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Market Day at St. Albans

Amateur filmmaker John Anderson captures the tail end of the sixties, incidentally showing the pop culture and homeware trends of this era, visiting market day in St. Albans.

Amateur film 1969 3 mins Silent

From the collection of:

Logo for East Anglian Film Archive

Overview

A bustling St. Albans market, populated by trend-followers of the Mod pop culture. A place where crowds gather to pick up the latest in home gadgetry - who doesn't own a mouli-grater? - as well as the mandatory fruit and veg. Now considered kitsch or 'retro' are the home decor items and 'Chelsea Girl' fashion for sale. It's a sunny day and 'the' place to be is St. Albans market. On the sixties-seventies cusp, this film was shot pre-decimalisation.

To accompany the picture, amateur filmmaker John Anderson later recorded traders voices, and combined this with accompanying accordion music to give a continental feel. However only the picture remains here. St Albans street market is documented as early as the 9th century and has been located on the same site for more than 500 years. The town’s charter (1553) states that the days of the market are Wednesday and Saturday, which remains the same to this day. St Albans market is still considered to be one of the best in the area.