Back to the Intro Page
During this time we saw the beginning of the culture of buying. Shops were everywhere. For the rich, shopping was a cultural event. They had exclusive shops. In poorer districts there were dozens of shops competing for business. Everyone had to buy their needs and shops began to advertise so as to make you want to enter. Shop window decoration was very important. If there were three or four butchers, for example, in one street, the owner needed to make sure you would want your meat from him. All shops had counters to keep customers away from the goods. Entertainment was needed now people lived in towns and theatres continued to boom. Pleasure gardens, where the rich and poor could walk, were popular. Fairs travelled around with various exhibits and attractions. Traditional games such as chess, draughts and backgammon remained popular for those who could afford to buy them. In 1759 a new board game was invented called A Journey Through Europe (aha, Owlbut has an idea). Horse racing was very popular for the wealthy, the first Derby was in 1780. Cricket started. Newspapers had been published in Britain since the printing press arrived but it was only in this century that regular daily papers began to be produced. In 1785 The Daily Universal Register began to appear and on 1 January 1788 it changed its name to The Times. It is now the longest continually published daily newspaper in Britain. At the end of the 18th century the rich began to bathe at the seaside, following the example of George III and his trips to Weymouth.
Back to the Stuarts Hoots - CultureForward to the End of the Georgians Hoots - Culture
