Owen Owen

A while ago I put together a potted history of Owen Owen with a view to making a film about it at some point, told through the shop windows. I haven't been able to track down any images from inside. From the newspaper articles, the people of Coventry had fun robbing the place blind! Coventry Rebuilt - Owen Owen

Coventry Rebuilt. What newspapers, how many thefts? You're saying Coventry people were all thieves - you weren't around then, how can you know the culture or the people of Coventry? Those same people you accuse lost their lives or put them at risk for you, so you tell me what were the biggest thefts in Coventry. Again you say Owens was destroyed - it was let to burn, because it was no danger to lives but firemen and water were more important elsewhere. Had it have been the only building to suffer I believe it would have been refurbished, but they had a choice to rebuild with surrounding new city. Yes, there were a few bad eggs in Coventry, like every city in the world, about 1% or less in 1939 but there's more people like you today knocking the people you know nothing about.

Don't take the hump Kaga, he didn't mean everyone stole things. He's doing his bit to try and bring some of the old images of the city back to life and make sense of what he's read.

If you take a look at Peter's website, the part about Marks and Spencer, there are numerous newspaper reports that the store regularly prosecuted even minor pilfering offences, apparently it was their policy. I'm sure these were not intended to represent the populace of the city as a whole. Marks and Spencer through the years

Patient husband whilst wife tries on a frock or lady looking at fabrics? Coventry Rebuilt - see also my posts 136, 159 for other interior shots.

That's a good one Prof, if it was taken in the 60's chances are my hubby would be sitting nearby

mcsporran, this forum is viewed all over the world. What do people think with statements like robbing the place blind? About half a dozen people in the year 1936, called pilfering, hardly means 'robbing the place blind'. Coventry was well known for its honesty - in summer doors were left open, both back and front at a time when there were fields on either side the road. Shop goods were displayed outside on the pavements, books in cardboard boxes etc. Little or no theft. There were no houses with burglar alarms, never heard of, lots of shops did not have burglar alarms, went years without b&e. Butcher Row, stalls and tables held goods out front, out the back Priory Row, Priory Street, etc, easy to enter and rob houses or shops. So did Owens have burglar alarms if Coventry was a city of robbers? I was a child in Coventry in the early thirties - never got molested, harmed, people were pleasant, honest, helpful, a wonderful city to live in, the last city in the world that needed harming. I cannot stand by and hear people say otherwise.

I think that Kaga is right in saying robbing the place blind is a little strong but an expression of a jocular nature to describe the shoplifting that must have occurred and does occur in any large 'open' store throughout the country. I spent a lot of lime in the retail trade in a small way in more than one town and it is the same all over. My daughter even now works in a supermarket and can daily speak of the losses occurring on a regular basis. In general I believe that honesty of the general populace was greater in the 1900's than today and that would obviously applied to Coventry as any other town.

Kaga/Argon. I can confirm re M&S prosecuting because when I worked for a year as a 17yr old in the new John Manners outfitters in the Upper Precinct, the first salesman's father had been manager of M&S and the lady who scrubbed the shop entrance had also worked there.

I'm sure this collection has been shared before but I've never noticed the couple showing the destroyed interior of the original store before (not that you can identify much such was the extensive damage) -

NeilsYard, Again the issue is confusing, the pictures are not the same time and probably not the same building, so people are mislead, and not a true picture of Coventry's history.

Argon, You are correct, there was an immense difference in a lot of ways between 1920/30 to 1950s onwards. The war threw people that had never stepped out of their street into foreign lands they had never heard of, from being honest, respectable people to recognising looting and thieving. One had to, to survive. In some cases, millions were trained just to do that, and you just could not switch back in a couple of days, there were hundreds of cases after the war. There was one case where a guy came before a judge, he had stolen a tube train and driven it. Incredible things happened. The film 'Ocean's 11' was not far fetched, just transferred from wartime to peacetime.

Prof, Your post #168 I believe you were referring to the open well of the basement of Owen's, about 15ft deep, I think the surround was boarded but it could have been iron sheets In 1945 time Owen's burnt out store opened some of the ground floor, but I think the building had a ghost-like atmosphere that put off shoppers. Coventry were never going to build something solid before the war ended. After the big raid, Coventry had a mammoth task of clean-up, there was no need to knock Owen's down when we might have had more raids. First they cleared the streets - in places like the market they just put the rubble in heaps until the war ended, they made sure there were no un-exploded bombs and no one buried. Then dozens of little wooden shacks appeared as shops. Owen's, Burton's and other shops cleaned the ground floor rooms and opened with little stock. Earl Street had a number of Nissen huts on one side only, with a temp face the other side, loose walls were knocked down and the buildings left to wait for the end of the war. By late '41 the war had changed, Coventry had a lull, I believe London did too. By Sept '44 London was attacked by new weapons, the doodle bug and rockets, and Coventry held its breath, but they were not capable of reaching Coventry. By early '45 Coventry thought rebuilding was not far away and down came some of the barriers. The new Owen's I believe was only roped off while work was in progress, late '48 I think. This is sheer memory on my part.

Kaga, I think I would agree with that!

I was walking up Trinity Street sometime in the late forties. The site to the new Owens was roped off, several men were digging out the trenches for the foundations - several people were looking on. I spotted two teenage girls watching so I crossed the road and stood by them. but an irishman stood by a barrow of dirt polishing an old shrimp paste bottle, a lot of banter began. At that time the centre of the town was a large expanse of waste ground, the feeling was he was going to use it (for you know what!) A voice called "You wouldn't dare" - he smiled, still cleaning the bottle with a piece of rag, suggested he would. A woman screamed "You dirty old sod. I'm fetching the police". The girl next to me put her hand over her mouth with a gasp. Someone shouted "Go on Paddy, I dare you". By now a crowd had formed. I laughed - all this in the centre of the city. He lowered the bottle. Screams and gasps. He lowered his right hand. Some kid shouted excitedly "Oh my god, he's going to do it". Clapping started, but Paddy put his right hand in his trouser pocket, pulled out an Irish coin, placed it in the bottle. Now, a lot of ohs, then someone offered him a tanner. He placed it in the bottle. I said to the girl at the side of me "Well, that's saved you a lot of blushing". She said "You reckon?" Then people caught on and all sorts of coins were offered of all values. He filled the bottle, screwed on the metal lid, took out a spade of earth in the trench then filled the hole with soil from his barrow, stamped it down and the crowd dispersed. And I had a date fixed with the girl that said "You reckon?"