Content
A new major display brings to life shopping in Wymondham in Victorian times and the 1930s. Two shops have been built in the main gallery based on original stores in the town. On the shelves are goods that would have been staple household products in those eras. Take a step back in time and see what the folk of Wymondham had on their tables, in their sheds and in their cupboards.
The Little Dustpan, an ironmongers and hardware store, stood on Town Green for over a century. Originally called Chas H Standley, it was opened in 1886. Charles Harvey Standley sold hardware and many general and household goods. The shop subsequently became known as The Little Dustpan. Trade flourished with regular deliveries being made by horse and cart to the surrounding villages. Later these were made by Model Ford T vans.
Advertisements for the Little Dustpan In the 1890s show the shop selling oils, paint, earthenware, wallpapers, tin ware, brushes, hardware and oil lamps. Travelling trunks, bedsteads, fenders, spades, shovels and forks were also stocked. Visitors can see many of these items “on sale” in the new shop.
The signs have been recreated from the original ones that hung over the door.
The Damgate Stores stood in the museum’s main gallery for several years. It has been dismantled, rebuilt and restocked. It is based on local shops including Slaughters that once stood in the town’s Damgate, and The General Cash Stores which was in Silfield. The display reflects what was on shopping lists in the 1930s. You may recognise some of the names; Camp Coffee, Lyons Tea, Oxo Cubes, Sharp’s Toffees, Cow & Gate Milk Food for babies and Colman’s Mustard.
A number of the items on display were donated by Maurice Dale, son of Ruby Brighton who ran the General Cash Stores in Silfield in the 1930s.
