AR.1999.815

General Description: Commemorating "THE FIFTIETH OF HER REIGN VICTORIA QUEEN OF ENGLAND, EMPRESS OF INDIA AD 1887". 'Engraving' of Queen Victoria. On the base = 2 Globes Trade Mark of William Whiteley, 'Universal Provider' Westbourne Grove of London W. AR.1999.802-219 - Mugs, saucers & plates. 13 commemorative mugs & 5 plates. (, )
: William Whiteley (29 September 1831 – 24 January 1907) was the self-proclaimed 'Universal Provider' and entrepreneur of the William Whiteley Limited retail company whose eponymous department store became the Whiteleys shopping centre. Originally housed at 31 Westbourne Grove, Bayswater. The store(s) became synonymous with cheaper, mass-produced goods aimed at the burgeoning middle-class of the 1860s and 70s. Whiteley and his company claimed they could 'procure anything' a consumer desired and proved such a point in 1899 by securing both a second-hand coffin and a pint of fleas for requesting customers. (LC, 14062022)