London,
31
March
2008
|
23:00
Europe/London

Set up shop at Hackney Museum

Did you know that Hackney was the home of the first ever Tesco supermarket? Or that in 1854, Matthew Rose opened what became Hackney’s best known department store – now a Marks and Spencer?

The rich history of shopping in the borough - from Hoxton to Homerton, of selling haberdashery to hair extensions - is explored in Hackney Museum’s latest exhibition Set up Shop featuring photographs by Gary Manhine.

Highlights of the exhibition are displays from bygone eras of local shopping, ranging from lingerie to haberdashery, ironmongery to colourful wigs. There is a Vietnamese nail bar, a pawnbroker’s ticket writer for printing pawn tickets in triplicate and a life-size market display stall complete with fruit and vegetables for children to enjoy themselves.

Set up Shop also looks at the rich and exciting range of shopping experience present today – from the famous street markets of Ridley Road and Broadway Market to the international retailers selling anything from Turkish Baklava and Vietnamese fish sauce to late-night haircuts and Kosher cakes.

Set up Shop is on at Hackney Museum (1 Reading Lane, Hackney E8 1GQ) from now until Saturday 7 June. Admission is free. The museum is open Tuesday to Saturday. For more information call: 020 8356 3500 or email: hmusuem@hackney.gov.uk