Shopping in Hitchin in bygone years.

I recently found this photograph of a basket full of goodies bought in Hitchin many years ago. No plastic in those days.

It made me want to have a little look through some of my old photos and postcards of  shops and the way people used Hitchin town in years gone by. I also came across this little booklet with the prices for Perk's Lavender. Inside it told me that Prize Medal Lavender Water can be bought as cheaply as 1shilling and 1penny - which is about 51/2 pence in today's money.  And Lavender Bloom Bath Power (in boxes) were 1 shilling - which is about 5p.

Perk's Lavender Distillery - High Street, Hitchin just after it closed.

I've always loved this picture from the 1960s which shows not much has changed along Bancroft, apart from the fashions and the cars. The little white car was my dad's. :-)

A great deal of change has happened with the post office. This is John Beaver (postmaster) and staff in 1880, when the post office was situated in The Market Place. Beaver was a grocer who is said to have a good sense of humour. One story about him relates to him standing outside his office listening to the Salvation Army Band, appealing for pennies on the drum and urging 'only 2 pennies more to make a shilling' He would wait until the shilling target was reached, and would then throw a couple of coppers on, as the process started again.

Vegetables are on display outside Nicholls' shop in the High Street in 1922. They were a high class fruiterer and florist. East variety of fruit would rest on a napkin in a separate basket, shown off to its best advantage and lit by gas in the winter evenings.

A great photo of The Market Place 

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Just to add my novel 'Her Last Lie' - a psychological thriller that features Hitchin and Letchworth, and published by HarperCollins is OUT NOW. All my e.book royalties are going to Cancer Research UK.  You can purchase a copy HERE