Saturday was market day which was looked forward to with great expectancy. Work finished about noon. Some men went to the football matches at St. Georges to urge on the Dragons, while others would go to Owens Field where I saw some matches played.

The various traders would begin bringing their wares in from early morning. Quite a few came from Wolverhampton especially a greengrocer and a fishmonger. There were also a few "cheap jacks" who would start off by asking for a penny from about 20 people implying that it was possible to get a watch for this. Of course it was a fiddle, but a very exciting one for us children, who didn't understand what it was all about anyway. The arguments and shouting were grand to hear. The sale of crocks was a feature of the market, one stall on the green run by Jimmy Bagnal and another stall by the Duke of York. Their method of selling was most amusing and what a noise they made by shouting the merits of their bargains and in breaking many plates to prove their case. Then with a thick kind of stick or wooden mallet they would give their box a big thump and they had made a sale. Of course there was always someone selling 'Cure-alls', pills and ointments to cure any complaints. One man used to lie on a bed of nails, even dance on them or scrape his feet on them, to show the wonder of some oils or embrocation which was good for the skin. Then at times there were the Kymoch Indians dressed in their gay coloured clothes - sometimes only a loin cloth, beads round their necks and hanging down their bodies and to complete their attire was a huge feathered headress. They sold blood mixture. It was a best seller alright. The sheer sight of seeing real Red Indians was to us kids blook curdling enough. The whole street was crowded from morning until late at night. The stalls selling their wares were on the paths in front of the shops. The shouting of the stall holders was always a treat to listen to. Then when it got dark a weird kind of flaring light would illuminate the scene. This was a paraffin light, their hissing, fluctuating flames all added to what has proved to me a scene ever to be remembered - and I would say to many more of my age.

About 8-8.30 p.m. the stalls started to close down. Then it was time for frantic selling of bargains galore. Kippers by the box, oranges and other fruit almost given away, while meat, on some occasions, you were almost begged to take away. People used huge wicker baskets to carry away their goods, sometimes using us boys to help them carry their loads to the waiting wagonettes or to the top station, to catch the "Dodger" home or sometimes even to their homes.
One of the delights was Jacob Greens sucking pig which you usually had put in a jug or basin, it was a real tasty morsel. Then on the corner of Oxford Street and Market Street outside Lea's grocers shop stood Fish Jones'stall. A fish fried in batter dipped in a huge bowl of vinegar, sprinkled with salt - a memory as the poet says "a thing of beauty, a joy for ever". His fried fish sold very well - it must have been dipping them in the vinegar that did it. A few hundred yards away was Beards tripe stall selling tripe, trolly bags, cowheels, pigs trotters, chitterlings.

Some of the grocery shops kept open until 9 p.m. I have been in the Co-op shop at that time with an aunt of mine, as young as I was, to help carry some of her purchases to Wrockwardine Wood.

The feature of the Market as a whole was the cacophony of noise which I think added to its attraction. Amid this, in the evening could be heard the Salvation Army Band with their lusty singing and blatant speakers all added to the medley of noise. Then between 8 -8,30 p.m. a fresh influx of people came out of the first house pictures, over the Old Town Hall. Their animated talk was of what they had been watching - Eddie Polo, Cowboys and Indians, Charlie Chaplin, The Man in Black, Pearl White, and exciting end to some episode - come again next week to see the sequel.

Owens chip shop, next but one to the Picture House, was soon overflowing with hungry customers, and many of the pubs began to receive their final patrons for the evening. The pubs were no doubt a mecca for many families, where they could meet and have a good family get-together over a glass of beer.

Relations and friends met to enjoy the real break from the laborous tasks of the week. A few yards down Stafford Road, just past Whitefoots, was a small cobblers shop. To watch the old cobbler, Teddy Hampton at work fascinated us children. His work bench faced the window overlooking the road. Sometimes he would allow a few of us in to have a warm by his fire. To watch him with his mouth full of springs (nails), which he seem to spit out onto the leather sole and thurnp them in with his hammer, was always interesting. The a little entertainment -he would dance, even with his wooden leg, and play a tune on his tin whistle - quite a character.

I often wonder why the Holyhead Road used to be (in the Summer months) sprayed with boiling tar, which men with huge brooms would spread about, before strewing gravel all over it. After this followed a huge ponderous steamroller. It was a grand sight to watch this slow- moving machine grinding down the gravel.

When father painted the parlour you couldn't see pa for paint, dabbing it here and everywhere - my word what a grim business decorating the home was compared with the excellent materials of today. There was little choice of colours, brown being the most common, while the adhesive used for sticking the wallpaper on was stiff mixture of flour and water, called "Fluppin". Some walls were distempered - this was in a powder form and mixed with water. What a nuisance it sometimes caused - if you caught your clothes against it, there it would adhere. The ceilings were whitewashed. This was made of a big ball of whitening together with a dolly blue and water. This was also a general purpose mixture as wash houses, closets, pigsty and fowl pens were all whitewashed inside. while very few houses could boast of skirting boards many used black gas tar oil to put round the bottom of the walls to a height of about a foot above the floor. This was usually obtained from the Gas Works.

Copyright:  Estate of  Moses Evans