In the late seventies they had a jingle on their tv ads, "Sel-fridg-es, there's no place like it!" My 13-year old self changed it to "Sel-fridg-es, we don't sell fridg-es!" (even though I knew they probably did), and as it was the very first joke I ever made up, it has helped me remember the jingle ever since.
"small", "wall", "fall". It probably follows this rule in the U.S. as a results of Noah Webster's doing. I think "Mall" is from "Pall Mall Alley" in London then from "Mall" - a straight road.
@@arthurvasey Ahh so you imagine 'cheeky cockney Paul Maul' as the 8 stone 'baddy' who, on a swift and cunning tag, is pummelled by Big Daddy as punishment for the same happening to Danny Boy by Giant Haystacks, only moments before? All to a fervent jeering mob of blue haired Grannies.
I'm sure I read somewhere that Selfridge not only wanted to call Bond Street station "Selfridge's" but actually started digging a subway(minus the railroad for all you Americans reading)from the store to the station and was only stopped ,according to what I read,by an act of Parliament. Not just a simple court injunction that would have done you and me. On the 1970s I was a bus conductor on routes 2 and 2b which served Selfridge's on the west side of the store. When Jago mentioned in the video that they sell more than fridges I recalled that ,at the tender age of 18,I would announce the stop with "sell cookers,sell washing machines,sell fridges". It never got the laugh from the passengers I was hoping for !! I'm 63 now and I'm a bus driver on the night route N26 from Trafalgar Square to Chingford. It says above "On the 1970s" when I probably meant "In". but I have no idea how the editing technology works !! Thanks Jago your vids are great.
Thanks for your hard work driving buses over the years Simon. I don't know what we'd do without the London buses - I use them all the time. It's the way to see life!
@@dianastevenson131 What a lovely response. I don't know what I'd do without my customers. Probably be without a job !! As I write this I'm just getting ready to go to work. London is like a ghost 👻 town at night now due to the lockdown but there are still a few homeless people who sleep on night buses about. Thank you for thinking about us bus drivers and stay safe. Love to all humanity, Simon.
The central line runs VERY close to the sub basement walls, Selfridges has two levels below the customer basement and supposedly foundations deep enough to support a building roughly twice the height it was actually built, but the lowest level is prone to flooding and virtually abandoned, you can still see evidence of the American war rooms on this level which were accessible from the American embassy by a tunnel
@@JagoHazzard It's one of those aphorisms that's been truncated in a way that changes the meaning--in this case, by omitting the preceding phrase "in matters of taste" (e.g., if a customer wants to buy a hideous hat, don't hesitate to sell it to them).
Well done. You’ve hit three of my past employers from the 1960’s: the BOAC Airways Terminal, Leadenhall market and now Selfridge’s. I’m beginning to feel I’m being followed.
John Logie Baird FRSE was a Scottish inventor, electrical engineer, and innovator, demonstrating the world's first working television system on 26 January 1926. He also invented the first publicly demonstrated colour television system, and the first purely electronic colour television picture tube (Wiki)
It's interesting that the first demonstration of the TV was at this store - I saw a demonstration of the ZX Spectrum at the same store and purchased said computer, many decades ago.
Logie Baird’s lab was a few streets to the South, in Soho, there’s a blue plaque above Bar Italia on Greek Street. If not precisely there definitely stone’s throw from it.
@@andyjay729 I tried to find info on that. No bueno. But given the geographical proximity of where they were both born and raised, it's a distinct possibility.
I've often thought that an underground travelator to Selfridges would be very welcome. The trek from Bond Street station to the store is of sufficient length and slightly uphill to make you question whether you really need to make the journey at all.
michealdibb Now that is interesting as I'm a sexist pig,but at 63 years old the mind now makes appointments that the body can't keep. Only joking about the sexist pig 🐖 bit.In fact if I wasn't so old I'd be "new man" !!
I think it is more likely to come from using the term Dollymop for society ladies of easy virtue which predates the sisters by a couple of hundred years and came to prominence during the Victorian era due to the habits of Edward Prince of Wales.
It is actually alluded to somewhere in the Fleming novels, though it’s ages since I read them, that 007 is indeed a cousin of the family which gave the street its name. Though the contrivance was in reverse as the author considered many monickers for his hero before alighting on the one he chose, as was so often the case with this writer, thanks to discussions with friends and acquaintances. He wanted a name that was unmistakably British but also short, punchy and percussive, and then filled in a fitting backstory.
@@michaeljames4904 He choose James Bond after the author of Birds Of The West Indies, an Oncological guidebook (Fleming who was a Birder, had a copy in his study). He was indeed after a name with the qualities you mentioned. As he said he wanted a hero with a name that was the opposite of something like Peregrine Carruthers. Something un-flowery, romantic, or sentimental. I don't know if the real James Bond was related to the Bond Street Bond's. But looks like Fleming attached their motto to his character as it suited.
@@davidjames579 Yes, you’re right, that’s the link: Fleming often did this taking things from real life which is why every year there’s a facetious story in some paper, detailing a person’s life, about so-and-so being the “real James Bond,” because the author amalgamated qualities and events from a score of people he’d met or lives he knew about including his own. But definitely one of the 007 novels of the half dozen I’ve read does indeed mention him being a close cousin of the Bond Street, Bonds. *you mean ornithological, of course, not oncological (shudder)
His grave is at St Mark's Church Highcliffe next to his mother and wife. He rented nearby Highcliffe Castle between 1916 and 1922 - well worth a visit.
An illustration of just how many men live and succeed for the women in their life to whom they’re devoted. Despite being old, wealthy and successful, when he lost both his own the chap clearly went totally off the rails.
Aye, my first thought on hearing how he changed after the deaths of his wife and mother sounds like a complete breakdown from the grief which men in those days would had to bottle up until it exploded. Hopefully he got a bit of fun out of his last years as a poonhound.
A never to be missed 1950s Christmas event visiting the toy deparment at Selfridges after a bus trip along Oxford Steet to see the christmas lights. Magic.
In the 50’s as a kid a pre-Xmas visit to Selfridges involved a visit to a weird character in a green Dickensian costume named Mr Holly - not a Father Christmas in sight. Always felt like a cheap swindle, but of course never complained as any toy was more than welcome.
My first 6 months in London I worked for a promotions agency and often booked to work Harrod’s & Selfridge’s - much preferred the latter - stunning building.
What fascinating and nuggets of history you give us. I watch one of your videos and later when I'm walking with someone past the place you've covered and I'll say to them "by the way, did you know....?" And they'll be terribly impressed. Thanks for the kudos....
Thank you for another interesting video...one that has connections to Chicago history. Here in Chicago, our subway (what Londoners would call a deep level tube), opened in 1943, was built an average of 60 feet below State Street, our main downtown shopping street, which included Marshall Fields, and Carson Pirie Scott (the Selfridge connections). It's often been said that it was built there specifically to bring people to the big stores, and all of them had basement level entrances from the station mezzanine levels (ticket halls), and in fact...all of the stations were planned to connect with the biggest of the stores. The CTA used to run extra trains between the morning and evening rush hours...unofficially referred to as "ladies specials" or "shopping specials", to bring shoppers from the posh northern suburbs to the downtown shopping district.
I thought the Chicago subway was only to bring freight, mail and coal to downtown buildings and didn't carry passengers. Anyway, there are scenes filmed there in the classic movie, 'Union Station" from about 1950, starring William Holden. From what I've heard, the subway is still down there, unused but intact. Be great to see it someday.
@@lawrencelewis8105The system you're referring to is the Chicago freight tunnel system, operated by the Chicago Tunnel Company. Construction started in 1899 and it was intended to relieve commercial vehicle traffic in the downtown area...hauling freight to the buildings and trash and ashes away from them. It was an extensive system that ran under all of the streets, connecting to all of the downtown building basements, with depots in several locations outaide the area. The freight tunnel system is said to be the inspiration for the London Post Office Railway. What we call "the subway" is the underground portion of our electrified rapid transit system...the El...as it passes through the downtown area. We call this system "the El" because most of it is grade separated...elevated above the street level on a steel structure, though some parts are at grade level.
@@lawrencelewis8105 By the way...it was the accidental breach of the freight tunnel under the Chicago River that led to the great Chicago flood of 1992. The system is still there...mostly intact, though it has been blocked by concrete in some places, and now provides routing for telephone lines and fiber optic cables.
@@stevenflebbe I imagine you know about the subway under Rochester, New York. The tunnels were build but tracks never put in. It's now just for cables and so forth.
Mr Selfridge must have known that the world’s first department store was opened in London in 1796 at 89 Pall Mall. It was called the 'Grand Fashionable Magazine' and owned by Harding, Howell & Co.
Looking back it is more surprising that Selfridge remained as Chairman so long as he did (somewhat akin to Yerkes if he were still alive being the chair of London Transport). He followed the Victorian entrepreneur habit of treating the company's money as if it were his own. Something you can get away maybe with in boom times and when you are young, but at 80+ and in the Great Depression it became clear he would never be able to pay the 'loans' back. Prudential Assurance may have looked harsh in pushing him out but his debt was written off in the process and he got a small pension.
I lived in cardiff a while back and there was a “white goods” shop near me called Sell-Fridges and it always cheered me up when I saw it. It’s the simple things 😆
Very well researched as usual.......I hope that I don’t sound snooty. Our family is so pleased to have escaped the busyness of the Central Line at South Woodford and Barkingside. We live in County Down now; our local railway (Bangor - Belfast) was the first in the UK to have a regular diesel service (end of 1953). Such a contrast in usage. You’ll be pleased to know that my general manager, who misses shopping, is going to see this one tonight.
The story of Harry Selfridge was quite interesting. In Canada and the US, it was serialized in the series "Selfridge's" which aired on Masterpiece Theatre, a Sunday night showcase of British series on the public broadcaster PBS. I think it aired on ITV in the UK. Harry Selfridge had a sad ending...
When my grandparents took me with them to the UK in 1984 to visit friends of theirs in East Sussex and Ayrshire, we stayed at the Selfridge Hotel when we were in London for a few days. Also, Quibble/pro-tip: Michigan is pronounced "Mishigan".
Brilliant video Jago. Brought back so many memories of working in the building opposite Selfridges for ten years. Could get a good lunch time walk in Selfridges, winter for warmth and summer for the air conditioning! It was so nice hearing the clock again.
Interesting documentary on Selfridges and it's surroundings. I used to use Bond Street station for HMV now closed, or Selfridges for Our Price instore record shop. I remember too when Jubille line opened into Charing Cross in '79, the rebuilt Strand and Trafalgar Sq. stations, using 83 stock. The old Charing Cross was renamed Embankment. I still have a paper bag from Cuffs of Woolwich which closed in early 80s, stating Cuff of Selfridges, Woolwich, so there is another connection.
A ha! I've always (well, since 1987) wondered why Embankment and Charing Cross are basically one block (Americsnism, sorry) from each other. Has Mr. Hazzard done a video on that? Perhaps the good-looking but shifty Mr. Wright will do one if Jago refuses to?
@@deborahsdavenport it was the site of a memorial cross dedicated by one of the medieval kings (can't remember which one) to his dead queen - Cher Reine = beloved queen.
That was very interesting. Long ago I was a regular customer, treated it as a corner shop, with everyday items and extended hours. But knew nothing of the man, or the Bond St connection.
I used to work nearby Bond Street Station, mostly night shift, always getting by tube to Baker Street first, and then walking down to Bond, picking slightly differen route every time, arround 23:30 or so, always pleasant walk. Many times I spotted FOXES there. Nice video as always! Thanks for this!
1:27 wait what, London had a lot of department stores by then. Liberty's for example opened 30 years before, selfridges. You could say there was a gap in the market for monumental departments stores, like the ones present in Paris and other parts of the UK.
Hello, Jago - and again once more a hearty thank you for creating interest in a London subject. I worked at Selfridge's in 1977 and 1978. Call me cynical but when I left it I discovered job satisfaction and that I could use my brain. I hope that there were adequate plans for ventilation in all these schemes. The basement of Selfridge's was, and presumably still is, a retailing floor. Under that, there is the sub-basement, which was used for the staff cloakroom and other admin tasks. Under that, there was a sub-sub-basement, used partly or wholly for merchandise storage. I jokingly mentioned to a manager that one could hide away in it - only to receive the reply that you were likely to run out of air in twenty minutes. So much for my love-nest. More of the same!
There's an urban myth of an intact Victorian street underneath Selfridges left over from the 'raising' of Oxford street. Maybe you could do a video on subterranean London.
I once knew a landlord whose family had owned a big part of Soho for generations and it’s genuinely a feature of many terraced properties there with the current basements the original ground floors.
It's still there apparently. I had a friend working for the selfridges. He said that in basement warehouse you can still see old walls of victorian houses
@@michaeljames4904 The street under Selfridges does indeed exist. Some of the 1991 Xmas special The Ghosts Of Oxford Street was filmed there. Here's a clip. ruclips.net/video/PU11H_P8sgI/видео.html Unfortunately you can't see too much of it, but it was shot there. The rest of the film is on RUclips, hosted by Malcolm McClaren's channel (he produced it) but you can't view it if you live in the UK as Channel 4 have blocked access. Bar Humbug!
@@davidjames579 I’m genuinely fascinated by this, thank you, because I worked in Selfridges as a youth and had never heard of this. Harrods however I can indeed personally testify is littered with subterranean goodies including three wells.
Apologies if this has already been mentioned, but re: 'Mall' and Englishness. There used to be a game called Pall-Mall (there are various alternative spellings). It was a sort of long range croquet. The eponymous road in London started out as a Pall-Mall court; and there were numerous other playing places. When the game fell out of fashion, many of the now disused Pall-Mall courts were taken over to be used as markets and shopping areas. Hence 'Mall' for a collection of shops in one location. So Mall as a word for a shopping centre is at least a bit English.
Thanks for the very interesting provenance of the word. For the following century, "Mall" was the name of one place, the one in London, and various other names like "shopping pavilion", "shopping arcade", "promenade", or plain old "shops" were used around Britain. Mall got wider use because of the marketing appeal of attending a place synonymous with elite, wealthy (European) shoppers.
My first time on this channel. The 'sell fridges' line was delivered so well that I'm still laughing now! A terrible pun that became a superb joke purely because it was delivered so straight faced! Brilliant.
In the US,there were a couple of direct connections to transit lines! Item1,the Chicago elevated had a platform connection to Marshall Field's store,and item 2,the New York subway had an underground entrance to Macy's,and I think there was a connection in Philadelphia to the major department store there! The last part,is subject to revision! Very interesting Jago,as another Midwestern tycoon,turned London upside down! First Yerkes,then Selfridge,is there a pattern there 🤔? Thank you for the unusual,and thought provoking!!😀😀😀😀😀😇😇😇😇😇🤪🤪🤪🤪🤪😇😇😇😇
Another fascinating video Jago, I always look forward to them popping up in my notifications. In fact, your channel is the only one I have notifications set up on! Thanks again!
I immediately thought of the station "Mitsukoshi-mae" in Tokyo, literally translating as "in-front-of Mitsukoshi" (big posh department store in the posh shopping district Ginza)^^
It were the railway companies that opened their own department stores at their stations for extra business and passenger for the trains. Pretty much all major railway companies have these department stores. Except for the 2 companies that operate the Tokyo Underground lines (Tokyo Metro and Toei).
@@maximilianwimmer627 The station Mitsukoshi-mae is on the Ginza Line but it's not located in Ginza but in Nihonbashi where Mitsukoshi has it's main store. The Mitsukoshi Ginza store is located directly next to Ginza Station.
@@momo1435 I visited both places in 2009. I can distinctly remember changing trains at Mitsukoshi-mae and seeing signs pointing to the store (I believe they even had an underground entrance?) as well as shopping in the store in Ginza for souvenirs. So in my memories they probably got smooshed together into one place after all those years. We used to have an outlet of Mitsukoshi here in Frankfurt, but unfortunately that closed over 10 years ago.
@@momo1435 when my sister was on a student exchange in 2006 living near Shin-Yurigaoka station, she told me it was just a tiny local station. As I revisited the place with her in 2011, we were quite impressed as the entire station was now expanded and completely engulfed in a gigantic shopping centre. Quite the contrast to her previous experience of the place and it was heavily used, people doing their weekly shopping directly after stepping of your commuter train, very convenient.
Hi Jago, although London-born, I have spent a lot of time in Michigan, USA. It took me years to get my London based brother to pronounce it as Mich-i-gan" (just as it is spelt) even when he was in the state visiting! There is something weird that happens in the heads of UK folks, including a lot of my UK friends and colleagues, that suddenly causes them to translate the state name into "MITCH-igan" ... there isn't (and has never has been, as far as I know, a T in the name of the state, well, apart from in the minds of a lot of Brits). Incidentally, Michiganders don't seem to mind the mispronunciation at all, maybe because the folks most commonly mangling the State name have a British accent! Apart from this very minor quibble, as always, another enjoyable journey around the oddities of the Tube.
I think Selfridges did actually sell fridges, the story comes from a distant relative of mine who was one of the original founders of the Fridgidaire Corporation, he was a fridge magnate. In recent times they went for a concession to sell Fisolate, but that fell through.
Many department stores in London before Selfridges, Jago, unless you are using a very different definition to mine! Fortnum and Mason 1707, Harding, Howell & Co 1796, Harrods 1849, Gamages 1878, and even innumerable regional department stores on London's various high streets. It's typical Selfridge self-promotion that he was a revolutionary who turned the world of shopping upside down.
Wonderful video. The way you show history is amazing and as an English teacher myself, I really love your clear English. Thanks a lot. Have a great day
Brilliant story Jago, a proper avalanche of facts, information, history and the personalities of the time. Hot stuff on the latter. How the mighty are fallen...
Hey Jago Interesting video. Harking back to my comments about Mail Rail in one of your recent films. Selfridges were one of the interested parties in having access to the system when Royal Mail closed down their underground railway. So, I guess Selfridges could well have had their own station after all?
I wish the Bond Street Central line station idea with Selfridges, had come to fruition, It would of been so useful, even today. Very interesting and informative video
Probably the closest trainsit stop to a shop is Canary Wharf DLR, where you can get a northbound train from the south, get off, walk around the tescos, back out after the checkouts and board another train quite quickly.
The long Mall refers to one building containing all the shops, the shorter Mal refers to a street closed to vehicles and thus creating asn open air shopping district with safe foot traffic.
I have always been a fan of Selfridges (mores the pity we don’t have one here in Leeds) and particularly the fine Oxford Street store, complete with its clock bells (I’m so glad we heard them through the video), and I have always thought it odd the Tube Station didn’t connect with the store. Well, now I know and the whole history of Selfridges and I shall now see this particular store in a whole new light - more that I do actually wonder about like it is a museum with never any real intent of buying anything but admiring the architecture, style and swagger!
Divided into 'Old Bond street' and 'New Bond street' ....*The people making the old Bond street.* Okay should we call this place Bond street, No we need to call it Old bond street, Why? Cause in a few centuries there will be a Newer one.
Loved it!! Thanks again... On a side note, I've seen photos on a FB London history site of Selfridges outdoor swimming pool in the portion of the store set back behind the statue and provides your thumbnail photo.... It was circular ☺️
In Philadelphia ,at one time, All the major department stores had direct access into their basement sales areas from the subway station concourses . Specially built sidewalk grates with glass infills helped bring daylight into the otherwise dimly lit subterranean spaces ( before fluorescent lighting) .I am not sure but the glass may have been frosted to prevent upward gazing as women would pass overhead . Hobble skirts were in and as it was young men would congregate around street car stops to catch a glimpse of ankle as girls stepped down from the cars. Sorry about deviating a bit from the subject .
Thanks For this education ! Often herd about but jago put it in plane English , a lot of American ideas are no noncence sort of stuff and good but not all works in UK , can't wait for the next lesson !
Very interesting video as always. We are always being well served by Jago. And his videos don’t ride up with wear. 😉🌟❤️ When Montreal’s Métro was planned they did the opposite: McGill station was designed so the department stores (Eaton’s, Hudson’s Bay Company) had direct, seamless access to the station. All the malls and office buildings that followed were developed with stations as their anchors. Even hotels and universities. The developers willingly paid for the connection tunnels. That’s how we got our “Underground City.” Similar in Toronto. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Underground_City,_Montreal
Развлечения
I can’t un-hear sell-fridges
It took me a long moment for the penny to drop!
There's actually quite a few indy appliance shops in the UK trading under 'Sellfridges'...
Lovely British humour... 🇬🇧 😄
Even better when it's "poking" 'Murica... 👉🏼 🇺🇸 😉
In the late seventies they had a jingle on their tv ads, "Sel-fridg-es, there's no place like it!"
My 13-year old self changed it to "Sel-fridg-es, we don't sell fridg-es!" (even though I knew they probably did), and as it was the very first joke I ever made up, it has helped me remember the jingle ever since.
There's also a shop in South East London called We Sell Fridges
"Shopping maul" - given the stress retail evokes in me, I'd say that's an accurate spelling and pronunciation.
"small", "wall", "fall". It probably follows this rule in the U.S. as a results of Noah Webster's doing. I think "Mall" is from "Pall Mall Alley" in London then from "Mall" - a straight road.
Whoever heard of Paul Maul? Sounds like a professional wrestler!
@@arthurvasey I can hear Ken Walton introducing him as I type, tagged up with Mick McManus!
@@andyroid7339 I was thinking Big Daddy and Danny Boy Collins vs Giant Haystacks and Paul Maul in tag!
@@arthurvasey Ahh so you imagine 'cheeky cockney Paul Maul' as the 8 stone 'baddy' who, on a swift and cunning tag, is pummelled by Big Daddy as punishment for the same happening to Danny Boy by Giant Haystacks, only moments before? All to a fervent jeering mob of blue haired Grannies.
I'm sure I read somewhere that Selfridge not only wanted to call
Bond Street station "Selfridge's"
but actually started digging a subway(minus the railroad for all you Americans reading)from the store to the station and was only stopped ,according to what I read,by an act of Parliament.
Not just a simple court injunction that would have done you and me.
On the 1970s I was a bus conductor on routes 2 and 2b
which served Selfridge's on the west side of the store.
When Jago mentioned in the video that they sell more than fridges I recalled that ,at the tender age of 18,I would announce the stop with "sell cookers,sell washing machines,sell fridges".
It never got the laugh from the passengers I was hoping for !!
I'm 63 now and I'm a bus driver on the night route N26 from Trafalgar Square to Chingford.
It says above "On the 1970s"
when I probably meant "In".
but I have no idea how the editing technology works !!
Thanks Jago your vids are great.
Thanks for your hard work driving buses over the years Simon. I don't know what we'd do without the London buses - I use them all the time. It's the way to see life!
@@dianastevenson131
What a lovely response.
I don't know what I'd do without my customers.
Probably be without a job !!
As I write this I'm just getting ready to go to work.
London is like a ghost 👻 town at night now due to the lockdown but there are still a few homeless people who sleep on night buses about.
Thank you for thinking about us bus drivers and stay safe.
Love to all humanity, Simon.
I second Diana's sentiments, cheers for all your years of service Simon!
@@simonwinter8839 It's so sad that Central London is so deserted! Let's hope it gets back to normal as soon as possible. Stay safe x
@@thekentishpilgrim Thank you so much Carlos. I'm responding to you from a very deserted Waterloo!! Stay safe.Simon.
The central line runs VERY close to the sub basement walls, Selfridges has two levels below the customer basement and supposedly foundations deep enough to support a building roughly twice the height it was actually built, but the lowest level is prone to flooding and virtually abandoned, you can still see evidence of the American war rooms on this level which were accessible from the American embassy by a tunnel
Having worked in retail most of my life, and I say with absolute certainty that the customer is NOT always right.
I suspect that when Selfridge came up with that, it was a long time since he’d worked on the shop floor.
@@JagoHazzard It's one of those aphorisms that's been truncated in a way that changes the meaning--in this case, by omitting the preceding phrase "in matters of taste" (e.g., if a customer wants to buy a hideous hat, don't hesitate to sell it to them).
@@ZGryphon Now THIS is an individual that knows their history. 👏👏👏 - 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
Well done. You’ve hit three of my past employers from the 1960’s: the BOAC Airways Terminal, Leadenhall market and now Selfridge’s. I’m beginning to feel I’m being followed.
The Jago algorithm is following you... 👉🏼 😲
😂
You are. He's gonna track you down! I don't think he's ever forgiven you for all that squashed pineapple. 😱
Just because you're paranoid doesn't mean that they aren't watching you!
You thought there might be a monster housing under your bed? Sorry, no monster, it's Jago...
that took you a while, it s been 60 years!!
As a child I thought that the television was invented by John Yogi Bear.
That was a boo-boo!
Not John Bogie Laird?
John Logie Baird FRSE was a Scottish inventor, electrical engineer, and innovator, demonstrating the world's first working television system on 26 January 1926. He also invented the first publicly demonstrated colour television system, and the first purely electronic colour television picture tube (Wiki)
Yes i remember the Yogi Bear theory too!
As a child, I thought that there was a kipper fish in the sea!!!!
It's interesting that the first demonstration of the TV was at this store - I saw a demonstration of the ZX Spectrum at the same store and purchased said computer, many decades ago.
The first demonstration was undoubtedly followed immediately by the phrase, "but there's f... all on"!
Logie Baird’s lab was a few streets to the South, in Soho, there’s a blue plaque above Bar Italia on Greek Street. If not precisely there definitely stone’s throw from it.
I recall watching Ceefax , but I think that was at the Science Museum but I guess Selfridges would have had that.
@tinglestingles - When you eventually bought it, it wasn't from Selfridge's was it? They weren't STILL selling it were they? 😉
Another good vid! The full quote is "The customer is always right - in matters of taste", which most people seem to forget.
In Michigan Selfridge station is an air force base. Named after Lieutenant Selfridge, the first military member to die in a plane crash.
Was he possibly a distant relative?
@@andyjay729 I tried to find info on that. No bueno. But given the geographical proximity of where they were both born and raised, it's a distinct possibility.
I've often thought that an underground travelator to Selfridges would be very welcome. The trek from Bond Street station to the store is of sufficient length and slightly uphill to make you question whether you really need to make the journey at all.
I love your stuff, thanks for making it
The term 'Dolly-bird' supposedly comes from Selfridge's fling with the Dolly sisters.
michealdibb
Now that is interesting as I'm a sexist pig,but at 63 years old the mind now makes appointments that the body can't keep.
Only joking about the sexist pig 🐖 bit.In fact if I wasn't so old I'd be "new man" !!
I think it is more likely to come from using the term Dollymop for society ladies of easy virtue which predates the sisters by a couple of hundred years and came to prominence during the Victorian era due to the habits of Edward Prince of Wales.
@@Djarra еdward again 🤣 history repeats itself
@@Djarra I have an awful lot in common with the Dollymops you talk of as I too am of easy virtue !!
It's true I've seen a documentary on selfidges and they said the term dollybirds was from that era
"Bond....Bond Street". Cue James Bond theme.
It is actually alluded to somewhere in the Fleming novels, though it’s ages since I read them, that 007 is indeed a cousin of the family which gave the street its name.
Though the contrivance was in reverse as the author considered many monickers for his hero before alighting on the one he chose, as was so often the case with this writer, thanks to discussions with friends and acquaintances.
He wanted a name that was unmistakably British but also short, punchy and percussive, and then filled in a fitting backstory.
I really hope the bus to Bond St is the 007
@@michaeljames4904 He choose James Bond after the author of Birds Of The West Indies, an Oncological guidebook (Fleming who was a Birder, had a copy in his study). He was indeed after a name with the qualities you mentioned. As he said he wanted a hero with a name that was the opposite of something like Peregrine Carruthers. Something un-flowery, romantic, or sentimental. I don't know if the real James Bond was related to the Bond Street Bond's. But looks like Fleming attached their motto to his character as it suited.
@@davidjames579 Yes, you’re right, that’s the link: Fleming often did this taking things from real life which is why every year there’s a facetious story in some paper, detailing a person’s life, about so-and-so being the “real James Bond,” because the author amalgamated qualities and events from a score of people he’d met or lives he knew about including his own. But definitely one of the 007 novels of the half dozen I’ve read does indeed mention him being a close cousin of the Bond Street, Bonds. *you mean ornithological, of course, not oncological (shudder)
You mean Street, Bond Street..
His grave is at St Mark's Church Highcliffe next to his mother and wife. He rented nearby Highcliffe Castle between 1916 and 1922 - well worth a visit.
An illustration of just how many men live and succeed for the women in their life to whom they’re devoted. Despite being old, wealthy and successful, when he lost both his own the chap clearly went totally off the rails.
Aye, my first thought on hearing how he changed after the deaths of his wife and mother sounds like a complete breakdown from the grief which men in those days would had to bottle up until it exploded.
Hopefully he got a bit of fun out of his last years as a poonhound.
I supose his life was already a trainwreck after those losses.
He couldn't have ended up too poor if he retired to Putney! Areas like that are still out of the reach of most people!
A never to be missed 1950s Christmas event visiting the toy deparment at Selfridges after a bus trip along Oxford Steet to see the christmas lights. Magic.
In the 50’s as a kid a pre-Xmas visit to Selfridges involved a visit to a weird character in a green Dickensian costume named Mr Holly - not a Father Christmas in sight. Always felt like a cheap swindle, but of course never complained as any toy was more than welcome.
My first 6 months in London I worked for a promotions agency and often booked to work Harrod’s & Selfridge’s - much preferred the latter - stunning building.
What fascinating and nuggets of history you give us. I watch one of your videos and later when I'm walking with someone past the place you've covered and I'll say to them "by the way, did you know....?" And they'll be terribly impressed. Thanks for the kudos....
Thank you for another interesting video...one that has connections to Chicago history. Here in Chicago, our subway (what Londoners would call a deep level tube), opened in 1943, was built an average of 60 feet below State Street, our main downtown shopping street, which included Marshall Fields, and Carson Pirie Scott (the Selfridge connections). It's often been said that it was built there specifically to bring people to the big stores, and all of them had basement level entrances from the station mezzanine levels (ticket halls), and in fact...all of the stations were planned to connect with the biggest of the stores. The CTA used to run extra trains between the morning and evening rush hours...unofficially referred to as "ladies specials" or "shopping specials", to bring shoppers from the posh northern suburbs to the downtown shopping district.
I thought the Chicago subway was only to bring freight, mail and coal to downtown buildings and didn't carry passengers. Anyway, there are scenes filmed there in the classic movie, 'Union Station" from about 1950, starring William Holden. From what I've heard, the subway is still down there, unused but intact. Be great to see it someday.
@@lawrencelewis8105The system you're referring to is the Chicago freight tunnel system, operated by the Chicago Tunnel Company. Construction started in 1899 and it was intended to relieve commercial vehicle traffic in the downtown area...hauling freight to the buildings and trash and ashes away from them. It was an extensive system that ran under all of the streets, connecting to all of the downtown building basements, with depots in several locations outaide the area. The freight tunnel system is said to be the inspiration for the London Post Office Railway.
What we call "the subway" is the underground portion of our electrified rapid transit system...the El...as it passes through the downtown area. We call this system "the El" because most of it is grade separated...elevated above the street level on a steel structure, though some parts are at grade level.
@@lawrencelewis8105 By the way...it was the accidental breach of the freight tunnel under the Chicago River that led to the great Chicago flood of 1992. The system is still there...mostly intact, though it has been blocked by concrete in some places, and now provides routing for telephone lines and fiber optic cables.
@@stevenflebbe I thought the entire Chicago transit system was elevated. I didn't know that some of it was underground. I learned something, thanks.
@@stevenflebbe I imagine you know about the subway under Rochester, New York. The tunnels were build but tracks never put in. It's now just for cables and so forth.
lovely way to start my morning off, with my cuppa 🫖☕♥️
Selfridges store listed status was recently upgraded to II*.
Mr Selfridge must have known that the world’s first department store was opened in London in 1796 at 89 Pall Mall. It was called the 'Grand Fashionable Magazine' and owned by Harding, Howell & Co.
Used to work there. Loved exploring the nooks & crannies in the old store. Can hear the tubes when in the basement
Looking back it is more surprising that Selfridge remained as Chairman so long as he did (somewhat akin to Yerkes if he were still alive being the chair of London Transport). He followed the Victorian entrepreneur habit of treating the company's money as if it were his own. Something you can get away maybe with in boom times and when you are young, but at 80+ and in the Great Depression it became clear he would never be able to pay the 'loans' back. Prudential Assurance may have looked harsh in pushing him out but his debt was written off in the process and he got a small pension.
I lived in cardiff a while back and there was a “white goods” shop near me called Sell-Fridges and it always cheered me up when I saw it. It’s the simple things 😆
what a gem of a channel this is, keep up the great content and work JH!
Thanks!
Very well researched as usual.......I hope that I don’t sound snooty. Our family is so pleased to have escaped the busyness of the Central Line at South Woodford and Barkingside. We live in County Down now; our local railway (Bangor - Belfast) was the first in the UK to have a regular diesel service (end of 1953). Such a contrast in usage. You’ll be pleased to know that my general manager, who misses shopping, is going to see this one tonight.
I am so glad I discovered your channel. Your content is always interesting and presented exceptionally well.
The story of Harry Selfridge was quite interesting. In Canada and the US, it was serialized in the series "Selfridge's" which aired on Masterpiece Theatre, a Sunday night showcase of British series on the public broadcaster PBS. I think it aired on ITV in the UK. Harry Selfridge had a sad ending...
That "world is not enough motto" tidbit was very interesting!
When my grandparents took me with them to the UK in 1984 to visit friends of theirs in East Sussex and Ayrshire, we stayed at the Selfridge Hotel when we were in London for a few days. Also, Quibble/pro-tip: Michigan is pronounced "Mishigan".
Brilliant video Jago. Brought back so many memories of working in the building opposite Selfridges for ten years. Could get a good lunch time walk in Selfridges, winter for warmth and summer for the air conditioning! It was so nice hearing the clock again.
"Sell fridge’s" classic brother,xxxxxxxxxxxx that's going 2B stuck in my head 4ever now,,,thanks,xxJ,x
Thx Jago; that's today's pick-me-up sorted. I learnt that the old fox Selfridge loved dolly mixtures in later life lol
Interesting documentary on Selfridges and it's surroundings. I used to use Bond Street station for HMV now closed, or Selfridges for Our Price instore record shop. I remember too when Jubille line opened into Charing Cross in '79, the rebuilt Strand and Trafalgar Sq. stations, using 83 stock. The old Charing Cross was renamed Embankment. I still have a paper bag from Cuffs of Woolwich which closed in early 80s, stating Cuff of Selfridges, Woolwich, so there is another connection.
A ha! I've always (well, since 1987) wondered why Embankment and Charing Cross are basically one block (Americsnism, sorry) from each other. Has Mr. Hazzard done a video on that? Perhaps the good-looking but shifty Mr. Wright will do one if Jago refuses to?
And wot's "charing" anyway?
@@deborahsdavenport it was the site of a memorial cross dedicated by one of the medieval kings (can't remember which one) to his dead queen - Cher Reine = beloved queen.
That was very interesting. Long ago I was a regular customer, treated it as a corner shop, with everyday items and extended hours. But knew nothing of the man, or the Bond St connection.
I used to work nearby Bond Street Station, mostly night shift, always getting by tube to Baker Street first, and then walking down to Bond, picking slightly differen route every time, arround 23:30 or so, always pleasant walk. Many times I spotted FOXES there. Nice video as always! Thanks for this!
1:27 wait what, London had a lot of department stores by then. Liberty's for example opened 30 years before, selfridges. You could say there was a gap in the market for monumental departments stores, like the ones present in Paris and other parts of the UK.
Hello, Jago - and again once more a hearty thank you for creating interest in a London subject. I worked at Selfridge's in 1977 and 1978. Call me cynical but when I left it I discovered job satisfaction and that I could use my brain. I hope that there were adequate plans for ventilation in all these schemes. The basement of Selfridge's was, and presumably still is, a retailing floor. Under that, there is the sub-basement, which was used for the staff cloakroom and other admin tasks. Under that, there was a sub-sub-basement, used partly or wholly for merchandise storage. I jokingly mentioned to a manager that one could hide away in it - only to receive the reply that you were likely to run out of air in twenty minutes. So much for my love-nest. More of the same!
I remember going boating on the roof of Selfridges a few years ago. A pleasant, if completely ridiculous passtime.
“Where they sell more than just fridges” - d’aAaAaaaAd
I'm looking for Captain Peacock, Mrs Slocombe, Miss Brahms, Mr Grainger, and Mr Humphres in the store photos. No dice.
Just to think - had there been an underground link, Mrs. Slocombe could have got home even quicker to tend to her pussy.
My grandma loved that programme - I got to know it due to gold playing reruns
@@elainebines6803
I get the feeling you have fond memories of your Grandmother, so a "big up" to your Grandmother.
Carry on; you've all done very well.
@@BarryAllenMagic lol oh how I missed those AYBS days...
There's an urban myth of an intact Victorian street underneath Selfridges left over from the 'raising' of Oxford street. Maybe you could do a video on subterranean London.
I once knew a landlord whose family had owned a big part of Soho for generations and it’s genuinely a feature of many terraced properties there with the current basements the original ground floors.
It's still there apparently. I had a friend working for the selfridges. He said that in basement warehouse you can still see old walls of victorian houses
I find it funny that next to the one entrance of Bond street there's a James street too!
@@michaeljames4904 The street under Selfridges does indeed exist. Some of the 1991 Xmas special The Ghosts Of Oxford Street was filmed there. Here's a clip. ruclips.net/video/PU11H_P8sgI/видео.html Unfortunately you can't see too much of it, but it was shot there. The rest of the film is on RUclips, hosted by Malcolm McClaren's channel (he produced it) but you can't view it if you live in the UK as Channel 4 have blocked access. Bar Humbug!
@@davidjames579 I’m genuinely fascinated by this, thank you, because I worked in Selfridges as a youth and had never heard of this. Harrods however I can indeed personally testify is littered with subterranean goodies including three wells.
Fantastic as always. Thoroughly enjoyed the dry humour laced throughout.
Apologies if this has already been mentioned, but re: 'Mall' and Englishness.
There used to be a game called Pall-Mall (there are various alternative spellings). It was a sort of long range croquet. The eponymous road in London started out as a Pall-Mall court; and there were numerous other playing places. When the game fell out of fashion, many of the now disused Pall-Mall courts were taken over to be used as markets and shopping areas. Hence 'Mall' for a collection of shops in one location. So Mall as a word for a shopping centre is at least a bit English.
Pall-Mall was a brand of cigarette
@@burprobrox9134 My mother smoked them. She pronounced the name as Pawl Mawls. But she was an American.
Thanks for the very interesting provenance of the word. For the following century, "Mall" was the name of one place, the one in London, and various other names like "shopping pavilion", "shopping arcade", "promenade", or plain old "shops" were used around Britain. Mall got wider use because of the marketing appeal of attending a place synonymous with elite, wealthy (European) shoppers.
One of your best yet!
Great stuff! Love your work best wishes and take care
The mall/mall correction amused me greatly! Another great video, fascinating stuff as always.
My first time on this channel. The 'sell fridges' line was delivered so well that I'm still laughing now! A terrible pun that became a superb joke purely because it was delivered so straight faced! Brilliant.
In the US,there were a couple of direct connections to transit lines! Item1,the Chicago elevated had a platform connection to Marshall Field's store,and item 2,the New York subway had an underground entrance to Macy's,and I think there was a connection in Philadelphia to the major department store there! The last part,is subject to revision! Very interesting Jago,as another Midwestern tycoon,turned London upside down! First Yerkes,then Selfridge,is there a pattern there 🤔? Thank you for the unusual,and thought provoking!!😀😀😀😀😀😇😇😇😇😇🤪🤪🤪🤪🤪😇😇😇😇
Another fascinating video Jago, I always look forward to them popping up in my notifications. In fact, your channel is the only one I have notifications set up on! Thanks again!
You’re most welcome!
Very interesting.
Thanks Jago, and say hi to your cousin Bio from me.
👊🏼 💥 😂
And your yankie cousin.......Duke !
@@delboytrotter8806 There is a new Clair one too now
I once me Tripping...
Took me a few seconds to get the joke! ☣ ☣
This reminds me of some department stores in Tokyo where the store owners also own a railway, and have stations almost as part of the premises.
I immediately thought of the station "Mitsukoshi-mae" in Tokyo, literally translating as "in-front-of Mitsukoshi" (big posh department store in the posh shopping district Ginza)^^
It were the railway companies that opened their own department stores at their stations for extra business and passenger for the trains. Pretty much all major railway companies have these department stores. Except for the 2 companies that operate the Tokyo Underground lines (Tokyo Metro and Toei).
@@maximilianwimmer627 The station Mitsukoshi-mae is on the Ginza Line but it's not located in Ginza but in Nihonbashi where Mitsukoshi has it's main store. The Mitsukoshi Ginza store is located directly next to Ginza Station.
@@momo1435 I visited both places in 2009. I can distinctly remember changing trains at Mitsukoshi-mae and seeing signs pointing to the store (I believe they even had an underground entrance?) as well as shopping in the store in Ginza for souvenirs. So in my memories they probably got smooshed together into one place after all those years. We used to have an outlet of Mitsukoshi here in Frankfurt, but unfortunately that closed over 10 years ago.
@@momo1435 when my sister was on a student exchange in 2006 living near Shin-Yurigaoka station, she told me it was just a tiny local station. As I revisited the place with her in 2011, we were quite impressed as the entire station was now expanded and completely engulfed in a gigantic shopping centre. Quite the contrast to her previous experience of the place and it was heavily used, people doing their weekly shopping directly after stepping of your commuter train, very convenient.
Keep up the Puns Mr Jago - Your 'In Depth' Underground knowledge is fun
Informative & a bit of a sad ending.
Another well put together presentation.
Thank you.
Another gloriously put together video. Poor Mr.Selfridge.
Thanks for sharing - I like stories like this ❤👍🏻
Hi Jago, although London-born, I have spent a lot of time in Michigan, USA. It took me years to get my London based brother to pronounce it as Mich-i-gan" (just as it is spelt) even when he was in the state visiting! There is something weird that happens in the heads of UK folks, including a lot of my UK friends and colleagues, that suddenly causes them to translate the state name into "MITCH-igan" ... there isn't (and has never has been, as far as I know, a T in the name of the state, well, apart from in the minds of a lot of Brits). Incidentally, Michiganders don't seem to mind the mispronunciation at all, maybe because the folks most commonly mangling the State name have a British accent! Apart from this very minor quibble, as always, another enjoyable journey around the oddities of the Tube.
This is like some English people who emphatically pronounce the"g" in the middle of "Birmingham". They seldom have Oxford accents.
@@thomasburke2683 Where I come from, the Londoners that I know mispronounce Birmingham as Birminum.
Much to my chagrin.
That was interesting, well they always are. Thank you for sharing.
Having walked by Sell-fridges for 2+ years omw to work, this is fascinating stuff! Keep up the great work!
I think Selfridges did actually sell fridges, the story comes from a distant relative of mine who was one of the original founders of the Fridgidaire Corporation, he was a fridge magnate.
In recent times they went for a concession to sell Fisolate, but that fell through.
Fridge magnate. I have them all over mine...
@@whyyoulidl lol...nearly spat my coffee out laughing....
Fabulous episode!
The real Mr Selfridge wasn't quite as handsome as the one off the telly!
Many department stores in London before Selfridges, Jago, unless you are using a very different definition to mine! Fortnum and Mason 1707, Harding, Howell & Co 1796, Harrods 1849, Gamages 1878, and even innumerable regional department stores on London's various high streets. It's typical Selfridge self-promotion that he was a revolutionary who turned the world of shopping upside down.
Another great video Jago! Thanks for keeping the videos coming. They are a nice distraction from all the mayhem
What an amazing insight Jago
"Women's Gun Club."
That sounds ridiculously progressive even before it's time.
cesariojpn
No,just damn Americans !!
Great video jago, very nice history lesson, very interesting 👍😃👌
Most enjoyable video you've posted (IMO). I raise my hat to you sir....!
Very interesting. Thank you!
Wonderful video. The way you show history is amazing and as an English teacher myself, I really love your clear English. Thanks a lot. Have a great day
Thanks!
Don't know if I like the content of your vids so much, but I like hearing you talk about it all. Keep them coming
Brilliant story Jago, a proper avalanche of facts, information, history and the personalities of the time. Hot stuff on the latter. How the mighty are fallen...
Superb video - yet another satisfied customer.
Bravo 👏🏾 👏🏾 👏🏾 👏🏾
As a Chicago Tour Guide, I’m so impressed by your know of Harry Gordon Selfridge. Your photos were perfectly suited in every way.
One of your better videos...and all of them are very good
Hey Jago
Interesting video. Harking back to my comments about Mail Rail in one of your recent films. Selfridges were one of the interested parties in having access to the system when Royal Mail closed down their underground railway. So, I guess Selfridges could well have had their own station after all?
I wish the Bond Street Central line station idea with Selfridges, had come to fruition, It would of been so useful, even today. Very interesting and informative video
You could say that Selfridge's plans to have the store have its own ticket hall bit would have Bond-ed the tube and the store together.
😂 I love your pfp by the way!! ♥️
You're relentless Jago 😅👍🏽
Consider me a satisfied customer of this most informative Jago video. Hope future vids are as satisfactory as all prior ones have been. ;)
Jago, keep these videos rolling.
Probably the closest trainsit stop to a shop is Canary Wharf DLR, where you can get a northbound train from the south, get off, walk around the tescos, back out after the checkouts and board another train quite quickly.
The long Mall refers to one building containing all the shops, the shorter Mal refers to a street closed to vehicles and thus creating asn open air shopping district with safe foot traffic.
Another excellent and fact filled video. TYx
What, no Bond Street ?
Monopoly shall never be the same.
there is another non-existant one on the board too
Two Bond Streets in London. Chiswick and Leyton!
I have always been a fan of Selfridges (mores the pity we don’t have one here in Leeds) and particularly the fine Oxford Street store, complete with its clock bells (I’m so glad we heard them through the video), and I have always thought it odd the Tube Station didn’t connect with the store. Well, now I know and the whole history of Selfridges and I shall now see this particular store in a whole new light - more that I do actually wonder about like it is a museum with never any real intent of buying anything but admiring the architecture, style and swagger!
Leeds had Lewis's , absorbed into the House of Fraser.
@@highpath4776 They are/were old and tired Selfridges really is a good shopping experience, even the ones outside Leeds - Birmingham, Manchester.
Divided into 'Old Bond street' and 'New Bond street' ....*The people making the old Bond street.*
Okay should we call this place Bond street,
No we need to call it Old bond street,
Why?
Cause in a few centuries there will be a Newer one.
Loved it!! Thanks again... On a side note, I've seen photos on a FB London history site of Selfridges outdoor swimming pool in the portion of the store set back behind the statue and provides your thumbnail photo.... It was circular ☺️
As an ex Londoner (now in Worthing) Keep up the videos. I'm learning more about London than I did when I lived there!
They also had pink flamingos standing around looking bored in the roof gardens.
If Arsenal can have a station renamed after them, it doesn't seem hard to believe that Selfridges might fancy doing the same!
In Philadelphia ,at one time, All the major department stores had direct access into their basement sales areas from the subway station concourses . Specially built sidewalk grates with glass infills helped bring daylight into the otherwise dimly lit subterranean spaces ( before fluorescent lighting) .I am not sure but the glass may have been frosted to prevent upward gazing as women would pass overhead . Hobble skirts were in and as it was young men would congregate around street car stops to catch a glimpse of ankle as girls stepped down from the cars. Sorry about deviating a bit from the subject .
Fantastic, thank you
In the 1980's that had a technology section called Everything With Chips
Thanks For this education ! Often herd about but jago put it in plane English , a lot of American ideas are no noncence sort of stuff and good but not all works in UK , can't wait for the next lesson !
Amazing knowledge...
Very interesting video as always. We are always being well served by Jago.
And his videos don’t ride up with wear. 😉🌟❤️
When Montreal’s Métro was planned they did the opposite: McGill station was designed so the department stores (Eaton’s, Hudson’s Bay Company) had direct, seamless access to the station. All the malls and office buildings that followed were developed with stations as their anchors. Even hotels and universities. The developers willingly paid for the connection tunnels. That’s how we got our “Underground City.” Similar in Toronto.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Underground_City,_Montreal