Post war local retail commemorations in the UK

[John Gilinsky]

I think it would be a great idea to start a thread on the GWF for UK only local retail shops of all kinds that AFTER the war commemorated owners, staffs, patrons, visitors/guests etc.... who had served in one capacity or another during WWI as well as any other war connections related to the establishment (furnishing of supplies, room and board, food and drink, companionship [ ! ], stabling of horses, vegetables, drill spaces, storage spaces, entertainments, etc....).  Any type of local small/medium business, retail shop and the like qualify:  bakeries, butchers, shoe stores, blacksmiths, carpenters, interior decorators, clothes stores, haberdasheries, gift stores, department stores, stables, inns, pubs [ !!!! ], restaurants, garages, cigar stores, coffee shops, bars, theaters, cinemas, playhouses, vaudeville houses, etc.....

 

Rules:

 

1)   The establishment(s) must have existed for at least part of the August 1914 to July 1919 period.

2)   MUST be based or originally based from August 1, 1914 onwards in the UK itself.

 

3)   ANY type of physical reminder may be referenced:  window, honour roll, photograph, portrait, painting, sculpture, name plate, dedication plate, presentation plate, memorial, sculpture, drawing, painting, postcard, letters, company name / title, history, book, pamphlet, employee lists, etc....

 

4)   Please be specific as to name/title, location(s), ownership(s), date(s) of creation / construction and specific WWI or Great War commemorative connection(s).

 

I start this idea motivated by our vastly changing urban landscapes and urbanizations around the world with many older buildings and structures being torn down or relegated to Hollywood style or Potemkin village architectural facade treatments.   As a Toronto, Ontario resident my city has the distinction of being the North American condominium building capitol of this continent which includes especially a great deal of downtown historic city center "redevelopment" or what I sometimes refer to as "Manhattanization."  With modern technologies, the death of the retail clerk (literally - in 2017 I personally listened to a feature presentation by Salesforce on this very subject) the "nation of shopkeepers" should be leading to preserve whatever WWI related physical reminders are left BEFORE the wreckers balls, robotic workers or AI generated "redevelopment" urban renewals take effect.