“From Music to Y fronts”

I read that Marks & Spencer are setting up an exhibition in Manchester to celebrate their 125th anniversary. They are putting on display many items that they have sold in their shops over that period…..except there was no mention of sheet-music. 

I wonder if they had any I thought?

Now Marks started the whole thing off in 1884 on a stall in an open market in Leeds, Yorkshire. Then known as Marks’ Penny Bazaar, it was the household goods, haberdashery, toy, and sheet-music business of Michael Marks, a Jewish refugee from Poland. 

His sign read “Don’t ask the price—it’s a penny.” 

Now in my music collection I have quite a few copies of M&S sheet music…I bought them as part of a large bundle of music at a car-boot sale.

This music in this photo mentions the Penny Bazaar and from the M&S website I have managed to find a picture of one.

There are no dates on this music but it is around a hundred years old and just think it originally cost One Penny. 

In 1894 Marks  took on Thomas Spencer as a business partner. In 1907 Marks died and his son, Simon transformed the business from the small number of outdoor stalls in various markets in northern England to a larger number of indoor shops, and he launched the company’s St. Michael brand name ….a popular label for decades.