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Rackhams Store

I remember the food hall. But don’t remember the juice bar, I would have remembered the ‘saloon style bat-wing doors’ for certain if I’d noticed them.

This phase of development was in 1966 and the promotion of the health benefits of food seems ahead of its time, and still relevant today.

Is the sketch meant to be the Temple Row entrance ? Viv.

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I remember having a juice drink in the Juice Bar. If I remember correctly it was not in the main part of the store proper but in the entrance halfway up North Western Arcade so unless you went there intentionally or just happened to be passing you would not know about it.
 
They were ahead of their time with a juice bar. There was what was called a soda fountain (1970s?), where you could get a cup of coffee and, presumably milk shakes and suchlike. It was up the stairs from the entrance opposite the churchyard, I think.
 
I remember the food hall. But don’t remember the juice bar, I would have remembered the ‘saloon style bat-wing doors’ for certain if I’d noticed them.

This phase of development was in 1966 and the promotion of the health benefits of food seems ahead of its time, and still relevant today.

Is the sketch meant to be the Temple Row entrance ? Viv.

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Beautiful Memories Viv. I still have a black coat that my mum bought in rackhams in the sixties.
 
My dear Nan, would shop no where else, except, Debenhams, she truly, loved Rackhams, I don't know if it still survives or like Debenhams disappeared from the high st. Paul
 
My Grandad worked on the railways all his life. When he retired in the mid- late 60s he became a porter at Rackhams. He worked on I think it was the 3rd floor. I know for sure that it sold sports equipment as he met Mom and myself after work and took us in to buy me a tennis racket, how posh was that ! It was a Slazenger with a white handle and a proper wooden spring loaded frame cover for the racket. I had it right until a few years ago. There was also the lingerie department on that floor ( or as Grandad pronounced it in his Gloucester cum Brummie accent, ling ur ee ! He loved working there. He loved the ladies or girls as he called them on his floor and at Christmas they always gave him presents. He said it was a pleasure to go to work, keep clean and get paid , a bit different to the steam engines.
 
My Grandad worked on the railways all his life. When he retired in the mid- late 60s he became a porter at Rackhams. He worked on I think it was the 3rd floor. I know for sure that it sold sports equipment as he met Mom and myself after work and took us in to buy me a tennis racket, how posh was that ! It was a Slazenger with a white handle and a proper wooden spring loaded frame cover for the racket. I had it right until a few years ago. There was also the lingerie department on that floor ( or as Grandad pronounced it in his Gloucester cum Brummie accent, ling ur ee ! He loved working there. He loved the ladies or girls as he called them on his floor and at Christmas they always gave him presents. He said it was a pleasure to go to work, keep clean and get paid , a bit different to the steam engines.
Lovely story!
 
The butcher’s department in Rackhams. I remember we moved away from the traditional turkey at home. Mum used to get capons. Don’t think it was to follow any trend, more because she preferred it to turkey. Viv.
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Source: British Newspaper Archive
 
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The butcher’s department in Rackhams. I remember we moved away from the traditional turkey at home. Mum used to get capons. Don’t think it was to follow any trend, more because she preferred it to turkey. Viv.
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Source: British Newspaper Archive
After we were married my wife's sister gave us a cockerel for Xmas dinner. She and her husband raised a batch every Xmas to sell. We really enjoyed it and prefer it to turkey now.
 
Certainly, in my family a capon was the traditional Christmas dinner. The folks would say turkey was too dry. I continued this tradition too until the 90’s.

I am just wondering if capons are still available. With the intensive farming methods, they tend to kill all the cockerels now.
 
After we were married my wife's sister gave us a cockerel for Xmas dinner. She and her husband raised a batch every Xmas to sell. We really enjoyed it and prefer it to turkey now.
We always had a capon. Raised and fattened by my Grandad who always kept chickens. Used to scare me by pecking my legs.
After Grandad died Mom used to order a capon from the butcher. We did eventually go on to have turkey.
 
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