Going Shopping with Elizabeth Allan - Harrods (1955) | BFI National Archive

Everyday essentials like brandy, teabags and Tupperware are all on offer at London's most famous store, in this infomercial from 1955.
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"I do a great deal of my shopping here, do come in and help!" commands actress Elizabeth Allan as she strides through Harrods' famous Food Hall in this early 'infomercial', made for the fledgling ITV network. If one needed help in sourcing one's teabags, brandy or Tupperware, one was in luck! First up, Allan surprisingly bypasses the displays of foie gras to give a typically kitchen-phobic 1950s man a lesson in those newfangled Tetley teabags.
A trip up the "moving staircase" later and our hostess has progressed to the hard stuff, extolling the joys of Martell 3-Star brandy. Next on the list, a grinning blonde saleswoman pushes the Bex Housewares range with gusto ("Incidentally, aren't the lids attractive!"), confirming the suspicion that ordinary British housewives - rather than Knightsbridge's ladies-who-lunch - were the film's real target audience. Skegness-born Allan, who enjoyed a brief Hollywood career in the 1930s, also visited the Marshall & Snelgrove department store on Oxford Street for a further episode of the 'Going Shopping' series.
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[@OofusTwillip]

And one simply MUST hire a calligrapher to write one's shopping list, with each item on its own page.

[@stevendang3508]

She added milk before the tea...that's against the law on the 1925 tea act

[@bradford_shaun_murray]

It's better to put milk in first as it creates an emulsification of liquids, otherwise milk last is just a mixture.

[@madasaboxofrogs]

Made in a pot, milk first. Made in a cup, milk last

[@OofusTwillip]

It's what one does to prevent one's cheap teacups from cracking when hot tea is poured into them. The milk cools the tea just enough to protect the cheap china.

[@madasaboxofrogs]

@@OofusTwillip 😄

[@priestessmikokikyo77]

why add milk with tea anyway? it good just on its own. it tried it the british way i did not like it. it's way to sweet. i get adding creme in coffee but TEA?

[@jockeyshortz84]

does anyone still speak like this

[@MrDavey2010]

The narrator is David Jacobs.

[@jamesmonroe7903]

Does Tetley UK 🇬🇧 own Tetley 🇺🇸 USA? Here in the States Tetley is known for their tea bags 💼 which make excellent iced tea-by the way I use 5-6 bags per batch-makes 2-3 quarts!!! Refreshing!!!

[@fordlandau]

Out of all the amazing provenance in Harrods she buys tea bags, cheap French brandy and plastic washing up dishes. Bizarre. Finally : One bag makes 4 cups of tea ??

[@bgs7410]

It may not be in the thousands price mark, but she bought Martell 3 star which is £150 for a bottle today, I wouldn't call that cheap

[@fordlandau]

bgs7410 OK. But using it mixed ? And no ice. Awful.

[@priestessmikokikyo77]

@Strange Reviews Exactly people back than had a style and sophistication we sadly lost as the years go by. People took the time back than to look presentable! It’s sad!

[@homanwu6117]

And she made the tea wrong. Always tea first, then milk.

[@paulblatchfordplymouth]

@@homanwu6117 Yes, always!👍🏻

[@michaeltowers3467]

I think this film should be viewed through the lens of lingering postwar austerity.

[@alangiles4616]

She was a very handsome woman. Towards the end of her career she appeared on TV in "Call My Bluff" and on the radio series "Petticoat Line"

[@ianclarke1852]

Far too good for the likes of me

[@mmmlima1]

Beautiful lady and actress from "A Tale of Two Cities" (1935), with Ronald colman.

[@DaKotaCole]

A crime! She put the milk in first!!

[@PNWElevatorAviation]

3:45 Amazing VINTAGE Escalators!!

[@heinkle1]

I wonder what became of Bex - remarkably modern looking products

[@stephenwilliams1269]

That lasted for decades if looked after.

[@Flughafenkaiser]

Truly Dazzling shopping experience at Harrods. I do most if not all of my shopping there. It is so convenient and I get to meet all the other ladies from the social club. A long drink of Martell is just the thing to pick you up and invigorate you for the entire day. Oh Golly Gosh how splendid indeed.

[@alangiles8103]

Say what you like, I'd rather go and see a lovely woman like this, a lady of quality, with perfect manners and deportment, than Stacey Soloman shambling round Primark in her pyjamas and slippers, as was seen in the press a couple of years ago.

[@ilovegot7754]

​@@alangiles8103 You have issues because that was very random

[@asa1973100]

@ilovegot7754 Almost as random as you comment…. I guess you’re dealing with your issues via spam … Also Sold At harrods, everything, London x

[@fordlandau]

Not material. Mattereeeall ! Not bowl. Bowwwwwllll. Lovely RECEIVED pronunciation.

[@Charuchii]

So this is where the origins of the modern clumbsy infomercial comes from huh

[@alangiles4616]

Is that David Jacobs doing the voice-over?

[@peezedtee]

Yes indeed.

[@Topper954]

L.ONG WAY FROM YOUR SKEGNESS ROOTS E.IZEBETH.

[@analogueman123456787]

Your Caps Lock button appears to have stuck...

[@Capybaraism]

What was that name again? Hex?

[@thegerman3480]

Sugar in Tea???? YUK!!!

[@trevorrandom]

Blatant product placement 😂👍

[@BenPanced]

Tea "bags"? * yech *

[@PGBrown-qu8yz]

Oh what a silly helpless man.

[@arsenal10141014]

Brilliant

[@Flughafenkaiser]

Truly Dazzling shopping experience at Harrods. I do most if not all of my shopping there. It is so convenient and I get to meet all the other ladies from the social club. A long drink of Martell is just the thing to pick you up and invigorate you for the entire day. Oh Golly Gosh how splendid indeed.

[@fordlandau]

She goes all the way to Harrods to buy tea bags ?

[@petersmith6458]

Of course

[@fordlandau]

Peter Carlisle yes. You are right. It’s quite normal.

[@gaykid80]

It’s still quite common... Harrods tea is probably the only item that what most people (and tourists) can afford in Harrods. 😂

[@psycoticbastard]

All the wondefful foods and drinks all over the world and they use Tetley

[@oki__]

It’s tea. If you’re looking for an experience out of the expected it’s probably not going to be a good one.