Marks & Spencer

A Memory of West Ealing.

I remember M & S very well in West Ealing. Around the fifties they had St Michael toys. One I remember was a milk float, it had little crates with bottles in them. It was made of polythene as a lot of toys were then. Also they had an electric train set made by Rovex in Margate. They went on to become Triang. As a teenager I bought shirts there. I remember one with red spots on it. Quite stylish and fitted, it just never wore out. I also remember a tall blonde girl with a Twiggy hairstyle who worked there. I remember her because some evenings when I was working on my mini van in Studley Grange Road she would pass by on the opposite side of the road on her way to Humes Avenue where I think she lived. Not the most direct route. I wonder who she was and how life worked out for her. It was a really nice friendly store. The sales assistants used to stand behind the counters I remember. They used to have tape measures sometimes on their belt or around their neck. I was looking for a shirt one day and an assistant asked if I needed help . I said that I didnt know my neck size. Instantly she measured my neck. What service, I left with a shirt.

---

---