The post card is from a series dated to 1902, so here we seemed to have over a hundred years of continuity.
But by one of those twists of historical research my facebook friend JBS came up with one for 1898 and in the way of these things I bet someone was selling flowers from this pitch even earlier in that century.
That said it is just possible that the painting is earlier than 1902 and might have been made in the last decade of the 19th century, but I would be guessing so I shall just leave you with the observation that it is a nice picture.
And that was the end of the story until John left a comment which just needed to be added to the story, more so because back in the late 1970s, I too took a series of pictures, which I think will include him.
"Lovely to see this picture. It depicts my family's flower stall. My great-great grandfather first started selling flowers on this spot in June 1895.
It may have been earlier, but this is the first recorded payment of rent for the spot to the church. He sold flowers from boxes at first and the stall arrived a little later.
The business passed down through my great-grandfather, my grandfather and great aunt, my father and finally myself. I ceased trading in 2008 to follow another path. The business was still viable but not what is t was in the city centre's busier decades from the 60's to the 00's.
Picture; St Ann’s Church from the series Manchester, marketed by Tuck & Sons, 1904, courtesy of Tuck DB, http://tuckdb.org/, and The flower stall, 1979, from the collection of Andrew Simpson
I donated the stall to the church for their future rental and it was subsequently leased by others for a while. I'm not sure if it is currently occupied as I rarely visit the city centre nowadays.
I hope it is, I've a lifetime of memories".
So there you are ...... the story continues.
Picture; St Ann’s Church from the series Manchester, marketed by Tuck & Sons, 1904, courtesy of Tuck DB, http://tuckdb.org/, and The flower stall, 1979, from the collection of Andrew Simpson
Dear Andrew,
ReplyDeleteLovely to see this picture. It depicts my family's flower stall. My great-great grandfather first started selling flowers on this spot in June 1895. It may have been earlier, but this is the first recorded payment of rent for the spot to the church. He sold flowers from boxes at first and the stall arrived a little later. The business passed down through my great-grandfather, my grandfather and great aunt, my father and finally myself. I ceased trading in 2008 to follow another path. The business was still viable but not what is t was in the city centre's busier decades from the 60's to the 00's.
I donated the stall to the church for their future rental and it was subsequently leased by others for a while. I'm not sure if it is currently occupied as I rarely visit the city centre nowadays. I hope it is, I've a lifetime of memories.
I've so many happy memories of the stall and owner who was always a ray of sunshine.
ReplyDelete