Andy B wrote:...watching the shopkeeper cutting the ham on the meat slicing machine,i was fascinated by it...
Yes, Mr Gladdish had one these, and I too was hypnotised by it. In fact, that shiny machine on the counter is the dominant presence in my memory of the shop.
I also recall the barber Jim Paramour in South Road, not for how he ruined my hair, but for his closing-up routine: he'd padlock the door, give the padlock a few shakes and tugs, then head up Astor Avenue; a couple of minutes later he'd reappear, shake and tug a few more times on that padlock, then head back up Astor Avenue. Never changed.