The above picture and article appeared in ‘The Gas Light & Coke Company’ Co-Partner’s magazine for November 1931.
They are reproduced here by kind permission of The National Gas Archive.
The article mentions a number of locations in South Essex visited by the Showroom, including South Benfleet.
Below is a transcription of the article.
When the Company took over the Grays and Tilbury area the Directors were faced with an entirely new problem in the provision of adequate Showrooms.
Previously the Company’s area consisted entirely of thickly populated areas, and showrooms were built so that no consumer had any great distance to cover to reach them. The new area, however, being almost entirely rural, could not be treated in the same way, and therefore the Directors decided to purchase a travelling showroom.
This showroom is made on an expanding principle, being 7 ft. 6 ins. X 21 ft. when closed, and 21 ft. square when fully open. Its fittings and decorations were designed by Mr. Walter Tapper, A.R.A., F.R.I.B.A.
On entering the Showroom the consumer sees a selection of cookers on his left and the hot water section on his right. In front is a display of literature, whilst the latest shades fitted with switches are hung from the ceiling. As he passes round the Showroom he sees a complete selection of domestic appliances for heating, cooking, water heating and washing.
The Showroom has visited Wickford, South Benfleet, Pitsea, Rayleigh, and is also to visit Hockley, Hadleigh, Stanford-le-Hope, Tilbury, Rainham, Laindon and Aveley, in the course of the next four months.
The advertising of the Showroom is done in two stages: first its arrival is heralded by Press advertisements and by handbills, and second, the interest is sustained whilst it is there by means of demonstrations.
Regular demonstrations are given in the Showroom itself, and special demonstrations are arranged for the benefit of any active women’s organisations in the village, such as the Women’s Institute. These meetings are largely attended and a number of sales have directly resulted, perhaps due to the excellence of the cakes provided by the demonstration staff!
A second Showroom is to start shortly in the North Western area.
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