Now there will be plenty of people who have fond memories of the Kardomah chain of cafés, and in particular, those that operated in Manchester.*
I have come across three, and I guess there may have been more. There was one at 98 Market Street, another in St Ann’s Square, and this one close to Albert Square.
The sign is on Southmill Street, which was originally called South Street.
What first attracted me to it was that it is a ghost sign, and ghost signs advertised products and businesses which have long since vanished.
Having clocked the sign I stood back to admire the entrance, and the rest as they say is a story waiting for readers to add their own memories and perhaps pictures.
The Manchester Guardian in the 1950s carried a number of adverts for staff to work at the Market Street Café, which in 1952 was offering a successful applicant between £5-£10 for a 47 hour week, spread over 5½ days.
No experience was required because “full training will be given”.**
But in the 1950s, as before and later, one advert for staff at the Kardomah on Market Street bounced off the page with its glaring nod to ineqaulities, making it clear that single women were preferred.
Location; Southmill Street, Manchester
Picture; the Kardomah ghost sign, 2021, from the collection of Andrew Simpson
My big sister took me to the Market street one in the mid 1960s - a rite of passage. It was on the first floor and it was crowded but this 15 year old wasn’t too impressed with the brown liquid and “How much?!”
ReplyDeleteMy big sister took me to the Market street one in the mid 1960s - a rites of passage. It was on the first floor and it was crowded with the right people but this 15 year old wasn’t too impressed with the brown liquid and could only think, “How much?!”
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