Remembering Ridson's, the baby shop loved by Sunderland families in the pre-Mothercare days

Risdon’s, or J. Risdon &Co to give it its proper name, stood on the corner of John Street and High Street West and it had a reputation for being the best shop in town for baby wear.

It also did a mean trade in prams and cots and Philip Curtis, from Sunderland Antiquarian Society, is the man to tell us more.

Norman Risdon was the man who started it all in the late nineteenth century.

In its early days, it was run by a Miss Oliver whose sister eventually married Norman.

But it wasn’t all plain sailing. Risdon’s was gutted when the city was hit by the Havelock House fire in 1898.

Undaunted Norman was not going to let a fire stop him. He opened again once new premises had been built on the same site.

A surge in customers

After that, the shop went from strength to strength, partly because of the surge in customers in that part of Sunderland.

The area had Caslaw, Hayter & Tate next door, and with J. Jones across the road and the National Provincial Bank and Caslaws on the opposite corners, life was looking good.

By the early 1940s, two sisters called Gwen and Lily Taylor were in charge and, as both had the same surname, Gwen was known in the shop as Miss Taylor with Lily opting to be called by her mother’s maiden name, which was Miss Swann.

Just like Are You Being Served

Everything then was much more formal and it was considered inappropriate for shop assistants to call each other by their Christian names during working hours. It was a little like the store in the popular television series Are You Being Served.

Risdon’s had just about everything that you would need for a baby, ranging from shawls to top quality prams and cots.

It served Wearsiders right until 1977 when the westward movement of the town’s commercial centre led to its closure and to an auction of all its fittings.

The premises remained vacant for a while but were later occupied by a bookmaker.

There must be thousands of Wearsiders today who, when they were babies, were dressed and pushed around in prams bought from Risdon’s.

Thanks to Philip and the Antiquarian Society.

A treasure trove of Sunderland memories

The society also welcomes people to its Heritage Centre which is open on Wednesdays and Saturdays from 9.30am to 12pm.

Get along to enjoy huge collections of old pictures, newspapers, books and much more.

It also has a website with information on the history of Sunderland including a members area with features and photographs. The society now has more than 1,400 members.

The Antiquarian Society, which was founded in 1900, holds extensive archives which were amassed and donated by people from the Sunderland area.

To find out more, visit the Antiquarian Society’s Facebook page or its website at http://www.sunderland-antiquarians.org

And to apply to become a member, email [email protected]

If you have any memories of Risdon’s, email [email protected]