Gardiner’s Department Store – looking East towards Whitechapel & Commercial Roads

The Gardiner’s Department Store and its location hold special places in my memory.  I did not go into the Store very often and can only remember my mother actually buying something there on one occasion.  However, this was something that I considered very special!

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Like the baby in the middle, I would NOT have enjoyed wearing that awful outfit either! 

I must have been about five years old when I was taken to Gardiner’s one afternoon and measured for a Sailor’s Suit or Sailor’s Rig, as it is also called.  But mine was to be no ordinary Sailor’sOutfit!  It was not one of those summer cotton suits, but consisted of an overcoat made of thick navy blue coloured wool with Gold Buttons and Braid (Sleeve Lace).  The trousers were long, which was unusual for young children of my age at that time and were slightly too long so that I could grow into them.

Me, as The Admiral – The Hat was positioned by the Photographer

As great as this outfit was, it was The Hat that really set it off, as they used to say!  The hat was no ordinary Royal Navy Able Seaman’s Cap!  No, mine was an Officer’s Hat complete with a black visor.  The official name for such a hat is a Peaked Cap, Forage Cap, Barracks Cover and Combination Cap.

Left; An Able Seaman with Cap worn by someone who knew how to wear it;  Centre: Officers’ Caps; and Right: The only dog, a  Great  Dane  named  Just  Nuisance,  ever  to be enlisted in the Royal Navy (1939-1944) with Able Seamen friends 

Normally I wore my school cap on my head at a slight angle so that my right eye was partly hidden by the visor.  This style of wearing a hat or cap was considered somewhat flash, but it was the rage when I was a child and was the preferred manner of wearing a hat by film stars, Spivs and Flash Harrys and, of course, Crooks!

Spivs & Flash Harry
Top Row: George Cole (1925-1915) as (Left) the Spiv, Flash Harry, (Centre) as the young Ebeneezer Scrooge in the film Scrooge and (Right) Arthur Laley; Bottom Row: The Spiv Look (Left) and Ray Davies of The Kinks, as a Spiv, from the Come Dancing video (Right)

Click here  to watch the video of Come Dancing

or Click below to hear only the music

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Men Wearing Hats by those who KNEW how to wear them including my Father (Top Centre)

After buying my outfit, my mother took me across Whitechapel Road to a Photographer’s Shop for a Professional to take my picture.  It was the Photographer who was the first to refer to me as The Little Admiral while positioning me by a large stool for the picture.  Evidently, I liked this form of address since I believed him, and began to think that I actually was an Admiral of the Royal Navy!  What I did not like about the photograph was his placing of my Hat on the back of my head and not at an angle!

Admiral Sleeve Lace (from Left to Right: Admiral of The Fleet; Admiral; Vice Admiral; and Rear Admiral) and, Upper Right, The Rear Admiral Command Flag and Lower Right, The White Ensign

Looking at the Sleeve Lace on the arms of the overcoat, it is seen that my Rank was that of a Rear Admiral.  Obviously a big mistake had been made here during the making of the overcoat!

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Gardiner’s Department Store, looking towards Commercial Road.
This postcard appears with the permission of Mr. Steve Kenfield of the East London Postcard Site.

I remember a very funny incident that happened outside one of the large shop windows of Gardiner’s Department Store on an early Sunday evening while my parents and I were out walking.

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F. Cooke’s Pie ‘n’ Mash Shop at The Broadway, London Fields together with Pies and Jellied Eels

My parents had a Pie ‘n’ Mash Shop on Cambridge Heath Road, just a few yards from Mile End Gate.  I am being quite honest when I say that my father made the best meat pies that I have ever tasted, and judging by the number of pies that my parents sold each day, there were many others who apparently agreed with me.  My father also sold cooked eels and sold them in the shop either hot or Jellied.  And these dishes proved very successful too.

Engraving of Mile End Gate from the early 1800s

The Toll Gate at Mile End was removed in 1866
Drawn by G. Read; Photograph by Guildhall Library & Art Gallery/Heritage Images/Getty Images

We had walked from our shop at Mile End Gate to Gardiner’s Corner.  As the weather was good, my parents had decided to walk to The Tower of London.   My father enjoyed going to The Tower and like to stand on Tower Bridge and watch the river traffic.  Actually, my mother and I also enjoyed doing this too.

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Gardiner’s Corner, 1959

We had stopped at Gardiner’s and my parents were looking at the goods for sale in the shop windows that faced on Whitechapel Road.  I remember standing behind my father who was engrossed in whatever-it-was in the window when I noticed a huge dog walking towards us.

The dog, now that I think about it, was a Great Dane.  It was a very big dog, in fact, the largest dog I had seen.  To be honest, I can think of seeing a dog that was bigger even now.  Well, the dog was walking along and I recall that no one seemed to notice this intimidating looking creature, but me!  I stood there frozen to the spot, as this creature came up to me.

The dog easily came up to my ears!  He or she stopped and looked directly at me.  I did not dare to move or cry out.  Several years later when I first read The Hound of The Baskervilles, I immediately thought of this dog.

I remember that the dog looked me up and down and then sniffed at me.  Obviously the creature decided that I was of no interest and next moved on to study my father.

My father was deep in thought and totally engrossed with the window decoration and had not noticed the dog.  The dog evidently appreciated this and moved towards him and, after a second or two, gave him a nudge at his right elbow.  I think that my father must have thought that I was tugging at him, as he turned and looked down, and, it was then that he noticed The Dog!  

And it was at that exact moment that my father gave out a sound …….. which was not exactly a scream ……. nor was it a cry or a shout …… nor was it guttural or high pitched ……. but it was blood chilling and froze me even more to the spot!

I have it on good authority that these sounds were made by goats!

The Wilhelm Scream – apparently, this sound has been used in a number of films

Amazingly enough, the sound did not appear to frighten or irritate the dog for he simply sniffed and moved away and continued on his walk down the street!  What was equally surprising about this encounter was no one noticed the dog and no one, including my mother, heard my father’s sound!   Everyone else was still busy looking at the window displays and no one turned to look!  

When my mother caught up with my poor father and me, I told her what had happened and pointed to the dog who was happily strolling along the Whitechapel Road evidently oblivious to the fear that he had caused.   Meanwhile, my poor father had not moved!

I remember that my mother was very angry with him and told him so!  She felt that he ought to have saved me from the dog and not stood frozen to the spot!  I tried to tell to my mother that I was fine, but she was too annoyed to listen.

After a minute or so, my father was able to move.  He tried to take his cigarette case out of his pocket, but was unable to keep hold of it in his hand and it fell to the ground.  I picked it up for him and opened it.  He was unable to take a cigarette from it so I took one and held it up for him to put in his mouth.  Eventually he was able to get his lighter to work and managed to lit the cigarette.  After several deep inhalations, he was able to walk and began to make his way, somewhat shakily, towards Aldgate and The Tower.  By the time we got to Aldgate, we had to stop at a Public House so that he could have a drink!

I have to smile when I think of this encounter, as it was one of the few occasions where I took my father side since normally he was at the root of problems and difficulties that we had to suffer and endure when I was a child.

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My first school, Sir John Cass Foundation School, was in Aldgate, in Duke’s Place. To get there, I had to take the 653 Trolleybus from Mile End Gate to Aldgate Bus Terminal and then cross the road and walk a few yards along Duke’s Place.

This would seem to be a simple journey, and it was most days, but there were days when anyone coming from the East End would be late a result of the traffic congestion at Gardiner’s Corner.

Bus congestion at Gardiner’s Corner

One of our teachers, Mr. Boyce, was unsympathetic to the plight of those of us that arrived late to school on occasion. He refused to accept any excuse and told us that we should leave home earlier or when traffic was congested, we should get off the bus and walk. This was totally unrealistic since, firstly, we were already leaving home at an early time and, secondly, the congestion began a good distance from Gardiner’s Corner. Had we got off the bus, or alighted, as they used to say, where the congestion began, by the time I got to school, the bus would have long since arrived at the bus terminal! This happened to me on several occasions! Getting off the bus was also rejected by parents since no one would allow their child to try to cross the dangerous roads that made up Gardiner’s Corner!

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To tell the truth, neither my friends nor I had any interest in Gardiner’s Department Store, but we did have interest in the store directly opposite, at the corner of Commercial Street and Whitechapel High Street.  This was the site of F.W. Woolworth & Company, which was a virtual Aladdin’s cave for us, selling many things of interest including sweets, masks and affordable toys, all within range of our meager budgets.

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Gardiner’s Department Store, still known as The Scotch House, in 1906

I have to confess that I had no idea when Gardiner’s Department Store was built until recently. I recently discovered an article at Mick’s Muses. Allow me to quote what Mick has to say:

The store was originally built in the 1870’s and specialised in military uniforms, Scottish and children’s clothing, For many years the store was simply known as “The Scotch House” which was proudly proclaimed by a huge sign at the front of the building. Over the years the sign disappeared and the store became known as Gardiners Corner due to it’s prominent position. Gardiners Corner also became a landmark name appearing on bus route signs.

The Store was a triangular building at the junction of Whitechapel High Street and Commercial Road.  It had large ground floor display windows and entrances on both streets and was of five stories together with a large Clock Tower at the junction.  It was an imposing building.

I am sorry to say that I still do not know who the architect was. If any reader has additional information about The Store, I would be happy to receive it.

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Once I moved from London, I never went into Gardiner’s Department Store again. I would pass it occasionally while rushing elsewhere and did not pay much attention to it.

I remember visiting the area a number of years later and discovered that Gardiner’s Corner had undergone great changes. The Store had been demolished and replaced by a new building. The Corner had been redesigned with the development of a new huge one-way system that extended up to Aldgate and my old school.

Although I am sure that keeping the traffic moving is of great concern to Tower Hamlets Borough Council, commuters and businesses, such changes tend to cause a loss in the charm of the area in addition to destroying points of interest. I give the Elephant & Castle as an example of the horror inflicted on an area in the name of keeping the traffic moving!

Traffic Congestion at the Elephant & Castle, as seen from the air