Researching a branch of my family tree this week, an online trade directory revealed a proprietor of a fancy repositories shop in Birmingham in 1932.
What are fancy repositories? Google showed the shop would have offered “knick-knacks and toys which fed the market for cheap consumerism, including that of children.”
An Internet Archive full-text search showed no hits after 1889. The Ngram Viewer for British English found it to be a very much Victorian term.
In Kelly’s directory of Hampshire, Wiltshire, Dorsetshire and the Isle of Wight for 1889, there were 100 businesses listed under the Fancy Repositories category with a mix of men and women proprietors, the women a mix of Miss and Mrs.
If you’d like to know more check out the February 2021 article Fancy repositories: a mixed bag from News from the Past, which has many articles relating to Victorian Bournmouth.
What an absolute goldmine for anyone that has ancestors living in or round the area, or indeed, social history.
Thank you sharing.