Shopping and trade

One egg is ‘un œuf” for breakfast

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In 1836, the Revue Anglo-Française was quite astonished to reveal this riveting fact:

Source gallica.bnf.fr / BnF

Apparently, according to the Review, England was importing, via the ports of London and Brighton, no less than sixty-two million eggs annually.  France was providing not less than fifty-five million of these eggs.  The Review goes on rapidly to tot up how much revenue France was gleaning from England.  At 42 centimes per dozen, that added up to 1,925,000 francs a year. 

You can almost hear the author rubbing his hands in glee.  Would he have wanted “England” to leave “Europe”?

 

Where’s Brigthon? (1)

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Source gallica.bnf.fr / BnF

1884
Dear Monsieur Henry,
Whilst strolling in Paris last week, I noticed this advertisement for your excellent establishment.  However, I would wish to draw your attention to the fact that, if you do indeed have a factory in Brighton as you state, you do not know our town well as you are clearly unable to spell its name correctly.
Yours faithfully
A concerned Brightonian                                 

‘Madame’ this and ‘Maison’ that (1)

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(c) Suzanne Hinton

It is well known that all that glisters is not gold.  In Brighton, it is also common knowledge that all that is seems to be French is not French.  Here’s a case in point.

From 1926 until about 1956, 26 Western Road in Hove was ‘Maison Francis’.  Francis was Thomas Francis, hairdresser and ‘cosmetologist’ (according to Kelly’s Directory in 1931).  By 1956, perhaps things French had become less fashionable and ‘Maison Francis” was replaced by hairdresser “Lawrence of Mayfair.  Fortunately, the beautiful threshold mosaic still survives in 2017.