Smiling shop staff from 95 years ago
THIS photograph of smiling shop workers and management was taken in May 1924 on a special occasion – the 105th anniversary of the well-known Dudley department store, F.W. Cook’s in the High Street.
Frederick William Cook was the grandson of the founder and he stands fifth from left on the second row from the back; we cannot name anyone else. F.W. Cook was a leading figure in the town and served two terms as mayor, 1906-1908.
Businesses
One year before this picture was taken a special booklet was produced to commemorate the visit of the Prince of Wales, later Edward VIII, to Dudley, on June 13, 1923. The booklet featured profiles of several leading Dudley businesses, among them F.W. Cook Limited:
“Just over 100 years ago – on May 8th, 1819 – was opened the well-known Dudley House of F.W. Cook Ltd., of which Samuel Cook was the pioneer. He was a man of keen business foresight, and steadily and surely laid a foundation for what is now one of the most important houses in the Black Country.
“It was in the year 1844 that Samuel Cook, the founder, took into partnership his son, Samuel Quartus Cook, and the business was then carried on under the title of S. Cook & Son. Later the son succeeded his father, and so the business continued, steadily developing until 1884, when it was purchased by F.W. Cook – now Alderman Cook, JP – who at once proceeded to make important developments in the shape of extensions of the oldestablished and successful firm, practically remodelling the premises and adding additional departments which transformed the existing shop into a series of emporiums, embodying Nos. 75, 76, 78, 80, High Street, Imperial Buildings, and Nos. 75, 76, 78, 80, King Street.
“One hundred and four years of continual business trading is a record possessed by very few firms in the country. All through its long history the ‘House of Cook’s’ has always displayed splendid selections of reliable and high-grade merchandise and fashionable attire at low prices and sound value.
“Alderman F.W. Cook JP, who holds the position of Chairman and Governing Director of the Company, is ably assisted in the business by his two sons.”
F.W. Cook’s sons were Sydney and Geoffrey and Geoffrey became chairman in the late 1950s.
In the 1960s, as King Street and much of Dudley town centre was redeveloped, Cook’s store was given a makeover and its new coffee lounge became a popular meeting place for Dudley folk.
Sadly the old store’s fortunes declined in the late 1970s and early ’80s and the business closed for good on February 26, 1983, after almost 164 years of trading.