YORK today is a bustling shopping destination with big brands and designer names drawing the fashionable from far and wide.

The same could be said for the city 250 years ago, when Georgian York was a mecca for shoppers seeking luxury goods.

“York had it all,” says Hannah Phillip, director of Fairfax House which is hosting a new exhibition, Consuming Passions, Luxury Shopping in Georgian Britain, which opens next Thursday.

“Yes, London was the centre of fashion and trade, but York had so much to choose from, just about everything you could want, from mercers, drapers and haberdashers to apothecaries. Bookshops abounded with several books published in York. It was where polite society gravitated.”

Hannah and her team have studied the household bills of Lord Fairfax and his daughter, Anne, who lived at Fairfax House, the fine Georgian townhouse in Castlegate in the mid 18th century, to gleam what the wealthy were spending their money on.

Alcohol featured heavily, and Lord Fairfax had two merchants, sending him regular supplies of port, sherry and wine.

Bills show the family spent a small fortune on their health too, buying supplies from various apothecaries, or chemists.

“The Fairfax family were buying an awful lot. There was a massive spend on all sorts of remedies, not just for themselves, but on their staff,” says Hannah. “There were lots of apothecaries in York. Each apothecary would mix their own remedies and patent their own remedies. They would advertise, with claims they could cure everything right through to cancer.”

Georgian maladies included constipation, stomach upsets, and “the flux” as well as low spirits.

Did the lotions and potions work? Referring to the Fairfax bills, Hannah thinks not.

“These lists go on for pages, which makes you think they didn’t really. Lord Fairfax had gout and whatever he was given probably didn’t stop him having gout because of the substantial quantities of alcohol and sugar he was having.”

They must have been relatively healthy however, added Hannah, because Lord Fairfax lived to the age of 71 and Anne to 69.

 

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Apothecaries were the forerunners of doctors and a symbol of the burgeoning, affluent, professional middle class. This was the catalyst for the explosion of the luxury goods markets in the Georgian era – people had money and wanted to spend, spend, spend.

“The aspiring middle classes had disposable income, they wanted to keep up with the Joneses and spend their expanding wealth on fashionable objects,” said Hannah.

Large shops, or warehouses, opened – like our department stores of today. Businesses invested in shelving and lighting and on how to display goods.

Josiah Wedgwood was a visionary when it came to marketing his china, believes Hannah. “He was the instigator or modern marketing and shop merchandising tactics.” He believed, said Hannah, that shopping had to be a pleasurable experience and had strong ideas on how to present his wares. “He understood it wasn’t just about the product, but the ambience around it.”

And what products! The new exhibition showcases some of the most desirable pieces from elite Georgian society. There is a selection of delicate silverware, used as tea caddies, snuff boxes and coffee pots, as well as French silks and fabric sample books and a giant pair of stainless steel tailor scissors.

There are vessels for alcohol and fine drinking glasses. Among the more unusual objects are some false teeth made from porcelain, a false eye, and a oral hygiene set featuring a toothbrush and tongue scraper.

There are perfume bottles, too – another sign that the Georgians took grooming seriously.

“There was a growing consciousness about appearance,” says Hannah. The soap company Pears was established, as was the perfume firm Floris. Toothpaste and pomades became widely available too. The Georgians were earning their “gorgeous” tag.

They also liked toys, but these weren’t for children. “They were small, luxury items. Lord Fairfax bought from a man in Bath – a kettle and some really expensive buckles.”

On display is a small silver object that was either for coring apples or cutting cheese, as well as a beautiful etui (small ornamental case for holding needles, cosmetics, and other articles) and its equally exquisite chatelaine (a decorative belt hook or clasp worn at the waist).

There are a pair of spectacles, with extra long arms, designed to be worn around a wig.

Many of the big names in Georgian times are still going strong today, including Twinings tea.

One of the more quirky exhibits features a replica red squirrel and a pet collar. Yes, the Georgians kept squirrels as pets and there is a painting of Anne Fairfax with a squirrel in a collar and chain in existence, reveals Hannah.

Happily, not all Georgian tastes have stood the test of time.