Stuarts of Ardwick

[cabbyjohn]

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Does anybody remember Stuarts of Ardwick? Their showroom was located on the corner of Stockport road and Brunswick St/Hyde road, opposite the Appollo cinema, later a theatre.
This was the place where I would be taken with my mother, usually at Whit week to get my new clothes.

We went to Stuarts because like a lot of other people my parents didn't have the cash to fork out money to dress myself and my three siblings in one go. Buying from Stuarts meant that for a few shillings per week my mother could dress us all in new outfits every year. The "Tallyman" would call to the house every week to collect the money. Whit week was the one time in the year when everything I wore would be brand new.

I couldn't wait to put on my new clothes and go around knocking on the doors of the neighbours, proudly proclaiming, "Do you like my new clothes"?. This was always rewarded with a few pennies and a few words of praise for looking really smart. My mother would usually say when I got home crowing about how much money I had collected. "I will mind some of that for you, because you will only spend it" "But MAM, that's the whole point of the exercise". I would protest, however this would usually fall on deaf ears, so I would beat a hasty retreat and wait for Grannelli's ice cream man to appear in his horse and cart, so that I could treat myself to the largest ice cream that he sold.

My ambition in life as an 8 year old was to get a job at Stuarts and learn to wrap parcels of clothes in the same way that the salesman could. I used to watch in admiration as the salesman would place our bundles of clothes onto a long table, and with a flourish deftly pull a large length of brown paper off a roll, spin it around, and with a couple of flicks of the wrist and a large ever present ball of string, present us with a perfectly wrapped parcel containing our treasured new clothes.

The thing is, we never knew that we were poor in those days, because evertbody else was in the same boat. We rarely complained, we just got on with it.

[jackaitch]

John...We had the very subject on Manmates a few weeks ago...several members knew
the place and probably their parents purchased their "Sunday Best at Stuarts..
You are so correct about being poor..we were all poor so it was hard to tell.
I was the the third boy in the family so I was in a position for all the "hand me downs" but
we survived and have lived to tell the tale.

[0urkid]

Nov 9, 2010 19:23:06 GMT -1 jackaitch said:

You are so correct about being poor..we were all poor so it was hard to tell.
I was the the third boy in the family so I was in a position for all the "hand me downs" but
we survived and have lived to tell the tale.

Most people today have no idea what real poverty is.
Poverty is:
Having your dad take his overcoat off the bed so that he could go to work.
Coming home from school and finding no food in the larder.
Newspaper on the table, the best table-cloth only coming out for special occasions.
Squares of newspaper threaded on to a piece of string and hanging from a nail in the toilet.
Waiting for Dad to finish his breakfast in the hope that he would leave some bacon rind for us children.
Bathing in front of the fire, eldest first, the water becoming dirtier and dirtier as each one took their turn.
Having bread and jam for your evening meal, sometimes without margarine.
Next morning, it might be bread and jam again.
Looking forward to Christmas day, as that was the only time we had the luxury of a chicken. If you were lucky, this might be followed by fruit and cream. Christmas presents would usually consist of an orange or apple plus a few nuts, accompanied by a cheap toy.
Oh! Happy days.

[Lisa]

Morning John, ........and I bet that large sheet of brown paper and length of string was used over and over again. I still save all my brown paper bags whenever I get my cheese....old habits die hard.....and, I still save pieces of string My daughter asked me why I had a bag of pieces of string in the drawer......my answer "I'm a post war baby"........"but mum....what's that got to do with all that string?". She couldnt understand when I told her and I suppose she never will understand the meaning of poverty. BUT, were we poor? True, we had little money and luxuries were a word we knew nothing about apart from one day a year (Christmas), most of our clothes were recycled; our mothers only cooked what was available in the shops that day; our fathers walked for miles in search of work; the only thing that got put in the rubbish bin was fire ash; children played outside for most of the day; the highlight of the day was to sit together and listen to the radio; we didnt need 'fridges because there was nothing to put in them; respect and obedience was the norm in schools and a slap around the head was how we got punished for breaking the rules.....BUT.....we were happy. Weren't we?

[0urkid]

My mum used to take me to the Timpsons shop on Stockport Road, just a couple of doors from the corner of Shakespeare Street. I remember her paying seven-and -sixpence for a pair of boots for me. There was seldom any problem with footwear in those days. All British-made and solid leather.
Coincidentally, I was installing an alarm system in Timpsons' Norwich branch a few years ago, and was amazed to see an old photograph of the very same Manchester shop displayed in the window. Just as I remembered it.
Looking at the price and poor quality of shoes today brings tears to my wallet

[bobalong]

I remember my Gran taking me to Stuarts for a suit and the first person we met inside was my grans sister who worked there, I can imagine that we got a staff discount as well coz of Aunty Edie.I was treated to a black corduroy Beatle Suit (collarless) and I though that I was the Bees-Knees. My 1st suit,it was,with long pants. How was I to know that my selection would be a dust-magnet and I used to light up when I was near them blue lights that I can't remember the name of. Oh well you learn by your mistakes..

[halford]

Oh how I well remember Stewart(Stuarts).My Mam and Dad used to be the landlords of the Shakespear pub just up the road from the store and the Apollo cinema,and some of the staff used to call in.

[jackaitch]

Nov 9, 2010 20:20:41 GMT -1 0urkid said:

Nov 9, 2010 19:23:06 GMT -1 jackaitch said:

You are so correct about being poor..we were all poor so it was hard to tell.
I was the the third boy in the family so I was in a position for all the "hand me downs" but
we survived and have lived to tell the tale.

Most people today have no idea what real poverty is.
Poverty is:
Having your dad take his overcoat off the bed so that he could go to work.
Coming home from school and finding no food in the larder.
Newspaper on the table, the best table-cloth only coming out for special occasions.
Squares of newspaper threaded on to a piece of string and hanging from a nail in the toilet.
Waiting for Dad to finish his breakfast in the hope that he would leave some bacon rind for us children.
Bathing in front of the fire, eldest first, the water becoming dirtier and dirtier as each one took their turn.
Having bread and jam for your evening meal, sometimes without margarine.
Next morning, it might be bread and jam again.
Looking forward to Christmas day, as that was the only time we had the luxury of a chicken. If you were lucky, this might be followed by fruit and cream. Christmas presents would usually consist of an orange or apple plus a few nuts, accompanied by a cheap toy.
Oh! Happy days.

That is exactly the same findings as was for our family...and the
christmas present was exactly the same...maybe a brother may
have got a pair of socks.....maybe!!

Could have been a brother sending this message

[jnealedroylsden]

My mum never went to Stewarts she always took us to another (pay on the drip) called Masters it was near the Ritz I think...........flippin eck we only got tangerines and nuts and a bar of chocolate, and if we were lucky a couple of sixpences and perhaps a doll at Christmas............mum also used to buy some of my clothes of a woman who lived around the corner her daughter had grown out of them, I couldn't have hand me downs seeing as how I was the eldest................still we survived didn't we........

[cabbyjohn]

Lisa you are right about the brown paper and string. To this day I never throw any string away, I neatly coil it up and store it away for future use. However on the very rare occasions when I could use string to tie something, I can never find it and usually finish up using sellotape.
With regards to the brown paper, that was the very best thing in my opinion for putting a razor sharp crease in my trousers. Simply place over trousers, dampen, iron, and hey presto a razor sharp crease.
In those days no self respecting fella would be seen dead in a dance hall in anything less than a smart suit or jacket and tie.

Which reminds me of an emabarrassing event that took place for me in the early 60s. I went on a first date with my new girlfriend to a cinema in Ashton Under Lyne. On the balcony at the back of this cinema there were what we called "Courting seats". a double seat with no arm rest between us in the upper dark corner of the cinema. I had on my new royal blue blazer and very light grey trousers, which was quite the fashion in those days.

At the interval the usherette used to stand at the front of the balcony with a tray of ices and drinks. I asked my date if she wanted a drink or an ice cream, and when she asked for a drink I stood up to go and buy her one. Unknown to me the couple in our seat previously to us had dropped an ice cream onto the floor and when I stood up the ice stuck to my shoe and I performed a perfect somersault and fell onto the couple in the row in front of us. The girl screamed, her boyfriend offered to thump me and the whole balcony crowd stared.

I went down to the usherette and bought two cold drinks, aware that all eyes were on me. On the way back to my seat I was crimson with embarrasment when I became aware of everybody laughing at me. I looked down and in my embarrassment, my thumb that had been clutching the plastic drinks carton very tightly had burst the carton, allowing the drink to pour all down my new light grey trousers, it looked for all the world as though I had pee'd my pants.

I crawled back to my seat red faced with shame. and when the lights went down I whispered that I had to go to the gents and legged it out of the cinema and into the night. Beryl, if you are reading this, Sorry love, I hope that you didn't wait too long for me.

[OLLY]

CAN JUST IMAGIN IT FOR YOU JOHN ON YOUR DATE AT THE FLICKS WITH BERYL.....DIDNT SHE EVER TRY AND GET INTOUCH WITH YOU AGAIN..........

[cabbyjohn]

HI. OLLY,

This was in the days before mobile phones, so the only way that she would have been able to contact me was if I had gone back to Ashton Palais where we had met. I gave the place a wide berth for a couple of months, deciding that I preferred the delights of Manchester for a while. In those days I was quite shy and I would have been mortified if I had thought that people had known what had happened. I still cringe when I recall what happened that night. The cinema is still standing but is now a warehouse, I always have a wry smile whenever I pass it.

[maureenprice]

Hi cabbyjohn, although im not one to laugh at the misfortunes of others i must admit i sat here chuckling at your story. I think we all have moments that come back to us in the form of a flashback occasionaly, when something triggers the memory off. Oh that feeling that sweeps over you when u remember it, its horrible. anyway thanks for sharing the memory

[Lisa]

CabbieJohn, Wetting myself laughing at the vision of you in the cinema. ;D

[eileenman]

Hi Jean, you mentioning MastersStores brought back memories for me, that was my first job in the offices there, when i left school in 1967.

[fredthomas]

I too remember Stuarts of Ardwick, it was a great place to kit oneself out and as you say all for a few bob a week, my first job on leaving school was at the manchester Corporation parcels delivery service, a lot of our deliveries were the goods that people had bought from Stuarts, the cost of delivery was five pence for a small parcel and seven pence for for a larger item, when we delivered the parcel the people we delivered to would give me a shilling and tell me to keep the change so the fivepenny item was always my favourite because seven pences mounted up in the course of the week, incidental I bought my first new bike after the war on the proceeds, a very proud day after the austerity of the war years, has anyone got any similar memories. Fred

[jackaitch]

Very interesting replies to "Stuarts of Ardwick"..These messages seem to bring out all the memories of yesteryear..Wish we could have more people engaged in introducing new
interesting items...any subject from any time period...once started who knows where it will
end.

Put "pen" to paper Manmates!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[jackaitch]

We used to enjoy the The Ardwick Hippodrome and the Palace,Hulme Hippodrome and any place
with Variety Acts or Pantomimes....Went to Palace to see Danny Kaye,Guy Mitchell,Billy Eckstein,
and many more...went to Belle View to see Bob Hope..great show...Hulme Hip had a show starring
the newspaper cartoon "Jane" very daring for those days.

Remember???

[jackaitch]

Another "star" come to mind Glen Campbell...Lineman for the county!!

[cabbyjohn]

I remember going to the Domino club on Grey Mare Lane in the early 60s to see Chuck Berry. Afterwards we went into town to have a few drinks, finishing up in an Indian restaurant on Oxford St very slightly tipsy.

I can't remember the name of the place, but it was up stairs above where f*gins used to be. Chuck Berry and another couple of people were in there dining quietly together. We went over and interrupted his meal to ask him for his autograph. To his credit, he signed our pieces of paper without flinching. I was reminded of this last night when I watched a tribute show to him on tv. I cringe whenever I look at the autograph now, he would have been perfectly entitled to have us thrown out of the place for disturbing his meal.

[0urkid]

The last time that I went to the Hippodrome, it was to see Marvin Rainwater (Takes a whole lot of loving..........).
That would have been about 1958, I think.

[jackaitch]

Nov 13, 2010 19:38:11 GMT -1 0urkid said:

The last time that I went to the Hippodrome, it was to see Marvin Rainwater (Takes a whole lot of loving..........).
That would have been about 1958, I think.[/quote


Is it still operating??Someone wrote that the Apollo across the
road had closed....

[cabbyjohn]

Hi. Jackaitch.
The Manchester Hippodrome has long since been demolished,
If you type in the words below, it will give you a potted history and photograph of the old place. I remember being taken there as a child to see Charlie Chester in pantomime.

Ardwick Empire Theatre, Ardwick Green, Manchester

However the Appollo is still going strong. The cinema is no longer open, It's used mainly as a music venue nowadays. I went to see Willie Nelson there about four years ago. If you type in "Appollo Manchester". You will see a photograph of the place, and a comprehensive list of forthcoming events.

John.

[Lisa]

Hi Jacka, I think of new items every day but they hardly ever get used. For some unknown reason, members prefer to come straight onto the Message Board instead of going to the different Threads. It takes up a lot of my and Alan's time going through them all. If anyone can think of any new Threads, please open a new one instead of using the MB.....after all the MB is for " messages".

Nov 13, 2010 12:52:20 GMT -1 jackaitch said:

Very interesting replies to "Stuarts of Ardwick"..These messages seem to bring out all the memories of yesteryear..Wish we could have more people engaged in introducing new
interesting items...any subject from any time period...once started who knows where it will
end.

Put "pen" to paper Manmates!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!