Lions and Buffaloes and Bears

The Alfred Gillett Trust recently acquired a set of three plywood animals which had been used for displays in Peter Lord shoe shops in the 1970s. They make a lovely addition to the shop furnishings and retail display material that we collect alongside the footwear and archive collections.

Visitors to the Shoe Museum can see a few items of shop furniture, including a chair styled on a drum and several foot measuring machines. They are particularly evocative for those of us who so clearly remember the ritual of shopping for school shoes.

When the animals came in they were very dirty, having been kept in warehouse-style storage for many years; unfortunately they also have some water damage which has removed the top layer of varnish in places. After a clean with some brushes, a Museum Vac and a bit of Renaissance Wax they look a bit better, and are ready to go into clean and environmentally controlled storage in the zoo archive.

Water damage to the displays

A leg halfway through cleaning

1970s Peter Lord shoe shop displays