A blast from the past!

The Black Country Living Museum has issued a public call out for memories of Stanton’s Music Shop, Dudley, prior to 1960.

Stanton’s Music Shop was originally opened on 10 Castle Street, Dudley, by James Stanton in 1895. By the 1950s, the shop was in the hands of his daughter-in-law Florence, her daughter Audrey Howarth, and a managing director, Frederick Nash. In the late 1950s, much of Castle Street was demolished for Dudley’s town center redevelopment and Stanton’s Georgian building was replaced by a modern flagship store.

The shop sold a range of musical instruments, including their traditional pianos, along with electric organs and electric guitars. They moved on from gramophones to sell radiograms, radios, televisions and record players, as well as the records to play on them. Customers could listen to the records in special booths before buying. Those were the days!

The Museum’s £21.7m Forging Ahead project will see the creation of a new historic development focusing on the 1940s-60s, the construction of a new Visitor Centre and will include a new 1940-1960s town centre. They plan to recreate the once popular music shop as part of this development and are keen to hear from anyone who has memories of the shop before the new store opened in the 1950s. Anyone with memories of buying records, instruments, or electronics from Stanton’s; or anyone who is connected with the Stanton, Howarth or Nash families are urged to share their recollections.

Simon Briercliffe, Historical Research Assistant, comments: “Stanton’s Record Shop will allow us to talk about the music and culture of the Black Country in the 1950s, including the rise of rock’n’roll and changing fashions. We’ll be using relevant memories and objects to bring Stanton’s story to life, so please do get in touch if you or anyone you know remembers this once iconic high street shop.”

You can contact the museum with your memories of Stanton’s Music Shop before the new store opened in the 1950s by telephone on 0121 557 9346; by email collections@bclm.com or you can write to the museum at: Collections Team, Black Country Living Museum, Tipton Road, Dudley, West Midlands DY1 4SQ

For more information on the Black Country Living Museum’s Forging Ahead Project and Stanton’s Music Shop, please visit: http://www.bclm.co.uk/forging-ahead/forging-ahead-historic-development/6.htm