Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!

Disneys c 1930

I've guessed at the date here. It could be 1950. Any ideas?

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Comment by StephenBln on February 2, 2016 at 23:29: The display windows, look to me, like they show signs of wartime damage. I'd guess 1940s, taken during WW2. Because of glass shortages, it was usual for windows to be replaced as the one on the extreme left and extreme right have been.

Comment by Dick Harris on February 5, 2016 at 7:17: I see their telephone number is shown as STA 4076. This was Stamford Hill a so called director exchange. This kind of number was introduced progressively from 1927 onwards and dropped between 1966 and 1970. STA was replaced by 800 and it seems that Disneys have not changed their number since today it is 020 8800 4076 after further changes to 01-800 4076, 081-800 4076.

The bold announcement "Harringay N4, our only address" dates the frontage as being after 1917 when, I believe, the Northern postal districts were numbered. Of course, N4 was never called Harringay so it seems that Hugh may have been alive and well much earlier than we suspected.

Comment by Gerry N on February 5, 2016 at 13:00: I am just guessing here, but I suspect Harringay has always been a very difficult area for postal deliveries. Royal Mail needs to know exactly which Delivery office serves the premises, ----be it Hornsey, South Tottenham or Finsbury Park. The homeowner also needs to know, unless they want delayed mail. As Dick Harris says, postal numbers were a good idea, apparently introduced so the women sorters ( who replaced the men during the Great War ) could easily sort the mail without needing years of training. Yes the postal system was strictly alphabetically ordered, making it even easier ! N London district numbering IS still strictly alphabetical exactly as it was planned in 1917. Very few people know this & the reason for it ! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/N_postcode_area. N1 being the "head postal district" adjoining the City/West end & doing the distribution for the other northern offices. (This was still the case when i worked for Royal mail in 1990). All is changed now on distribution. Interesting that N22, N11, N15( old at Severn Sisters) N8 delivery offices were built opposite or very near railway stations. Perhaps railways played a part then, as they would be far faster than horsedrawn vehicles.( Remeber RM made mutiple deliveries per day, not just one as now ) ! I also notice that the N8/N4 change is just south of the Salisbury. Wareham /Pemberton Roads ? http://www.postcodearea.co.uk/postaltowns/london/n8/

Comment by Hugh on February 5, 2016 at 13:38: Interesting Dick, thanks.

As to the Harringay name, they didn't need me back then! Our neighbourhood was just Harringay without any question, as much as Wood Green was Wood Green or Crouch End Crouch End. It's only since the borough name change and the Council's odd desire to rechristen Harringay that doubt crept in.

On the photo I noticed the curved top to the window frames. I'm assuming that most of the shop front is unchanged except for this feature. I'm guessing that those parts were iron mouldings that simply fell out of fashion and were removed.

Comment by StephenBln on February 5, 2016 at 17:32: The telephone exchange on Seven Sisters Road was known as STAmford Hill and from 1966 became 01-800 as stated above. From the early 1960s, when free numbers were getting tight, STA was supplemented by LATimer numbers, which became 01-802 in the new system.

01-80x group of numbers were part of the TOTtenham area, which had been allocated the matching 01-808 code. (801 & 809 were unused in 1966, but allocated later). The 88x group of numbers were located around the Wood Green 01-888, which had previously been BOWes Park.

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