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One of my latest finds at the local thrift -pretty turquoise & white cookie canister. I'm really starting to love retro plastic kitchenware.
By James Ballance
It's not uncommon to wonder what a place was like before it became what it is now. What did our houses or homes, or places of work, look like a century or two ago? This kind of history is deeply personal: having acknowledged our own attachments to a place, we start to wonder who else might have thought that same place dear to them, either in the recent past or the more distant.
Anyone walking through the doors of Kitcheners, the Cheltenham kitchenware shop, will see that there are more particular reasons to wonder what the shop has been. The internal architecture is particularly unusual in two respects. On the one hand, facing customers who walk in the front door, about two-thirds of the way across the main shop floor, is an ornately carved lateral wooden beam, which acts as the support for a clock-face. On the other hand, there is a cash desk, on the left-hand side of the shop, which is demarcated by wooden half-walls and vertical beams, creating a sort of enclosed, private space. Who built these peculiar features, and what was their purpose?
It is hard to tell with any certainty, of course, where these structures originated, or for what usage; but it is at least possible to give a relatively complete account of when the premises—No 4, Queen's Circus—were first built, and what they have been used for since then. This brief history will trace the development of the place into its modern form, and offer a few, highly speculative suggestions as to how it came to possess its internal features.
Cheltenham's transformation from a relatively poor backwater town to a thriving spa centre is well-documented. In 1800, J Shenton's Cheltenham directory wrote: “[t]his town has been greatly enlarged and improved within these few years by the addition of many elegant and commodious new buildings erected in the principal street…” Although quite complimentary, the directory paints a picture of a small town, whose “chief dependence…is on [its] lodgings”, and which flourishes only in the summer months. Only one church is mentioned, and from the description of the town there seemed to be almost no buildings worth mentioning south of what is now the High Street. This corresponds with maps of 1804 and 1827, copies of which can be found in Cheltenham public library, showing that the entire area of Montpellier, where Kitcheners is located, consisted then of little more than fields and open spaces. By 1820, Gell & Bradshaw's Gloucestershire directory could write in much more glowing terms, both of Cheltenham's reputation, which by then apparently stretched to “the British East and West Indies”, and of its architecture and town spaces. The town had clearly been the subject of rapid growth for “the houses are generally well built…occasionally, however, a few old dwellings obtrude themselves to the eye, to remind us of its former simplicity…”
The reason behind this transformation lie in the patronage of the nobility and gentry of the 18th and 19th centuries, and in particular royal patronage. The National Gazetteer wrote in 1868: “The medicinal virtues of the Cheltenham waters were accidentally discovered in 1716, and a visit from King George III, who was directed by his physicians to try the waters, in 1788, established their reputation and brought visitors from all parts of the world.” The 1820 Gloucestershire directory similarly claims that the King visited in 1788. (Whether George III did in fact visit the town might be questioned: Shenton's 1800 Directory describes a Royal visit of 1788, but mentions only that the Princesses Augusta and Elizabeth took up residence locally; and also that the Duke of York visited the two Princesses during their stay. The account makes no mention of a visit by George III. Surely, having named these three important members of the Royal Family, this early publication would also have included a reference to a visit by the King himself, if this had taken place?)
WEEK 33 – Carrollton, GA, Target (IV)
Somewhere in the general area of the kitchenware and home goods departments – I think at one of the little cut-through areas between them, as a matter of fact – I spotted another one of these classic Target handbasket corrals, except unlike the one I showed you previously, this one actually shows an icon of a Target handbasket. Both are neat in their own right, but obviously I think I lean towards liking this one better. Which one do y’all prefer?
(c) 2021 Retail Retell
These places are public so these photos are too, but just as I tell where they came from, I'd appreciate if you'd say who :)
I have no idea what this basic piece of 1940s aluminium kitchenware is called – but throughout my childhood in the 1950s I remember my mother using it for squeezing excess water from cooked cabbage and spinach. It’s not a colander, it’s not a sieve… so what’s the correct name?
Whatever it may be, today it still occasionally performs the same function it was designed for, although this time I’m doing the spinach, not my mum. Well, it's the memories as much as the practicalities, isn't it?
As you can see, it’s fairly primitive; the handle is held to the ‘saucer’ by two pairs of rivets. It bears the legend ‘Long Life British made’ in capital letters, and between the first two words is a parrot (see below). And that’s all I can tell you about it. I you’ve any ideas, I’d love to know!
Traded!
I realized after buying this that I already have the 472, and I in fact need the 471 in this pattern.
Picked this up from my favorite antique store, This n That.
I do not really polish this copper kettle as such other than the occasional run over with half a lemon which brings back some of the pink gleam as you see here.
The kettle has sat on that small side plate of the stove for over a year and has never boiled dry.
It's not really a kitchen but let's pretend. ;-) It's a repainted cheap fashiondoll closet filled with food stuff and kitchenware. Timmy loves to drink juice, and likes to play, so his kitchenware is very colourful and funny.
Most miniatures are from ReMent.
Photographed at A Southern Season in Chapel Hill, North Carolina USA.
This is the rare wine celler and was originally photographed for a Depth of Field assignment for the 52 in 2015 Group. It never made it as one of my final choices, but it was a real treat to be allowed to enter this wine celler that is climate controlled kept securely locked. These bottles are priced from the low $80's and go up from there.
The lead wine person at A Southern Season was very enthusastic to let me photograph this special location when the store concierge and I explained that I had permission to take photograph in this amazing store for my assignment. Thanks to the team of A Southern Season for this unique opportunity.
WEEK 33 – Carrollton, GA, Target (IV)
This overview shot will serve to close us out for this week, looking back over health and beauty (on the left), kitchenware (on the right), and grocery (in the back). Those aisle markers we discussed are once again visible in this view… I bring them up again because I just saw this photo from our friend [https://www.flickr.com/photos/159030934@N04/], which appears to show a similar style of aisle marker in use at yet another P17 Target store – except they’re flat instead of tri-sided, and in a department that’s not groceries! Indeed, the grocery department in that store got the usual P17 aisle markers… very interesting. If any of you react in the same way, feel free to discuss in the comments below. If not, well then I suppose I have nothing more to say than I hope you stick around for more photos from this store, uploading two weeks from now!
NEXT WEEK – the welcome wall awaits us for our final farewell from the Oakland Kroger…
(c) 2021 Retail Retell
These places are public so these photos are too, but just as I tell where they came from, I'd appreciate if you'd say who :)
Retail Retell reports these accent signs in produce are from the Artisan décor package. Thanks Kroger, for making good on my prediction that at least a little bit of Artisan would make it into this remodel!
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Kroger, 2004-built, Goodman Rd. at Getwell Rd., Southaven, MS
Mostly 1/12 scale, so the largest pan and colander are about 1". Kate really loved the tiny cupcake pan.
WEEK 35 – Carrollton, GA, Target (V)
Panning to the left, here’s the view looking down the aisles heading toward the former electronics/new kitchenware department. As I noted in a photo title recently, that Home Office sign is no longer accurate. And notice how the red stripe on the floor gives out right about that same area, too.
Besides this (three-year-old, lol) remodel coverage, I feel like I should note that a lot has been going on back home in DeSoto County since I left! For one thing, the Horn Lake Neon Kroger remodel seems like it should’ve wrapped up by now (or else is surely close to being done), and the Southaven Sam's Club remodeled in just a couple weeks, right under everyone’s noses. For future developments in those and any other such arenas, be sure to follow the local flickr folks, l_dawg2000 and [https://www.flickr.com/photos/186821130@N06/]! And I’ll have some stuff from my new area eventually… plus I’ve added those two items to my photography list for whenever I travel back that way XD
(c) 2021 Retail Retell
These places are public so these photos are too, but just as I tell where they came from, I'd appreciate if you'd say who :)
I have been working so hard last few weeks, therefore I believe it is ok to buy me something luxury! something I wanted so long from a local zakka store.
They are just great!!! I love the soft blue color, enamel material,rose pattern, what can I ask for more for the kitchenwares?
And that little pure linen cross stich table cloth, love it love it love it.!
The left view is an unposted one taken just prior to the Sears Laurelwood closing sale starting, and mere days after the closing was announced. The gift registry décor on the floor to ceiling post is very similar to what can be seen in the right view, only not the exact same post. Memphis Retail *did* happen to get a before view of what I believe is this same post my right view is showing, his photo obviously taken well after the closing sale had started. I should have went to the other side of the store (where the blue Land's End posts would have been!), but as stated before, that end is nearly impossible to photograph now. (I think people would frown on me stopping in the middle of Perkins, even in the turn lane, for photos!) And form these views, it looks like that east side of the store may have been gone already anyway :(
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Sears, 1957-58 built (closed April 2016), Poplar Ave. at Perkins Ext., Memphis
So, walking around Warsaw at night, I accidentally found a place with a tower... full of distillates :)
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Tech:
Leica M 246
Carl Zeiss C Sonnar T* 50 mm f/1.5 ZM
orange filter
Owls for my friend Zeina's owl collection. The bag was made by the lovely and talented Lisa Solomon aka dressform. The owl cookie jar and the musical owls came from e-bay.
WEEK 39 – Covington Kroger Closing, Set 2
I was super-duper excited when I discovered this piece still hanging around the store: it’s the classic Kroger kitchenware décor! Northwest Retail and I were discussing at his blog the other day whether or not décor stuff is still made out of real wood these days; jury’s out on that one, but where this piece is concerned, just looking at it I’m pretty darn sure that this is the real thing. In turn, that also probably suggests its age to the uninitiated; and if you wanted to confirm, you could just flip back to l_dawg2000’s photos of the Southaven Goodman/Getwell Kroger prior to its remodel/expansion, and see that yep, it dates to at least as early as 2004 (assuming the store did, in fact, open with it).
I’m not entirely sure if this store had millennium décor prior to the script remodel – more on that a few photos from now – but if it did, then it’s likely the piece was installed at that point in time. If it didn’t, there’s still the possibility that it was installed new with the 2007 script décor remodel… I’m really not sure on what the exact timeline for this piece would have been, especially since I’m only familiar with it from photos: the Hernando store was evidently too small to have one, and all others have been pretty steadily removed in any remodels. Hence, long story short, why I was very excited to stumble upon this one here – a nice, unexpected surprise :)
Now… I can’t say I absolutely love the font choice, haha! But it’s still a cool piece all the same, with its nice dark wood and many crossing lines creating a neat overhang for the department. It’s worth noting that that Southaven store actually had three of these things in the kitchenware area (not identical, but close), plus an additional supersized one for the reading center (I’d forgotten about that one!) Likewise, what I believe to be the very earliest 2012 décor remodel in our region also has what’s clearly a late evolution of these signs (and is just as clearly made of fake wood – lending credence to our earlier argument!), indicating that they lasted a good long while before finally being retired. While not here in Covington, other stores that had this signage over the years also featured alongside it some hanging pots and pans, which is cool.
Unfortunately this is the only photo I got of it on this visit, for whatever reason. That said, definitely don’t forget it. I want you to keep this thing solidly in mind for when we return in the future for our Naifeh’s post-conversion tour… ;)
(c) 2021 Retail Retell
These places are public so these photos are too, but just as I tell where they came from, I'd appreciate if you'd say who :)
We've just landed in the kitchen, one of the upper deck galley's of the British Airways A380, where the magic happens, keeping everyone fed & watered.
British Airways Airbus A380 G-XLEF operating the daily BA 462 from London Heathrow to Madrid @ 15.15 hrs.
British Airways have been begun operating their A380's again since grounding during the Covid-19 pandemic, using them on daily trips to Madrid & Frankfurt, a real treat for enthusiasts during November/ December 2021.
Special thanks to Sophie, Marie & Philip, BA cabin crew for taking great care of me that day, what an experience.
Great to see the BA A380 back again #WelcomeBack
and some times those little things add up!
Oh! You have NO idea folks!
This is just the tip of the iceberg!
Another long shelf full, up in the computer room.
The shelf full of Black Shafford Cat kitchenware in the kitchen.
And BOXES of more cat figurines out in the garage.
There are collections within the collection.
There are wooden cats, metal cats, long-necked cats, black cats, absract colorful cats, vintage cats.
It started when I was a kid. I had ONE shelf in my bedroom with a little collection of bone china kitties...........and from there, the collection kept growing.
Years and years of trolling Flea Markets and Thrift Stores,
and the countless cat themed gifts from friends.....it sort of boggles the mind.
At one time, I had this crazy vision of shelving the entire wall of one room and putting the whole army out on display.......but that was a long time ago......I mean, who's gonna dust all of that now?
So, it's probably pretty obvious to you all by now, that I have been battling from a severe form of O.C.D. (Obsessive Cat Disorder) for years now....besides suffering from the urge to want to adopt every cat in distress I come across, this disorder can have other side effects, like picking up every cool looking cat effigy I see and bringing it home.
I rarely pick one up these days. It has to be EXTREMELY unique. After all this time, I think I might finally be starting to get some control over my obsession.!
It has been a fun hobby, but I'm thinking the time has come to start unloading a large majority of them . No sense in keeping them tucked away where nobody can see them.
I'll keep some of the more unique pieces to give to Chloe.