Woolworths Electrical Counter
 

Many of us on here who were brought up in the UK, at least those of us over a certain age, will have fond Childhood memories of the Woolworths Electrical Counter, and having to be dragged away from it by parents, and being bought plugs, flex, etc, by Grandparents. There's a fascinating article here http://www.woolworthsmuseum.co.uk/hg-leadinglights.htm Lets have your memories and photographs of your items known or suspected to have come from Woolies!. I'll start the ball rolling; First and second pictures are Woolies Christmas lights, the first picture has a slim Woolies 5A plug on it, second set with a Clix plug fitted (did Woolies sell those?). The third picture shows a WG adaptor which takes two 13a plugs and a 2 or 3 pin 5a plug, the angular 13a plug is a typical mid-1970's Woolies plug, branded U.D.C. The lighting adaptor with the flex and the pear switch is branded "H H", and is marked "Made in England". It's intended that you plug it into the ceiling light, and plug the bulb into it, then suspend the pear switch somewhere near the bed, so you can switch the light off from the bed. The fourth picture is a typical Woolies plastic lampshade, these were everywhere in the 1960's and 70's in many different designs and colours. The 5th. picture is Lacey, who lives next door and "helped" me get this stuff out of the garage to take these photographs!.

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I remember that one of the brands sold extensively at Woolies electricals-counters was "Pifco".

https://www.gracesguide.co.uk/Pifco

(my parents briefly had a Pifco hairdryer; it came with me when I went off to university, where it got lost/stolen/broken in the usual studenty way).

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Ah yes, teach yourself electricity made physical.
Another brand was Vesta. A lot of items were marked "Empire", which meant Hong Kong back then.

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I too have sets of Christmas tree lights, including this packet that has never been used.

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I can remember those light shades.
They used to melt if you fitted a more powerful bulb in them.

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Back in the 1950s, when we still had multiple different mains plug standards, from 2A 2-pin through 5A 3-pin to today's 13A, the Woolworths electrical counter was a geeky schoolboy's dream, with the many and various accessories laid out and priced in the individual sections. The primary brand was 'Goltone', made by Ward & Goldstone.

Bells, buzzers, bell pushes, torch bulbs, MES batten lampholders and 4.5V batteries with handy terminals were great fodder for electrical experiments.

The Woolworths lamp brand that I remember was 'Sunshine', implying nice bright illumination. Whether their life was any different from the more costly Mazda or Osram lamps, I was never sure, but every one one was tested by the assistant on a dedicated test board before being placed in the brown paper bag.

If I remember aright, there were also one or two 'How to do it' booklets. One I recall was 'The Electrical Guide' with instructions for the handyman on everything from erecting a radio aerial to wiring a house.

Fortunately, electricity was deemed safe - at least compared with the numerous other hazards to life back in the day.

Martin

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I remember buying some thin solder tape that was wrapped around the wires to be joined and then heated with a match. Probably my first dry joint!
Rob

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Yes, I remember Woolworths electrical counter, and the MES batten holders and screw terminal 4.5 volt batteries.
In the 1970s power cuts torch batteries were in short supply, and I purchased numerous 4.5 volt "door bell batteries" to make very simple battery lights for relatives. Just an MES bulb holder attached to the terminals with very short pieces of wire, no switch needed simply screw the bulb in to light it. A 3.5 volt 0.3 amp bulb gave a couple of dozen hours service and enough light for safe movement.

Woolworths also stocked MES bulbs in some odd voltages including 8 volts.

They also stocked replacement elements for toasters, clothes irons, and heaters. These were very cheap and had a number of uses.
A neighbour needed a replacement mica window for an oil burning stove, I made one from a woolworths toaster element after removing the wire.

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In the 1970's my local Woolworths at Chadwell Heath still had its gas lights in situ. They were able to use them during the power cuts of the early 1970's as the area hadn't yet been converted to natural gas.
I still have several cartons of their GLS bulbs. By circa 1990 they seemed to be the only suppliers whose bulbs were consistently fitted with fast-acting ballotini fuses that had a faster response time than MCB circuit breakers. I don't know why they never made more of this valuable feature. After my wheelchair-bound father-law's flat was reared with MCBs it was plunged into darkness whenever a bulb blew until I replaced all his Tesco and Sainsbury's bulbs with Woolies' ones.
Other electrical items I have include wander plugs in assorted colours, some 2 pin 2A flex extenders, a set of Christmas tree lights that is used every year, and some surface-mounted light switches that were made in Italy. Oh, and an excellent Collins paperback-sized pocket atlas with a section on world affairs that were current at the time (1961), from which I learned that the long-term aim of the then Common Market was political federation! I can post some photos in due course.
Our larger branches had excellent refreshment facilities. The Barking branch did excellent milk shakes made with ice cream rather than just milk. Inbthev1980's the branch at Chancery Lane at London Holborn had an extensive food section with an excellent deli and was one of the few places in the area where you could buy groceries. I think the last 45 I bought new came from there. Not an Embassy disc, but the single by "The Flying Pickets" (Only You?) .

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Yes - in the quarter-century post-WWII there was an "Empire Privilege" scheme where stuff imported to the UK from current- and former-colonies was largely exempt from the tariffs and import-duties that applied to imports from the-rest-of-the-world.

Hong Kong was the prime beneficiary: "Empire Made" (and low price) was a marketing-draw for some people - but it was a cover for a lot of bargain-basement stuff. I remember 13A 'Empire Made' plugs which came with a terracotta-coloured-cardboard cord-grip which invariably stripped its screw-threads as you tightened.

If your appliance had the then-current single-insulated figure-of-eight flex, you got round the stripped-cord-grip by winding the flex an extra tuien round the remains of the cord-grip and screwing the cover on...

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In the early-70s my local ones [Oakengates, Wellington - and Ellesmere] also had the old globe gas-lights, with 'handles' dangling on chains to turn the gas on and off.

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Hi, I have many happy memories of the Woollies electrical section and how I used to lust after many of its "wares" as a youngster, even spending my saved pocket money on items that I wanted. I certainly recall some of the items in the OP's pictures and have also owned one of the plastic lampshades and the bedroom light switch adapter.

I also currently two of the WG adapters in my collection one identical to that in the picture and the other, whilst shaped identically, takes three 13 amp plugs.

I/We have had a number of sets of Winfield branded Christmas lights from Woolworth's over the years and replacement bulbs including "flasher" bulbs too.

The one thing I never purchased from Woollies electrical department which I wish I had was a white Dorman & Smith 13 amp plug, I have never seen one since and only have black ones in my collection.

Andrew

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I would suspect the availability of D&S plugs in Woolies might have been related to the use of them in the locality; D&S plugs seem to have been a somewhat-Northern-council-estate thing.

Plug-wise, I bought a bunch of "Hercules" rubber 13A plugs/line-sockets and 3-pin rubber inline flex-connectors. Hercules was the Woolworths in-house brand for Duraplug-equivalent rubber connectors.

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My parents used to have some fairy light like the ones in the first picture.

Two of the plugs in my collection that might have been from Woolworths.

One is like the Plug in the 3rd picture, with only the number 641 & Empire to identify it. My parents had a few of these on different items, but they seemed to be a bit flimsy & my Dad replaced 1 or 2 when we had spare plugs.

The other is an Unbreakable Rubber plug which is labelled Empire made. The rubber is beginning to crumble which lead to it's replacement after 40 odd years on my Dad's Trio amplifier.

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Me too. These were still sold long after Woolworths ceased to have electrical counters and became self service.

I bought my first electric soldering iron, a Solon I think, form Woolworths in about 1966.

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Remember the brown bakelite bell transformers? 3v, 5v and 8v outputs. That was back in the early '50s, but I think they stayed a stock item for close on 2 decades. I certainly came across a second one in late '60s, though I may not have bought it myself. They were useful little transformers, not just for door bells. I occasionally went in there with my father, and probably with my mother, but I clearly remember going there once with my brother, late '40s. He bought some Rizla papers and a cigarette rolling machine. Later he collected dog-ends from outside the local pub!
Les.

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I have 4 of those plastic lampshades, still in use in parts of the house where only a low wattage bulb is required - eg the pantry. 2 of them are spherical like the ones in picture 4. The other 2 are an acorn shape. These would have been purchased by my mum around the late 60s earley 70s, most likely from Woolies in Yardley Birmingham. Sadly now a Wetherspoons pub.

Alan.

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The original old Woolworths store in Small Heath Birmingham had gas lighting as well as electric right up to the earley 70s.

Alan.

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Still have lots of Winfield Alpha Plus cassettes!

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I can remember the gas lamps with dangling on/off chains at the Cheethem Hill Manchester branch. It's now a British Heart Foundation charity shop.

My favourite things from the electrical counter were MES baton holders, and those mini tumbler switches, either with a plastic or chrome top. The latter became part of the circuit via the pin securing the "dolly".