Fay Epps

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EXCERPT:

Sara     Your Name First?

Fay Epps           My name is Fay Epps, I live at 89 Hale Lane, Mill Hill.  Now I met my husband when I wasn’t quite sixteen and a brother of mine was opening a gown shop, and another brother of mine had a stall in Caledonian Market.  And to open the shop – he was needed in the shop – so he asked me to get a friend and go to The Caledonian Market, and stay at he stall while he was away.  And  when I arrived I happened to look across the market, which was rather big and far away and I saw this man.  And he was handsome, and I said to my friends, “that is the man that I am going to marry, but how do I talk to him.”  But that was another story, so I had to work it out.  Well I was at a gown stall and we hadn’t taken any money yet and there was a stall next to me an English stall – where you could buy a roll for twopence, cheese roll.  But next to where this young man was a stall which was a Jewish stall- there you could buy cheesecake, probably for two shillings. You could buy a salmon roll. And the food was much nicer and much more expensive.  I worked it out that that moment I would take some money, I would go over and buy something at the stall, hoping to talk to this young man.  Which  I did.

S             Was that very forward for those days?

F             I suppose so.

S           But your friend didn’t say anything like, “oh that’s terribly ….”

F             No.  My friend was the same age as me.  I didn’t even ask her anyway. So when I first had a start as you call it and took some money I went over to the stall and purchased some cheesecake and something else and the young man said to me, “ooh somebodies having a good day.”  And I said, “well you have to eat whether you take money or not, and that was the first words I spoke, and went away.”  And of course the following week he came over to me. It was rather a large place but he came over to me and he was sort of below me and he asked me to buy a raffle ticket.  Well I didn’t have a clue what a raffle ticket was- anyway I didn’t have any money and that was that.  Anyway another week went by and I went over again for some cakes and some rolls.  This time he asked me if I’d go to his club.  That was in the East End of London- I lived in the East End of London.

S             Were there markets in the East End of London ?

F             Were there markets, yes I suppose there were … no. no this market was the caledonian market in caledonian rd.

S             Just on the outskirts of the East End  ?

F             Yes, I can’t explain exactly where it was.

S             And were there a lot of people from the East End working in the market ?

F             Oh yes, as a matter of fact, Tesco … Cohen, who died not very long ago- he had a lorry and he used to sell his buiscuits on a lorry in The Caledonian Market.  And he used to talk about it on Television.  He was quite proud to say that here was a man who used to be in the caledonian market, selling buiscuits…and he became Tesco.  And as a matter of fact. coming away from that story, my husband used to work for a friend of Tescos and I was at the Savoy, for a bar-mitzvah and Tesco, Mr Cohen as his name was, was there.  And I am a bit on the saucy side so I said to my husband, “well I’m going over to him to tell him I’m used to be a customer” He said,” you’re not”.  But I said, “I am.”  And before he could stop me I had gone over to Tesco, to Mr Cohen and I said to him, “you know I used to buy buiscuits from you in the Caledonian Market.”  And his answer to me was, “are you still a customer ?”  And that was that.

S             So the Caledonian Market was peppered with lots of Jews from the East End.`

F             The Caledonian Market was a place where you could buy from a pin to a motor car.  People came from all over the world, it was very famous… it was a cattle market during the week, but tuesdays and fridays people came from everywhere and you could buy curtains and fruit and you could buy absolutely everything.

S             And the stall you worked on…

F             I worked on the gown stall which I didn’t work after my brother opened the shop, no I wasn’t even 16… I just went there at the beginning, while my brother was opening up a gown shop.

S             And you worked there on a Tuesday and a Friday?

F             No, not really, I mostly I went because I’d met this young man, so I went back again.  And then of course he asked if I would go to his club, I think it was in Valance Rd, which is The East End of London, but before going I was only young.  So I didn’t really have any smart clothes, but my brother – having a gown shop – used to take his garments on sale or return, which meant he didn’t actually own them.  Well anyway I borrowed a coat, it was a black pony cloth coat- and it was real pony !  And I wore this coat and my sisters nylons – because she was older than me – and I went to this club and I asked somebody … I wanted to speak to Ralph.  And of course they said, “theres no Ralph here.”  I said, “but he is here, I arranged to meet him here.”  Anyway they said, “you mean Raphe ?”  Oh I was cross, because it sounded too familiar. Anyway Raphe, as Ralph, appeared and we went out with one another.

This page was researched by University of Greenwich Student Sufyan Hanif, as part of the 2nd Year HIS1078 History in Practice work placement.