Black Country Living Museum Pawnbrokers Shop

rdf:langString Black Country Living Museum Pawnbrokers Shop

rdf:langString The Black Country Living Museum Pawnbrokers Shop is a recreation of a pawnbroker's at the Black Country Living Museum. It is one of a pair of cottages built in the 1840s, from School Lane in Himley. The pair of cottages from School Lane in Himley originally operated as a corner shop. The setting of the display was designed to represent a small scale business. The shop takes its name from a well known Black Country pawnbroker, Joseph Wiltshire, who owned shops in Great Bridge, Wolverhampton and Carter's Green in West Bromwich. The exhibition combines pawnbroking with retail, as did many pawnbroking businesses in the 19th century. In the museum's reconstruction the unredeemed goods and other stock are sold in the front room, while pawning of goods was done in the 'pledge room' at the back. The shop window of the Pawnbroker's gives an example of the types of goods that customers would 'pledge'. The display includes shoes, clothes, furs, musical instruments, children's toys and a set of false teeth.