Comments on: So Long, Des & Lorraine’s Junk Shop https://spitalfieldslife.com/2017/03/27/so-long-des-lorraines-junk-shop/ In the midst of life I woke to find myself living in an old house beside Brick Lane in the East End of London Wed, 12 Apr 2017 13:32:03 +0000 hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=7.0 By: Penny Armstrong https://spitalfieldslife.com/2017/03/27/so-long-des-lorraines-junk-shop/#comment-1145793 Wed, 12 Apr 2017 13:32:03 +0000 http://spitalfieldslife.com/?p=155779#comment-1145793 Wow. Moving is hell….moving a junk shop would be hell on wheels.

]]> By: Daniel Cerdán https://spitalfieldslife.com/2017/03/27/so-long-des-lorraines-junk-shop/#comment-1143531 Tue, 28 Mar 2017 15:48:18 +0000 http://spitalfieldslife.com/?p=155779#comment-1143531 So much the are is changing since I moved 5 years ago… Even tho I am a young one and I should embrace changes it is sad to see what London is becoming.

]]> By: Marino Marino https://spitalfieldslife.com/2017/03/27/so-long-des-lorraines-junk-shop/#comment-1143363 Mon, 27 Mar 2017 12:36:51 +0000 http://spitalfieldslife.com/?p=155779#comment-1143363 It’s wonderful to see Viscountess Boudica. Such a droll sense of humor she has, holding the bullseye up against her body.

How is she? Have you seen her?

]]> By: pauline taylor https://spitalfieldslife.com/2017/03/27/so-long-des-lorraines-junk-shop/#comment-1143361 Mon, 27 Mar 2017 12:27:27 +0000 http://spitalfieldslife.com/?p=155779#comment-1143361 This caused me to look up the meaning of the word rummage and this is what I came up with: ‘to search for something by moving things around carelessly and looking into, under and so on’. I was not surprised as people coming into my shop seem compelled to rummage in any boxes of books that have not yet been unpacked and this describes their behaviour exactly, careless !! There must be something in the human psyche that makes them think that if they turn everything over they will find a treasure that the owner has missed, but I bet that Des and Lorraine will have spotted any treasures with their long experience !! As do we of course.

Nevertheless junk shops are fascinating places, and my son has found bits and pieces that fit well into our new premises, door handles, picture frames, jars and plant pots and so on in a local outlet of reclaimed items, which is sadly, the nearest that we have to a junk shop now.

Does anyone have a rummage sale nowadays? Jumble sales still seem to exist but rummage sales? I haven’t seen one of those advertised for years despite all those people who love to rummage.

]]> By: Malcolm https://spitalfieldslife.com/2017/03/27/so-long-des-lorraines-junk-shop/#comment-1143355 Mon, 27 Mar 2017 11:32:16 +0000 http://spitalfieldslife.com/?p=155779#comment-1143355 …and on and on and on it goes, the homogenisation of our City’s streets into identical avenues of glossy, corporate outlets, all selling the same old rubbish to same old people in the same old clothes.
This is a magnificent example of an almost forgotten genre of retail: the junk shop. When I was a kid they were commonplace, as were the rag-and-bone men who plied their trade with a horse and cart and a lusty cry of: “Any ‘ol rags n’ lumber!” and they all looked like Steptoe and Son.
I’m glad they’ve been able to re-locate and wish them luck with the new premises.
On another note, there’s an identical “Mermaid” on display at the Horniman Museum in Forest Hill. These grotesque freaks are, of course, all fakes but were extremely common in Victorian times when sailors would bring them back from their voyages to the South Seas and beyond.

]]> By: Phil Maxwell https://spitalfieldslife.com/2017/03/27/so-long-des-lorraines-junk-shop/#comment-1143341 Mon, 27 Mar 2017 09:05:10 +0000 http://spitalfieldslife.com/?p=155779#comment-1143341 So sad that gentrification is forcing out Des & Lorraine. I will miss the adventure of exploring the magical place they created.

]]> By: Bailey Jones https://spitalfieldslife.com/2017/03/27/so-long-des-lorraines-junk-shop/#comment-1143338 Mon, 27 Mar 2017 08:33:40 +0000 http://spitalfieldslife.com/?p=155779#comment-1143338 What a wonderful world of junk. What a fantastic place to rummage for bargains, such as the glass light fittings behind Lorraine’s head in the last photo. I would love those. Aside from the junk, I enjoyed suddenly spotting the almost ghostly figure in photo two (first photo after the text) and interpreting the look on Lorraine’s face as she surveys the exuberant Countess.

]]> By: John Barrett https://spitalfieldslife.com/2017/03/27/so-long-des-lorraines-junk-shop/#comment-1143333 Mon, 27 Mar 2017 07:38:20 +0000 http://spitalfieldslife.com/?p=155779#comment-1143333 Surely this must be the mother of all Aladdin’s caves, rummaging here would take a supreme effort, but could be worth it. Doing a stock check would be horrific. Nice to see the Viscountess again I thought she was off-scene. Pleased to see Des & Lorraine’s entrepreneurial enterprise have relocated into their new goody cave. They provide an important service for old bits and pieces required by us-good luck. Poet John

]]> By: Liz https://spitalfieldslife.com/2017/03/27/so-long-des-lorraines-junk-shop/#comment-1143330 Mon, 27 Mar 2017 07:10:38 +0000 http://spitalfieldslife.com/?p=155779#comment-1143330 I love rummaging around old shops like this. Shame they have to close.

]]> By: Geoff Frewin https://spitalfieldslife.com/2017/03/27/so-long-des-lorraines-junk-shop/#comment-1143328 Mon, 27 Mar 2017 06:41:42 +0000 http://spitalfieldslife.com/?p=155779#comment-1143328 Loved this article as I do with so many , landing in my email each day, but as I now live in Christchurch on the South Coast it gives me a wonderful sense of time gone by and life as it should be.
It’s my first day of a weeks leave and a wonderful way to start the week.
Thanks

Geoff

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