Jabez Cowley - proprietor - 17 Church Street c1910

A travelling salesman would visit the shop one day with his catalogues and samples, and my father John Smith who had taken over the shop from my grandfather, would place his order.

A crate of crockery - left of the picture above

About two or three weeks later a railway horse and cart would arrive with a large wooden crate upon it. This crate was pushed down wooden rails onto the pavement at the front of the shop.

We would remove the top off the crate, and the first layer of straw to reveal the smallest items: cups and saucers, tea plates, egg cups, etc.

The next layer was tea pots, milk jugs, sugar basins, fruit dishes, and larger plates.

Below these came dinner plates, vegetable dishes, casserole dishes with lids, and many sizes of pudding basins.

Below these were mixing bowls, pickle jars, the large plates for serving Sunday roast or Christmas turkey or goose.

On the bottom were the big jars for preserving eggs in, stewing pots of various sizes, and chamber pots — plain white or floral.

The crate was filled with the straw, the top nailed on, the label reversed, and this was picked up the day by the railway man, and sent back to Lancashire.