Window Shopping At Selfridges – Christmas 1951

A brief post to say thank you for reading, commenting and subscribing to my blog over the last year and to wish you a very Happy Christmas.

Here are three photos my father took in the run up to Christmas 1951, looking through the windows of Selfridges in Oxford Street showing a group of window shopping children and their parents.

Hamleys 1 Hamleys 2 Hamleys 3

alondoninheritance.com

32 thoughts on “Window Shopping At Selfridges – Christmas 1951

  1. Jo W

    Happy Christmas,Admin! and a Great New Year! Thank you for all your interesting posts this last year. Please keep up the good work. I love the rather wistful look on the face of the little girl in the last photograph

    Reply
    1. admin Post author

      Thanks Jo, and for your comments during the year. Strange to think those children would probably be in their 70s now.

      Reply
  2. Sara James

    Happy Christmas, I’ve enjoyed reading your very interesting posts each week, especially your trip on The Waverley. We plan to do this trip in 2016.

    Reply
    1. admin Post author

      Thanks Sara, that is great, the Waverley trip is really good. Will also be going again in 2016, just hope the weather is a bit better.

      Reply
  3. gillian

    lovely message and toy shop photos. Thank you. Those toys may very likely be in the Museum of Childhood, Bethnal Green now.

    Reply
  4. nigel

    Happy Christmas to you David, and thank you for all your fascinating posts. These Hamleys photographs are a delight, they capture a brief view of a time when a simple window display (compared to present day) could captivate young and old alike.

    Reply
  5. Peter

    Thank you for exploring and sharing these wonderful photographs. I look forward to your posts and enjoy reading them immensely.

    Have a wonderful Christmas and Happy New Year 2016!

    Reply
  6. Michael

    And not a single battery required !
    Thanks john, I really look forward to your posts.
    Have a happy, healthy and peaceful christmas.

    Reply
  7. Ros

    I too have really enjoyed reading your careful, thoughtful posts throughout the year, and these pictures of Hamleys window in 1951 speak for themselves. Interesting how the clothes and the body language are light years away. What is going on in the foreground of the picture (the window gazers background)? Is it a bear doing a cartwheel or has there been a bust-up?

    Reply
    1. admin Post author

      Hi Ros, thanks for your feedback during the year. I had not realised the bear was changing position until you pointed this out. Looks to be balancing on something and revolving! As you say, seems light years away.

      Reply
    1. admin Post author

      Thanks Brock. Lovely to hear you still have your toy soldiers brought from Hamleys. Knowing where they came from always adds some personal history to such possessions.

      Reply
  8. Donna Reeves

    Thanks for sharing your photo’s, and for the entertainment, knowledge and memories you bring throughout the year. Merry Christmas (one day late!), and all the best for 2016.
    Donna Reeves

    Reply
  9. Tina Baxter

    Really enjoy your offerings, always interesting and love the photograph comparisons with then and now, especially of the City of London.
    The shops windows look so appealing, it was oh so different then. Thank you and wish you all the best for 2016.

    Reply
    1. admin Post author

      Tina – thank you. Yes, it was so different then. Hope to go on another of your walks in 2016. Really enjoyed the one at Queenhithe.

      Reply
  10. Andrew

    Happy Christmas to our genial host and the delightful guests.

    I wonder, what would your father say if he knew his photos were being viewed and enjoyed by dozens (hundreds? thousands?) of people all around the world? Thank you for allowing us this personal glimpse of the past.

    Reply
    1. admin Post author

      Thanks Andrew and for the information you have added to my posts over the year. Yes, I often wonder what he would think. The negatives were gathering dust in boxes for a few decades before I started scanning. I also wonder how many other people have photos and negatives hidden away in cupboards.

      Reply
      1. nigel

        A very good point. I bet nearly everyone has loads of old photos hidden away in cupboards and forgotten in dusty old albums in lofts which never see the light of day. The sad thing is that in many cases all these photos will end up just being thrown out when homes are cleared after people pass away. You are doing a really great job by ensuring your father’s excellent pictures will be freely available (hopefully) forever for all to see and enjoy. But wouldn’t it be great if there existed an online searchable photo archive database (with free access for all like Wiki) and anyone could upload loads of old photos to it to be saved for posterity. Of course there would probably be all sorts of copyright difficulties to be overcome, and it would somehow need to be financed, but it could be a valuable and fascinating way to save all these historical photo records as a public resource for the nation?

        Reply
        1. admin Post author

          Nigel, yes, I agree however I suspect that as always it would be lack of money. I believe that the Bishopsgate Institute have a scheme to take in and preserve photos and negatives. This was not to put them online but was to preserve and make available for onsite research which is very positive. It will stop them being lost when, as you say, homes are cleared.

          Reply
  11. John Finn

    Thank you for a year of fascinating posts. I grew up in London in the 50s and still live here today. Your photos are evocative of a city past. Look forward to a year ahead with you. Happy new year!

    Reply
    1. admin Post author

      John, thanks for the feedback, really appreciated. It is a city past, but it does surprise me that there are still places that have changed remarkably little.

      Reply

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