British dealer sleeve · Croydon
G. Roberts & Co., 143 North End, Croydon
A brown paper dealer’s bag from a Croydon gramophone shop that traded at the same address for decades.
Dating at a glance
- Printed
- c. 1929–1939
most likely the 1930s - In use
- 1930s into the 1940s; possibly leftover stock into the early 1950s
- Confidence
- Fairly tight on the print window (two hard clues); no exact year
- Basis
- Ward’s Croydon street directories: the sleeve’s phone number and trade description are absent in 1928 and present in 1939
The sleeve
Brown kraft paper, printed in black letterpress. The wording reads:
G. ROBERTS & Co.,
Gramophone & Radio Specialists,
143, NORTH END, CROYDON.
Opposite POPLAR WALK.
Telephone Nos. 2188/9
THEATRE TICKETS.
Simon’s copy was photographed holding George Formby’s When I’m Cleaning Windows, Regal Zonophone MR 2199, a TT purchase-tax repress (TT was used from 1943 to April 1946) of a 1936 recording. A dealer bag like this tells you where a record was sold, not which issue it was first sold with.
The evidence
The shop at 143 North End
Ward’s Croydon street directories, photographed from copies at the Museum of Croydon and published by london-road-croydon.org, let us follow the shop’s listing year by year.
| Year | Listing at 143 | Telephone in the street listing |
|---|---|---|
| 1899–1901 | Not listed (the street listing ends at 142) | — |
| 1902–1904 | Moore’s Presto Cycle Works | none given |
| 1905 | Page for 143 not available online | — |
| 1906 | Roberts (G.) & Co., Domestic Mach. Store | none given |
| 1907 | Roberts (G.) & Co., Phonograph Stores | none given |
| 1908–1926 | Talking Machine Specialists | 1773 by 1924; still 1773 in 1926 |
| 1928 | Gramophone Specialists (no “Radio” yet) | Telephone 1773 |
| 1929, 1930, 1932, 1934, 1937 | North End pages not photographed on the site | — |
| 1939 | Gramo & Radio Specialists | Tel. 2188-9 |
- DocumentedThe telephone number. The shop’s line was ’Phone 773 in a 1910 Ward’s advertisement, then 1773 (by 1924 and still in 1928). The sleeve’s 2188/9 is a later two-line number. It is absent in 1928 and present in 1939, so the change falls after 1928 and no later than 1939.
- Documented“Gramophone & Radio Specialists”. The listing runs from “Domestic Mach. Store” (1906) to “Phonograph Stores” (1907), “Talking Machine Specialists” (1908–1926), “Gramophone Specialists” (1928) and “Gramo & Radio Specialists” (1939). The sleeve uses the 1930s form, not the 1920s “talking machine” form.
- InferredA possible occasion for the new number. Fairfield Automatic Exchange brought Croydon onto the London Director system around 1930, and cutovers like that often brought new numbers. This is plausible, not proven.
- DocumentedNo exchange name. The sleeve prints no “CROydon”. That was still normal in local Croydon printing in 1939: the 1939 street line omits it too, while a neighbouring advert on the same page prints “Phone CROYDON 6262”. So the missing exchange name is not evidence of an early date.
- InferredNot post-1966. All-figure dialling began on 14 March 1966, and London’s lettered codes were withdrawn in January 1970. A sleeve printed after 1966 would more likely show an all-figure number. This one does not.
- InferredNo television. The sleeve mentions radio but not television. That is consistent with a 1930s printing, though it does not rule out later use of the same stock.
- ObservedTypography and paper. Conservative interwar letterpress with a script-style heading and condensed capitals, on ordinary brown kraft. No printer’s imprint and no “War Economy” mark are visible. Neither the paper nor the type tightens the date.
- Observed“Opposite Poplar Walk” matches the directories, which mark “Pass Poplar Walk” just before this stretch of odd numbers. It confirms the address but is not a dating clue.
The firm before and after
- DocumentedThe firm arrived at 143 in 1905 or 1906 (the 1905 page was not seen). Kelly’s Directory of Surrey, 1913, independently lists “Roberts G. & Co. talking machine dealers, 143 North end”.
- DocumentedAround 1909–1911 the same firm also traded briefly as house furnishers at 13–15 London Road and in Thornton Heath. The gramophone shop at 143 North End carried on.
- ObservedTwo newspaper adverts for the shop are indexed on Newspapers.com: one attributed to 29 November 1923, and one attributed to 14 July 1950 that advertises wireless and television repairs. We have not opened either page to confirm the dates. If the 1950 date is right, the shop was still at 143 in the early 1950s and by then advertised television, which this sleeve does not.
- DocumentedA company named G. Roberts & Co. (Croydon) Limited was struck off and dissolved on 21 November 1978 (London Gazette). The notices give no address, so the link with this shop is very likely from the name but not proved. It does not mean the shop, or this sleeve, lasted until 1978.
Sources
- Ward’s Croydon directories (photographs of Museum of Croydon copies), london-road-croydon.org: https://london-road-croydon.org/history/sources/directories/
- Kelly’s Directory of Surrey, 1913, p. 154, Leicester Historical Directories item 85805: https://specialcollections.le.ac.uk/digital/collection/p16445coll4/id/85805
- london-road-croydon.org, 13–15 London Road (the firm’s furniture shops and the 1910 advertisement): https://london-road-croydon.org/history/0013-0015-cash-converters.html
- GEC Current Comments, 18 October 1930, “London’s New Telephone System” (Fairfield exchange): https://www.britishtelephones.com/gec/journal/currentcomments/1930_oct_18.pdf
- Croydon exchange names, telephone-exchanges.org.uk: https://telephone-exchanges.org.uk/exchanges/london-exchanges-a-g/
- Andy Emmerson, “Automatic numbering schemes”: https://britishtelephones.com/andyemmerson/tel_tech_numbering.html
- Wikipedia, All-figure dialling: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/All-figure_dialling
- Newspapers.com, Sutton and Cheam Advertiser (attributed 29 Nov 1923; not opened): https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/975603470/
- Newspapers.com, Caterham Mirror (attributed 14 Jul 1950; not opened): https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/827701103/
- British Record Shop Archive, Surrey R–W (lists the firm, no dates): https://britishrecordshoparchive.org/surrey-r---w.html
- London Gazette, 6 November 1970, p. 12235: https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/45227/page/12235
- London Gazette, 14 July 1978, p. 8490: https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/47591/page/8490
- London Gazette, 21 November 1978, p. 13932: https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/47693/supplement/13932
What we could not find
- Ward’s or Kent’s North End listings for 1929, 1930, 1932, 1934 and 1937, which would pin down when the number and wording changed. Those volumes are held at the Museum of Croydon and Croydon Local Studies.
- The 1905 Ward’s listing for 143.
- British Phone Books entries for 2188/9.
- Any trade-press mention of the shop, or of its theatre-ticket sideline.
- Confirmation of the two Newspapers.com dates.
Within 1929–1939 we could not fix a year. The sleeve could be an early printing in that window, a later 1930s printing, or a wartime reprint of the same wording. Dealers routinely used up printed bags, so use into the 1940s is expected.
Researched 10 November 2026.