The Launderette. A history
Details:
- Author(s) Bloom, Stanley S
- Publication type Monograph
- Year published 1988
- Pages 95pp; illus
- Publisher Duckworth
- Place Published London
Topics:
Countries:
Library:
- Name British Library
- City London
- County Greater London
- Country England
- Postcode NW1 2DB
- Visit British Library's website
Groups:
Notes:
Intelligent account drawing on the experience of the author's self service business, United Laundrette Group, to relate in general terms the history of the industry, especially in London, from its beginnings in the late 1940s. Much about the pioneering Bendix Self Service Launderette chain, owned by Fisher & Ludlow via their subsidiary, the manufacturers Bendix Home Appliances, who took the concept from USA. Charts the rise and decline of the industry and the factors affecting it. Has chapters: 'The self service launderette crosses the Atlantic'; 'The launderette as a social centre'; 'Trade associations'; 'The 1950s - halcyon days'; 'Coin-ops'; 'Decimalisation and the end of oil firing'; 'Inflation plays havoc'; 'The future'