Why Sugar Became The Signature Of 1930s Britain | Turn Back Time: The High Street | Absolute History

one typical british town its high street was once its heart and soul not anymore but what if we could turn back time to the days of the butcher the baker and the candlestick maker a group of shopkeepers and their families have left the 21st century behind you are going to discover what the high street was really like your aim is to make this town fall in love with this high street again today's mantra is sell sell sell each week they're living and trading through a different era [Music] from victorian to edwardian rabbits pheasants through peacetime and wartime from the swinging 60s to the shocking 70s 100 years of high street history it's absolutely magical can they sell the products of the past to 21st century customers oh the poor creatures i'd be frightened to give this to the birds and can they make a profit while they're at it this is unbelievably hard i don't know how these poor buggers did this in the old days if i'm really being honest i hate it this time the shops move into the 1930s [Music] for some times remain tough the children are actually working harder now than they've ever done but for others life is sweet and competition that's interesting takes hold on the high street the grossest strike again but can the shopkeepers win over a whole new set of customers i wish i could be an older days [Music] [Music] these 21st century traders have been kitted out for the 1930s i've got no idea what's going to happen i've got no knowledge of the 30 tall apart from james and worcester it's about what i know for some it was the golden age of shopkeeping the 1930s high street was filled with mass-produced brands and cheap imports from the british empire [Music] as the demand for handcrafted goods disappeared life for shopkeepers got a little easier but will that be true for the families of our shopkeepers they're all heading to the historic heart of shepton mallett in somerset where their 1930s shops await them making sure they stick to the rules of the era will be their very own chamber of commerce social historian juliet gardner tom herbert a fifth generation baker and greg wallace a successful green grocer welcome back to the 1930s high street now we're out of the shadow of the first world war and the worst of the great depression and although it's still pretty tough for a lot of people the country is beginning to get itself back on its feet again so those that are fortunate enough have found that life's little luxuries are becoming affordable again now you've actually come together as a strong community of shopkeepers but this week we want to see a real lift in your takings a real rise and you are going to have to cater for a whole new breed of customer children this is an era of fun for children all right go to your shops have fun with us put your all into it good luck off you go the biggest change to the grocery store awaits the sergison family in their stockroom it's stacked floor to ceiling with boxes of well-known brands [Music] the 1930s saw a boom in confectionery thanks to a glut of cheap sugar arriving from britain's colonies oh my god quality streets do you know what i'm so glad i'm not wearing a corset otherwise i won't be able to eat anything most of the chocolate bars sold today were invented between the wars among them aero crunchy and smarties now of course they're going to have so many package groups and also their packages their brand names that people recognize aren't they oh my god we've got hp i could pee my pants he's so excited i could i'm so excited they're really proud of themselves they sell so far yeah i think they could really now come into their own they could rock it and now of course they're going to have so many package because they have to be doing far less sort of bagging up of sugar and biscuits and all that sort of stuff [Music] the devlin family are hoping for an easier time too in the edwardian era they struggled to combine baking bread with running a formal tea room caroline a gourmet bread maker in the 21st century had to bake a product she knows little about please no more cakes oh no that's not bad why didn't the chamber of commerce tell us you know why don't you they thought i'd go running from the square in 30s people in work did have more disposable income and so they were prepared not just to spend on the necessities but a few luxuries and of course what's a finer luxury than cake we've expected great things from them and i'm not sure they have quite a little jet they've always found it tough now they think it's a question of technology in the 30s they've got a better mixer electric oven and a bread slicer i don't believe it boys oh wow look at that all of a sudden all of a sudden chuck i just feel so much better it's a lot electricity oh my gosh we can produce anything now yeah okay okay all of a sudden all of my concerns are lifted the butchers too are about to benefit from the way technology was transforming the high street [Music] one of their problems before was keeping the meat fresh now at least they've got refrigeration but most people didn't have refrigeration in their homes in the 30s but it was coming into commercial premises andrew sharp a butcher by trade for 30 years quickly feels at home in his new shop you know what we're doing the challenge this year is actually specifically about making money whereas the others it was kind of a byproduct this one is solely about making money during the edwardian era 14 year old michael was left in charge of his father's shop and discovered a passion for making a profit in one day i took more money than we took all week and it looks like michael's luck is in in the 1930s frozen imports meant meat with every meal was more affordable for all especially a modern day favorite beef they've got an item that everybody knows and loves a beef they should clean up if they can't make money in the 30s let's face it they never can [Music] simon grant jones doesn't yet know what kind of shop he'll be running in the victorian era he ran an iron mongers and made stock for it himself at blacksmith in the 21st century he proved his skills once had a place right in the heart of the high street but by the early 20th century there was already less call for his craft his business was basically an edwardian pound shop but now it's something for the kids this is a bit more like it in it fantastic yeah this is a proper tour shop by the 1930s concerns about child welfare and declining birth rates meant that the government and parents were giving children more attention than ever before it was good news for the british toy industry but according to the manual of rules which each shopkeeper has to trade by it won't all be fun and games for simon i've got to be in the shop from nine to five i don't like being closed in for a start i prefer to work outside so it will be a bit of a hardship simon as a blacksmith he's not used to interaction with customers he makes things that's what he loves to do but he's got to learn the art of the shopkeeper i've got to make a profit i can't give the stuff away as much as i'd like to i'd like to give all this away to kids dressmaker jill is also facing change in her rooms above the toy shop [Music] the fashions are a lot freer than any of her edwardian outfits [Music] this is all really nice and all really wearable the edwardian stuff was great for dressing up in but this this stuff people can wear today i can sell this to real modern women not only are the fashions more accessible but jill won't have to hand make everything as she did in the edwardian era by the 30s the typical high street was selling cheaper mass-produced clothing having off the peg stuff to sell for me is going to be novel i mean i'm not really a salesperson who's just about selling for the money um i'd only want to sell something that i was completely confident was right for that person she's got products up there that are off the peg and that is what's going to drive her business that's where the bulk of her income is going to come from but for jill who's a dressmaker at heart there's a welcome bit of kit oh there's so many excellent oh a relief ah fantastic now i've got an electric machine i could i can make proper dresses the shopkeepers have a lot to do before the shops open they've started to tempt people back to this unloved high street but can they now make their shops even more profitable by upping sales i don't like the maltesers though i think the milk tray looked better there they've got to work hard this week for sure but there has never been a better opportunity to bring this high street back to life the emphasis on good service is still important that didn't sound very good it didn't sound very good that sounded like something glowing something's gone three elements blown in fact one half of the oven is now put so we're cooking one half we can't even do that you won't reach the temperature great start fantastic start i feel another late night coming on 1930s technology has let them down there is no guarantee given the situation we find ourselves in that we're going to have any products to sell for nine o'clock tomorrow morning yes again we're on the back foot unlike the devlins the other traders can relax knowing they've got ready to sell stock in their shops [Music] we'll do exceptionally well on you know what we've got to sell the customer experience is going to be a lot better because we've really got things you're going to want when i first walked in as soon as we started to see the sweets and chocolate i fell in love that was really good i really i just love it feel about 30 so far [Music] it's time to wake up [Music] everyone's up early to get ready for their first day of trading as 1930s shopkeepers [Music] at the butchers they've got to turn a dead cow into sailable cuts andrew is keen to give customers an authentic taste of the 30s we are going to cut it up in a manner that would be more accustomed to those days which will make it harder to sell but more realistic no just make them cut it out we you normally would because then we can sell more no because it seems all the challenges to make money it seems stupid to do that well we're gonna it'll be easy you just said it won't be easy in contrast to the pre-packaged stakes most of us buy today 30s customers would ask for cuts like flank blade and point end brisket bollocks oh i didn't mean to do it that way because i haven't done this for 20 years cutting up meat the traditional way might be tricky but it's drawing in shoppers that's not a bad bit there the first customers have been regulars since the victorian era a group of locals who have promised to shop only on the historic high such a treat to street me that looks like me it's rather good to be able to see it before before you yeah and it says it's already cut up andrew's relishing the chance to show off his old-fashioned expertise what we're going to do is to cut this into flat bits like that which is a round of beef which is what that is it was very nice to go into an independent butcher again and actually see what it is you're buying the color it's the texture the quality of it and also some cuts that you don't normally see unlike his dad michael wants to take a more modern retail approach and he's making use of a 1930s technological breakthrough cellophane i can sell everything and anything out of a packet and also fm in the morning we get everything prepped wrapped up somebody comes in i want to stay thank you very much ready package for you it's the easiest way making money it's the start of the end well it is it's the is the commencement of you know the the the shop not being a butcher's anymore and being a an addendum to the grocer all righty ho let me see what you've got for us that you recommend them could i interest you in aberdeen anger steak is it going to be like packaged like that it is just going to be packaged like that more like modern times proper wrapping no no thank you why is that but not everyone's ready for modernity i really didn't like that i prefer to have my meat in brown paper to be honest with you i don't need the packaging i don't want it at the grocers the surgesons are preparing to target the younger consumer today's answer is the sell sell sell especially the little ones now be careful because it's only losing those bloody everywhere without it wake up every morning and have a couple like so much else that was once made in store or locally by the 30s even unbranded confectionery was mostly factory made the new sweets could be a huge money spinner even though saffron's already eating into the profits it's just really cool because i can just eat all i want there'll still be loads for the customers half past nine is quite the time coffee and a bun and carl wastes no time targeting his junior customers chaps would you like a little sweetie what do you say just one inch i think behind the counter would be a far better place for the sweets i think that in the 30s they've already learned about impulse buying for parents very similar to nowadays when you get to the checkout and then bang they shove sweets in your face for the first time the grocers can tap the lucrative pocket money market don't feed me feed me feed me absolutely if i'm making money and i'm sending stuff to kids then i'll be the nicest chap on the planet every kind of sweet you can think of yeah but i can't wait to get out of my face what would you like to lose lovely stuff [Music] what's your fizzy thing that's one pound 25 please thank you but today he's brought them joy i can't stand them but if i'm taking money off and i'll smile all day long thank you very much now i wanna see all the cookies going by best prime cuts of beef off the butcher right so do you all uh you all eat meat at home yeah what's your favorite meat to eat mcdonald's right the butchers may not be a hit but there is one other store which should be an obvious magnet for children [Music] yes great i love them but it remains to be seen whether in the age of computers there are any customers for traditional toys what if i said to you give up all your modern day toys for a week and play with these [Music] i feel quite happy for like like try something new out how would you think mum that they'd get on without their modern day toys um i think it's going to be a struggle to keep them entertained and i'm not sure comey's going to react very well either because um he's i think physically attached to his ds at the moment and simon isn't exactly giving his stock the hard sell i love this i can stay here all day oh i love those they're brilliant they're one of my favorite toys they are oh even when the after-school crowd arrives simon seems more interested in being one of the kids than he is in making money from them that's really pretty whoa simple sometimes feel as if i ought to give the kids the toys because i really want them to have them and when they haven't quite got enough money to buy the toys it's it's quite upsetting for me actually because i really want them to have it definitely better than today's toy shops yeah people tell you about these things but you've never actually seen them so you don't know what they're like yet i like the fact that he just flips over so easily i wish i could be in olden days but customers are less impressed with the bakers do you have actually bread we don't have any bread have you any bread we don't have bread no not at the moment we've been new since i've got to come back tomorrow for the bread you know i've got to go to work i suppose people didn't have to did they their oven is still not working and there's another obstacle they have to overcome their big money spinner should be cakes but caroline loathes making them i came in here actually hating cake making i mean with a vengeance you know if you if you said that was the only thing i could do other than i don't know kind of i don't know fight crocodiles or something i'll probably have more of a go about fighting crocodiles and making cakes [Music] so the chamber of commerce have sent her to learn the art of 1930s cake making at a country house hotel [Applause] her teacher will be pastry chef jason hornbuckle hello there nice to meet you all right welcome thank you okay so i'm going to make some cakes today excited very good i feel so nervous that actually my stomach is kind of up here at the minute um it's about lack of confidence that i don't like making cakes it's because it's out of my comfort zone i just want to make sure that i don't cook this up so any kind of way that's looking that's looking fantastic i think the thing is if you're stressing too much about the cakes i think that's the problem you just got to relax and enjoy it and i think if you enjoy it your cakes are going to be better it's funny people say that but it's true by the 1930s britain's consumption of sugar and butter was up almost 50 percent on the edwardian era yet home baking was in decline it was high street bakers like the devlins who now filled our cake [Music] and how easy holes that it's easy actually and you're right it's about confidence i do feel so much more confident and it does feel good and and i do feel more relaxed great just amazing absolutely amazing caroline returns home not just with new skills but something the bakery can sell until the bread oven is fixed look what i made not very good it was amazing yeah good yeah quite nice yeah but i'd never i never thought i could make that no did i just i at the dressmakers jill has been commissioned to make a dress from scratch i'm making harriet a summer dress out of this um pink cotton with the little turquoise flowers on it it's very nice to be making my first dress of the era it's like coming home doing something bespoke oh it's so enjoyable this night you just sit here and suddenly takes your measurements and it fits you and you know it's unique nobody else is gonna have that dress but bespoke clothing isn't where the biggest profits lie jill should be maximizing her takings by selling off the peg stock any takers oh i don't know i'll have a little thing okay but if there's anything you want me to put to one side i'd be very happy to do it for you have a little think it will still be here tomorrow don't like doing the hard sell thing i think if people want stuff especially one-off stuff then they'll have it and they don't need to be talked into it because it speaks for itself it sells itself jill has rapidly reverted to what she knows best i'm taking commissions this week as well for bespoke dresses so if there's nothing on the rack that you particularly like then i could make you something i would quite like one i did go to a lot of young farmers balls and it'd be nice to have something that no one else would have if it's fitted here just here that's okay and then flowing after that if you know what yeah i think that'll be perfect the luxury of having something made just for me that's something that i've never got to do before so i can't wait and i know i'll treasure it and keep it forever and all that so i can't wait at the bakers there's finally a product for sale i think it's going very well actually the people are really pleased to see the variety of cakes and i don't think one person's left without a cake which is it's a money spinner there oh that is glorious that really is nice you can really taste the spice in that and there's more good news the oven is now working we still need to play around a little bit with the temperatures because we don't have a thermometer but yes it's it's yes it's an awful easier lovely easy so they can get on with baking bread once we get the bread and people get to know that the bread is back we're on course to make more money this week [Music] although the 1930s high street was still dominated by independent traders the big brand saw it as a place to advertise the chamber of commerce have sent packaging historian robert opie to teach the shopkeepers the art of the hard sell what goodies have you got well lots of wonderful things promotional materials they look point point of sale necessary so big things to get your public excite your customers engage with the things that you've now started to sell carl spots another chance to take money from the pockets of junior customers if you put this in your window all the children will come in to get their free sunny gym masks and hopefully you'll sell a packet every time obviously this was definitely um aimed at the children so that as you know as they come on the street with mommy and daddy they see this in the 30s there was pester power as robert opie delivers posters to all the shops the high street is about to embrace the art of advertising like never before the butchers start a leafleting campaign aberdeen angus beef that's been home for three weeks no speak english okay thank you but the grossers are thinking bigger do you know what i think over there i'll just fit it you know it's probably the perfect size yeah yeah right right i'm sure andrew will be happy with that deb is so sure she doesn't actually ask the butchers first [Music] that's interesting i feel a rental issue coming on here it definitely stands out i think we're going to run out of sardines the only thing that's going to stop me taking that down is if they let me put a flyer in every corner of their window and on their door hello mrs surgison so what we'll do i'll have four of these in your window okay and if they're in a ridiculous place i'll come back and change it okay thank you have a good day but debbie doesn't keep her side of the bargain only one flyer appears in the window he's going to go mental isn't it i'm not best pleased about that since i am from the beginning we've always had rivalry with the grosses they got it easy they don't have to prepare anything they walk into the shop every year and try everything's on the shelf priceless there you go i'll have a bug of flower there it's a fire that's easy life being a girl sorry shelling peas in it alright show him pea [Music] government legislation now limited how late shops could open and how long staff could work so the shops are shutting at five for the surgicans it's a chance to put their feet up i don't really want to cyborg i thought it was an easy day and it's only a nine to five which is a dots instead of like a sort of like seven or eight in the morning till like seven eight at night but even when their shop is closed the bakers can't stop working nine to five more fun plenty of recreation not for the devil in baker unlike other shops on the high street they can't take advantage of mass-produced goods they still make all their stock themselves what have you got in there now we've got the rest of the bread which should be about ready now i don't need those and the arrival of electricity hasn't saved as much labour as they'd hoped it's just really really long thankless hours for very little return and if i'm really being honest i hate it i hate it after a long day trying to be a salesman simon's at the back of his shop doing the work he really loves he's molding some toy soldiers when i'm here in my forge i'm like a kid in a toy shop in the 1870s high street simon's skills were at the heart of his business and the community but history is leaving blacksmiths like him behind the forge is is not really working to its full capacity in the victorian era it's very much in demand for for making everyday items in this era the 1930s era there's a lot of mass-produced things and the forge is not necessarily needed on a daily basis anymore [Music] in an attempt to prove that his craft still has a place he knocks up one of the most traditional of toys [Music] it can still entertain but even in the 1930s when toys from lego to monopoly were already being mass produced iron hoops were not the way to make a fortune but then that's not really simon's ambition i'm not too worried about making an absolute fortune as long as i make enough money to keep going and keep my shop stocked and keep everybody happy then that's fine for me i'll never be a millionaire at what i do others on the high street are more focused on putting money in the till and putting one over on each other i think we took more money than the surges today that's always a plus we always want to beat them i was chatting to the butchers earlier and they definitely took me 300 quid today we could still take the most amount of money but it's going to be really close [Music] oh come on simon by the middle of the week the 30s high street is in full swing [Music] such an early start no makeup yet the butchers with their new cuts of beef is proving particularly popular michael's determined to prove his skills as a salesman well this is a top side oh right it's a gorgeous roast so roast it normal way not too much don't overdo it because it'll be horrible though sometimes wisdom does come with age that's silverside and whereas normally they'd say like 20 minutes a pound this probably needs quite a bit longer because silverside's got a lovely flavor but it is very dry if you don't do it properly all right and very tough if you don't cook it long enough at the devlin store one of their key ranges is definitely outselling the other it's interesting we're selling very little bread at the moment i haven't had to bake during the day it's unusual i think the emphasis is now on cake production jack you need to be out here sort out this bit here this is your area sort it out the 30s saw less work and more play for most kids but interwar laws preventing children working didn't extend to family businesses so just as in previous eras even eight-year-old chloe is mucking in chloe can i do this with dad given the fact that all the girls under boys are contributing to this it's working really well can you get two bowls get two bowls wash your hands get two bowls i'm just ignoring your wife when you're like this the chamber of commerce are visiting town to see how the shopkeepers are getting on fifth generation baker tom herbert starts with the shop he knows best in in some ways we were lulled into a if you like a bit of a full sense of security because it seemed to be that things were slightly more relaxed and less full-on we're we're still working 17 hour days yeah um plus with it with the added um uh issue of our lack of staff and serving in the tea rooms so the children are actually working harder now can i say than they've ever done how do you feel about that we feel extremely disappointed that life from other children was better but life for our own children was significantly worse my grandfather you know during this era all we hear about is them working in the bakery and um the highlights are kind of doing deliveries on the horse and car that kind of thing you know it's all work i guess you're just living proof of that at the toy shop simon admits his salesmanship still needs work when the kids are in here looking at the stuff i do get involved myself and i do find myself wasting quite a bit of time so possibly i'm not such a hard-nosed businessman as i should be actually i've actually given a few toys away as well which i probably shouldn't do but he's not really being a salesman i see simon standing there you know with his thumbs in his overalls smiling benignly at people fine but that's not being a shopkeeper and that's what he's got to do [Music] the chamber of commerce also has a major change in trading laws to announce in the 1930s the law decreed that you must take a day off every week so tomorrow sunday there is no work for any of you yes just look at the children now you're gonna have a day off tomorrow yes you're gonna have a day off not everyone is happy about this government interference i don't want a day off i just wanna sell all of this beast maybe order some more and sell that meanwhile in the advertising war debbie the grocer's wife is resorting to underhand tactics we've got the butcher's flyer here and the beef is absolutely amazing but if you take that flyer over there you're sure to get a discount as well thank you there you go thank you let them know i sent you over thank you thank you thank you so much have a good day bye-bye [Music] and she said if i produce this leaflet you're going to give me a nice discount on such and some steak did she really say that did you say that she did it [Music] as the competition mounts the sharps are more determined than ever to get ahead of the grossers one way to maximize their profits is to sell every last bit of their cow so we have a bit of a cunning plan for michael's commerciality we're going to beat the surgicans at their own game because we're going to utilize something that's pretty negative kidney fat and we're going to make it into a lovely set of puddings grating the hard fat from around the cow's kidneys produces suet mixed with flour and steamed it forms the basis of traditional stodgy puddings that kids have loved for generations everybody wins they get something lovely to eat we get something lovely to sell and the poor grossers won't know what's eaten this is gonna be our time to shine that evening looking forward to their first day off there's high spirits on the high street michael's getting his own back on debbie [Music] i honestly don't know where he gets it from [Music] and with no trading in the morning the men drink late into the night oh very good stupid [Music] it's the morning after and there are a few sore heads on the high street i think i'm going to be in a bit of trouble actually i i did my video diary most of it in the pub last night it wasn't me it was between brother it's amazing how i like we are i'm the quiet one and he's just a little bit less quiet [Music] carl takes advantage of the calm and sneaks out to change the poster look the sign's done it's perfect very good who did that 50 of all orders there's news about their day off from the chamber of commerce what's this a greetings telegram i have a telegram chaps you'll be traveling to the seaside in 1930 style got to seaside seaside sing song balabia you know but before they can enjoy their leisure time there's another trip they can't get out of [Music] church attendance in the 1930s was double what it is today well actually it's a bit of a chance for a sit down and yeah a bit of time off and the blessing all our shopkeepers are present and correct with one exception the law banning sunday trading allowed shops to open if they sold daily necessities such as milk fruit and veg something carl wants to take advantage of it's really cool and i think it's really groovy is the butchers can't open and i can so i've got an extra few hours trading before i go to the beach so whilst they're praying and singing to god oh she'll be taking god's good money thank you very much knowing that the butchers have sold so much beef in this era carl sees an opportunity to cash in and what about some of my lovely authors i only want one of those yep well i think one's enough yeah one can i tell you to buy one thank you sweetheart that's fabulous thank you very much take care sold a lot butcher's closed i'm happy i'll take my dosh he's at church happy days with the church service over and most shops closed there's still no rest for those making goods by hand i'm very busy today i need to go back to my workshop and finish a couple of dresses so i'm not going to be joining everybody else at the seaside i'm afraid we're under real pressure to produce for tomorrow and consequently my good wife i won't be joining us either i get to go to the seaside i can't go out and play today at least for the kids for the first time this week life is going to be a picnic what are you looking forward to at the seaside splashing splashin [Music] it wasn't just on sundays that workers were taking time out by the late 1930s some 11 million britons were entitled to paid holiday albeit only for a week like our shopkeepers often whole workplaces were down tools the same week and head off [Music] you can together people have never really been anywhere in their lives not out of their own town our village getting on this and it'd be like flying at the moon wouldn't it what better place could you wish to be in on a sunny day with all your mates going to the beach the shopkeepers are heading to the traditional seaside town of clevedon [Music] cheers some of the traders are understandably shell-shocked to be beside the sea after all they haven't had a day off since the 1870s it seems really strange to be doing nothing i really feel as if i ought to be doing something to be honest it's going to take quite getting quite a bit of getting used to to actually have some some leisure time as more of britain took a holiday more people wanted to take holiday snaps right a bit tighter in together an early form of plastic bakelite was used to make cameras cheap enough for ordinary people to afford [Music] [Laughter] but not everyone is in the picture we had quite a productive day long but productive and not over yet jill is still at work on the same three dresses she's been making all week it is labour intensive really labour intensive that's why i work such long hours because you take the commissions when you can get them and then they've just got to be finished i've got something here for you wow yeah swimwear oh my god this is horrible here's mine this is [Music] [Laughter] [Music] [Laughter] [Music] but while the boys might feel overly covered up debbie is feeling quite the opposite i've literally gone from being a victorian grocer's wife where i've been literally clothed from to the neck right down to the floor and now just as i actually having a lovely bikini on i do feel very liberated and i'm sure when these women would put these on they would have felt the same [Music] one rift go for it can you imagine actually being in the 30s and actually having a day it would have been it would have been such a planned event and it would have been amazing and getting on the coach trip you can't literally work and work and work all the time you have to have family time you have to have leisure time otherwise why are you working if you haven't got time to spend your money and have fun with the family we've come to the conclusion that we are facilitating the the more well-off lower classes and the middle classes um leisure time we're actually working our socks off so that they can come in and sit and eat nice cake and drink cups of tea and just take life easier and we're not getting any of that as caroline and jill have discovered more leisure time just wasn't an option for traders who had to make what they sold the recipe for an easy life is to deal in mass-produced goods [Music] so it's been a grand day out for those who could afford to take it tomorrow is the final day of 1930s trading and despite a welcome break the shopkeepers can't keep their minds off business rivalries for long i know we won't take as much money as michael thinks we will from a few puddings but it'll give us a giggle and it'll give the searches a bit of a stick in the ribs so that'll be quite funny [Music] the last day of trading will be a special occasion shepton mallett is going to experience a national event that britain has long since forgotten empire day was held annually on queen victoria's birthday the hope is that the empire days celebrations will draw crowds into the high street giving all the shopkeepers a last chance to make some serious money so the plan today is that we're going to get the 50 off of the empire day special what the raffle is ready and what the hamper already in this week already for nine o'clock and the race between the butchers and grocers to make the most money has reached fever pitch and it's an aberdeen angus so it's absolutely beautiful this is absolutely everything we have left we have rump here and it'll be the best date you've ever had in your life there's no more than this i think this 50 off is really working i don't go in because it's absolutely bunked in 10 minutes i think i've just made at least 80 quid no more about 100 credit in like 10 minutes you think his life depended on getting all that beef sold i am not the boy anymore i am the man it was the butcher's boy that was so good at selling it he um he absolutely convinced me that it's what i needed and it's what i wanted and how good it would taste last bit of beef 10 pounds worth of braising steak for a fiver come on there you go thank you very much too slow at jill's dress shop there's rather less bustle during the week she's concentrated on making rather than selling her off the peg stock remains unsold hey and that's meant she's been working 15-hour days but at least she's finally finished the bespoke dresses customers ordered okay you're all ready you look amazing [Music] you look wonderful and your shoes are perfect with it as well very fast thank you you're welcome [Music] children celebrated empire day by dressing up as figures from british myth and history with so many young customers in town it's no surprise that simon's toy shop is packed this is really to commemorate empire day i've made these in the forge and they're little skittle soldiers so i've i've cast these oh they're beautiful i'll keep them for my whole life you've got to share it with your brother as well though yeah do you think you can swap it for his ds and for the first time all week simon's giving it the hard sell too to attract custom to his store he's arranged for a giant outdoor display of some of the 1930s most popular toys i think this is a fantastic example of british ingenuity fantastic anyway especially for kids the bakers are also targeting the young consumer yeah we're going to overdose all the little darlings on jammy icy glace cherry ridden it's just going to be sugar heaven isn't it wow and even the butcher has something for the kids ready for the good children of shetty mullet the big ones and the little ones [Music] though the suet puddings were planned as a grosser beating money spinner the butcher's hearts are melted by the children's festival and they end up giving their product away i use for suet pudding cumberland pudding jam rolly poorly put your hand up it takes me like christmas pudding in a way it is really really really nice it didn't taste like there was any meat in the one that we just had it's just fat basically what fat well it's it's fat that's around the kidney so it's really hard but it doesn't it's not always from the kidneys so you can chill oh there's meat in my pudding yeah that's the idea you knew we'd get away with that didn't we no confectioners we are butchers yeah did you like it i love it exactly with the party in full swing the chamber of commerce have come to judge the performance of the 1930s high street [Music] is your is your mummy a dragon [Music] follow me [Music] the people of shepton are clearly enjoying empire day lovely community spirit which is was there in the 30s it really was just like stepping back into the past i think that getting all the kids together on an event like empire day is brilliant it would be great to do more of that nowadays if they start as kids it'll grow and develop and you get a much nicer tighter communities the people have bought into the 1930s experience but have they bought into the products it's time for the chamber of commerce to look at the shopkeepers trading figures jill's are the first to be scrutinized the takings of 325 pounds it's not that great she had off the peg fashions to sell which were affordable and she hardly sold any no i think you're being a bit hard on her she's proved what the the demand for a dressmaker is it's not to sort of sell what everybody else is selling it is to sell those special things for special days i gave myself a little mission to bring glamour to shepherd mallet and i think i can safely say mission accomplished the high streets other artisan faced a similar challenge we are simon to take the transition from maker of product to seller of product i gotta say we're never ever convinced about his salesmanship that there is no arguing with that man's trading figures my grand total is 790 pound and 25 p which i think is absolutely amazing it's more or less double my total for the edwardian era [Music] simon's triumph is partly down to his empire day display and unlike jill he didn't have to spend hours making what he sold [Music] i have to say i think the products almost sold themselves they were so attractive basically he stood there with his hands in his pocket smiling benignly the bakers have produced the centerpiece for the empire day celebrations absolutely delicious but have they also made a decent profit the bakers have most certainly got the toughest job and i just don't want them to get down because people do love the shop and they are producing some very good stuff um they're just not taking the money the others are doing they just can't produce and sell in enough quantity they've clearly not got the sales they did just a smidge over 300 pounds for all of that effort excellent cake mrs devlin very nice the bakers remind us that the 30s were a tough time you know it wasn't easy for everybody i've actually found it even more heartbreaking in terms of what kind of life they bakers had and their families it was still very hard work relatively little profit and that was really a 30s experience is it worth it you know and yet you're locked into it because this is what your business is and you can't walk away because to what you have to stay here you have to stick it out and this is your life [Music] but this decade there have only been two real contenders for the most popular shop on the high street those butchers you know are doing an outstanding job their takings are going up and up every week but only you get quality meat from them and people are flocking to it you actually get real information the mystery has got to be with that butcher shop as popular as it's becoming why there aren't butcher shops in every high street how's the sweets kids are they good come on i can't hear you yeah yeah that's better thank you very much very kind now i'm gonna reply the groceries are just having an armchair ride because they've now got produce on their shelves that people recognize they've got kids here we've got a sharp stacked full of sweets as well and of course because a lot of the stuff's pre-packaged it's so much quicker in the end there's no arguing with the final accounts the butcher's takings this week have actually doubled what they were the week before incredible he's taken 600 but as in the victorian and edwardian era it's the ancestors of today's supermarkets who have come out on top they've made a killing this week again they're way out in front of everyone else with 1300 pounds plus [Applause] ladies and gentlemen you've now completed your third week and really we wanted to see if you could make the people in this town fall in love with the 1930s shopping experience i think you have given shopping and the high street a whole new lease of life to a brand new generation of shoppers there's a whole new generation of whose image now of the high street is of something quite exciting a place of fun wonderful wonderful achievement next week the high street is world war ii and shopkeepers were right at the forefront of the british war effort and relationships between shopkeepers and customers got very strained i would prepare yourselves if i were you for a fair bit of flack good luck a bit of bulldog spirit you're gonna need it [Music] next time it's war on the high street [Music] i've got no fruit no vegetables obvious there's nothing at all can you tell me if there's anything i can buy without a rational book there is rabbit anything else rabbit problem is that i've used the puma rations everyone is feeling the strain [Music] and carl finds out that making a profit in wartime is criminal it's gotta be a fiver paper it's gotta be anything it's serious this and i'm going to have to make you realize how serious it was

Channel: Absolute History

Views: 306,711

Keywords: history documentaries, quirky history, world history, ridiculous history, 1930s, 1930s shopping, post world war one, between wars, absolute history, british history, turn back time, the high street

Id: dWgqZbEzfXw

Length: 57min 7sec (3427 seconds)

Published: Sat Feb 20 2021