Dorothy’s items of note tune into history
AWOMAN moving house found a rental receipt from 1933 for a Southport store.
Dorothy Kerr, 76, found her father Harry Armitage’s receipt for a piano rental from Smiths TV, in Manchester Road, in Southport.
Amazed at the find, Dorothy, who is still a regular customer, took the document into the shop.
Graham Wright, owner of Smiths TV, which was established in 1912, said: “This is a wonderful part of our history, I am pleased it was brought to us. What is interesting for us as a company is not only the fact that [the daughter] of Mr Armitage brought this to us, but that she is also a customer of ours!
“We have been looking after Mr Armitage’s family since probably before November 22, 1933, which is a grand total of 83 years, 10 months of service.”
And the person who sold the piano was Graham’s great-grandfather, Sydney Wright.
Graham, 56, said: “We offered a ‘rent to buy’ scheme during that time, as pianos were a big investment and we wanted people to be sure they’d use them.
“This was quite popular and pianos were one of the main sources of entertainment in that era, before television.”
The discovery was particularly valuable to Graham as all the archives and records from the company were lost during the Blitz in WWII.
The piano itself has since become an heirloom in Harry Armitage’s family.
Dorothy, who has been an “extra” on television shows such as Coronation Street, said: “Although the piano was purchased for our home in West Derby, it was moved to Southport during the war.
“Then it moved around to various places with the family, including Waterloo, Thornton and Crosby.”
Dorothy’s mother, Florence, was a piano teacher and used to teach students how to play.
She said: “My son, Howard, is also a musician and it is at his house in Crosby at the moment.
“It is a well-travelled piano, and very important to our family.
“We are all very musical.”
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