maps

Russell & Allen (Old Bond Street)

~ Carly Silk

Russell & Allen appears in Amy Levy’s The Romance of a Shop on page 79, as an elite dressmaker and supply shop where Constance, as a newly engaged women, tries on a ball dress. (pg. 79)

Unfortunately, while looking for more information on Russell & Allen’s shop, including what the storefront may have looked like, I could find no surviving images, as it would appear the store disappeared sometime in the late 1890s to early 1900s. The most information I could find on the store came from the footnotes on page 79 of The Romance of a Shop: “Messrs. Russell and Allen, Old Bond Street, London, W.” was an exclusive dress designer and supplier shop, according to photographs on the website of the Victoria and Albert Museum.” (pg. 79)

However, I did manage to find photos of preserved clothing that were made and sold via Russell & Allen’s shop, courtesy of the Victoria & Albert museum website.

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It’s clear to see that Russell & Allen made many high quality outfits, and it’s interesting that Amy Levy chose to include Constance’s engagement with the fact that she is trying a dress there. Perhaps she meant to express that Constance would only spend the money required for a Russell & Allen dress for an extremely special occasion, such as an engagement.

According to the Charles Booth Poverty Map, Russell & Allen, located on Old Bond Street, was surrounded by middle-class and upper middle-class dwellings, which seems obvious since Russell & Allen was a very expensive store. Only the upper middle class could afford to shop there, or have custom-made outfits made there. Even today, Old Bond Street is home to many expensive stores housing designer artifacts, such as Gucci outfits, who supply goods to the British Royal Family.

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The only crime I could find being committed in the vicinity of Russell & Allen was a case of fraud, in which the defendant was found guilty. A man by the name of Adolf Beck appears to have tried to trade stolen jewelry for forged checks, one of which was made out to Russell & Allen.

WORKS CITED

Old Bailey Proceedings Online (www.oldbaileyonline.org, version 7.2, 10 December 2015), February 1896, trial of ADOLF BECK, Unlawfully (t18960224-277).

Booth, Charles. “Old Bond Street.” Charles Booth Online Archive. Web. 10 Dec. 2015.

“Bond Street.” Shops and Art Galleries in New Bond Street and Old Bond Street, London. Street Sensation, n.d. Web. 10 Dec. 2015. <http://www.streetsensation.co.uk/mayfair/bs_intro.htm>.

“Wedding Dress: Russell & Allen.” Victoria & Albert. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Dec. 2015. <http://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O166864/wedding-dress-russell-allen/>.
Levy, Amy. The Romance of a Shop. Peterborough, Ont.: Broadview, 2006. Print.

 

Baker Street Station

~ Carly Silk

Present in Amy Levy’s The Romance of a Shop for only a brief period of time, Baker Street Station is where the Lorimer sisters part after a day spent shopping and walking around in the area of Baker Street. Phyllis in particular actually goes underground into the station, while Gertrude boards an omnibus above ground outside of the Station. (pg. 80) In reality, the Baker Street tube station is one of the oldest surviving stations in the London Underground, and still transports people to this day. Baker Street Station, because of its proximity to the famed 221b Baker Street of Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes series, is also currently decorated with Sherlock Holmes artwork, to celebrate the area’s perhaps most famed (although fictional) resident.

According to the Charles Booth Poverty Map, the area of Baker Street Station is colored red, meaning the area is mostly middle-class, which makes sense as tourist attractions such as Madame Tussaud’s Wax Museum are located nearby. However, on the 1898-99 map, it’s interesting to note that there is also a spot of dark blue, where Booth has it marked as “very poor, chronic want.” The area over which this poverty lies is marked as St. Cyprian’s Church, which makes me think the church may have been housing destitute and/or homeless individuals out of charity, and it is possible the church could certainly afford to do so because of the middle-class area it is located in.

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On the Old Bailey Proceedings website, Baker Street Station, while seemingly in a well-to-do area, also seems like a prime spot for thievery to occur. A man was pick-pocketed of his watch outside Baker Street Station, but this seems to be the most intense crime that took place at the station. To add to Baker Street Station’s reputation of being in a well-to-do area, the alleged pick-pocketer was later declared “Not guilty.”

WORKS CITED

Old Bailey Proceedings Online (www.oldbaileyonline.org, version 7.2, 10 December 2015), August 1886, trial of IKE KENNEDY (70) (t18860803-848).

Pinchen, Liz. “Sherlock Holmes Tiles At Baker Street Tube Station.” Fine Art America. 20 Mar. 2011. Web. 10 Dec. 2015.

Booth, Charles. “Baker Street Station.” Charles Booth Online Archive. Web. 10 Dec. 2015.

Levy, Amy. The Romance of a Shop. Peterborough, Ont.: Broadview, 2006. Print.

“Prime Metro Properties.” The History Of Baker Street. Web. 10 Dec. 2015. <http://www.primemetro.co.uk/Content/About-Prime-Metro/The-History-Of-Baker-Street-.aspx>.

Waterloo Place in “The Romance of a Shop.”

~ Carly Silk

In Amy Levy’s novel The Romance of a Shop, Waterloo Place is mentioned when talking about The Waterloo Gazette, a newspaper created in the area. Although the women in the story do not visit Waterloo Place, Gertrude turns down an interview with the magazine about her family’s photography shop and her career in general. The text also states, however, that later on “some unauthorised person wrote a little account of the Lorimers’ studio in one of the society papers…” (Levy 135)

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As it is clear to see from the map above, courtesy of the London OS Town Plan, Waterloo Place is surrounded by a plethora of clubs, most likely meeting places for upper class citizens, and is also populated by war monuments and artistic statues, including a memorial to commemorate the Crimean War. One of the clubs visible on the map, the Athenaeum Club, was a clubhouse for gentlemen of the upper middle class, who enjoyed the arts, science, and were known for their artistic accomplishments. It was only in 2002 that the club, which still operates to this day, began to admit female members.

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According to the Charles Booth Poverty Map as well, it is obvious that Waterloo Square is in a very wealthy area of London, as if the various sculptures and clubs in the area are not proof enough. On Booth’s charts, both red and orange represent middle class and upper middle class establishments being present, and the overwhelming amount of both colors suggest that Waterloo Place was in the center of a very affluent area. Its close proximity to Piccadilly Circus and the Royal Academy of the Arts also backs up this claim. However, it is interesting to note that on the left side of St. James Square, there is a row of blue dwellings, which indicates that was a smattering of poor families living in the area as well.

Works Cited

Levy, Amy. The Romance of a Shop. Ed. Susan David Bernstein. Canada: Broadview Editions, 2006. p. 135. Print.

Charles Booth Online Archive. Booth Poverty Map and Modern Map. Web. 30 October 2015.  http://booth.lse.ac.uk/cgi-bin/do.pl?sub=view_booth_and_barth&args=529583,180350,1,large,0

London – OS Town Plan 1893-6. Web. 30 October 2015. https://mapsengine.google.com/07550989709782409818-08328807677136535917-4/mapview/?authuser=0