Print

CHRONOLOGY 1813: Last guinea coin minted. Hereafter, shoppers will need to carry a sovereign and a shilling. 1820s: First omnibuses drawn by horses facilitate shopping in London. 1830s: First draper’s shops begin to expand into additional “departments,” be- coming proto-department stores. The first “industrialized” shoes sold by drapers: these shoes were still sewn by hand but according to a highly organized and efficient system of labor, which made them very cheap. Usually, drapers sold them from a bin, rather than boxed and in pairs like more expensive shoes. Glass for shop windows began to be cheaper, and merchants begin to fill the shop wall along the street with multiple panes of glass for light and display. First train lines, although they tended to cover limited areas. 1840: Penny stamp introduced: paid for by the sender, it’s fast, efficient, and cheap. 1840s: Afternoon tea becomes a ritual for elite English men and women, and gradually works its way down through society. Carpets made on powered looms become available, eventually lowering carpet prices. Taxes on newspapers withdrawn, and manufacturing costs drop as wood pulp is turned into paper by the addition of acid. 1844: New Rochdale Society of Equitable Pioneers opens the first real cooper- ative store. They began with basic grocery items.