-redundant members of staff on hand to answer questions as you walked around looking at the items up for auction. Some of the items are absolutely fascinating from a social history point of view, and I really hope these end up in the hands of Reading museum or similar. I can't make it to the auction on Saturday, but I just might bid on a certain lot online. You can view the
full list of items up for auction here, and see pictures from my visit below :)
 |
| You can bid on a changing room! |
 |
| Spare hands anyone? |
 |
| Ledger for 16 February, 1917 |
I found a book of school blazer badges particularly interesting:
 |
| E P Collier primary school, Caversham |
 |
| St Joseph's Convent Day School 1932 |
 |
| H & P (presumably Huntley & Palmers?) Boys Club, 1931 |
 |
| Reading University Swimming Club 1926 |
 |
| Kendrick School, 1932 |
 |
| Rough sketch of a badge for the boarders at St Joseph's Convent |
 |
| Reels of clothes labels |
 |
| Porter's trolley |
 |
| Scissors and a hat sizer |
 |
| Da Boss's Office |
 |
| Lovely hand-printed wallpaper. And some rat poison. |
 |
| 5 poodles, 3 cats, 7 pig banks, 2 terriers, 3 zebras, 1 panther. Etc...! |
 |
| Headless friends |
 |
| The legendary child mannequin they call Cruella |
 |
| Considering bidding on this... |
 |
| Love...! |
 |
| The dumb waiter |
 |
| Gas-fired iron warmer with irons |
 |
| Staff room notice |
 |
| The sewing room |
 |
| Jackson's has its very own Tardis |
 |
| Display toadstools |
 |
| Looks inviting? |
 |
| WOE IS ME |
 |
| That solitary grey hair is rather odd! |
 |
| <sniff> :( |
 |
| Farewell x |
Wow, that's so sad. I got my first (and thankfully last) Triumph Doreen bra there many moons ago, and my name tapes for my school clothes. I hope they keep the 'Jacksons Corner' name long after the shop has gone. It's a piece of retail history.
ReplyDelete