I fear, however, I am getting rather rhapsodical on
this question of tea. There are other—what
I will call specialist old-style—traders
besides those in the teetotal and unteetotal line to
which I wish to refer. But these must be reserved
for another chapter.
OLD-ESTABLISHED SHOPS.
Considering the pace at which Birmingham moved forward
during the latter half of the nineteenth century,
it is not, perhaps, surprising that few shops and
houses of old date are now to be seen in the chief
centre streets of the city. A few, however, remain
to remind us that Birmingham was not built yesterday,
and that it has a respectable past, and is not a place
of that mushroom growth which comes into existence
in a night.
Chief among the old order of retail trading establishments
still flourishing in our midst I may particularly
mention the shop of Mr. William Pearsall, silversmith,
&c. As many of my readers are aware, it is situated
in High Street, opposite the end of New Street, and
is conspicuous for its pretty—I had almost
said petite—quaintness and its genuine
old-time appearance and origin. There are the
small bow windows, the little panes of glass, that
are so suggestive of the architecture of a century
ago, and outside the shop everything bespeaks a past
which was not exactly of yesterday.
This great-grandfather shop, so to speak, has, indeed,
been established for more than a century, and when
the present proprietor first went to the business
the trade done was chiefly in silver and silver made
goods, whereas now it is largely in electro plate,
in jewellery, cutlery, &c. The proprietor, indeed,
like others in his position, has found himself obliged
to keep in step with the times or go under. He
has preferred the former course, but without abandoning
what I may call the antique department of his business.
It is, indeed, a most attractive kind of shop, especially
for ladies of a matured taste and mind who like to
see pretty things, some of which have a quaint charm
which is often especially dear to the feminine soul.
I can fancy ladies going there and spending a right
down happy time in looking at the dainty specimens
of antique silver, and also the modern reproductions
of old patterns in electro plate. I can, indeed,
by a stretch of the imagination picture in my mind
ladies who will go and look at many things at such
a shop, admire all, and buy none.
Indeed, I do not know that I should mind indulging
in this little luxury myself, but, being of the masculine
order of creation, I, perhaps, hardly like to spend
hours in a shop and leave the shopkeeper with the
cold comfort of a promise that I will “think
about it.” Quaint and inviting shops, however,
stocked with articles that form a little exhibition
in themselves must pay the penalty of their attractiveness,
and possibly the proprietors have no objection.
