Rushden Research Group: J J Page outfitter

Joseph J Page Ltd

Established 1905

Joseph John Page first traded at 118 High Street in the 1920s, where he remained until he moved across the road to 149 High Street during the second World War.

right - the shop shortly before demolition started

Rushden Echo, January 1925 Advert

Joseph J Page, U.K.A.F.

High Class Tailor to Ladies and Gentlemen

118 High Street, Rushden

Perfectly-Tailored Suits and Costumes

When you see the flambouyant announcements of “Perfectly-Tailored” suits and costumes at ridiculously low prices you are reading a statement which is misleading.

Tailoring is a handicraft trade and not a factory industry, and “perfectly tailored garments” are those in which the skill of the craftsman is brought into direct harmony with the individual needs of the wearer of the clothes.

It is impossible to produce “perfectly tailored clothes” when the garments are made by machinery and pass through the hands of innumerable factory workers.

Ninety per cent of my trade comes through the recommendation of Satisfied Clients.

I have had 24 years’ experience of the trade, and every garment is cut by me and made under my personal supervision.

Let me state I am young enough to appreciate and give that snap in the cut a young man requires and experienced sufficiently to understand the whims of the middle aged.

Let me submit patterns and quotations: you will be under no obligation to order.

This copy of a letter-head, although cropped on the right-hand edge, tells us that J J Page was established as a tailor in 1905. The letter is to Mr and Mrs Geary, whose son, Ronald Geary had been killed in WWII.

The first entry in Trade directories for J J Page is in 1928 at 118 High Street where he traded for a few years and this letter-head from 1944 when he was at 149 High Street, says the firm was established in 1905.

In order to keep our staff busy during a quiet month, we are offering a Special Discount of 1/6 in the £1 on all orders placed with us during January.

Take advantage of this offer by our well-known tailoring service for ladies and gentlemen and order your spring suit now.

January 1958 advert

J J Page outfitters and two cottages and the rear view when they were being demolished in the mid 1960s

These buildings, between the Railway Inn and the old Sanders and Sanders factory were demolished in the mid 1960s, along with Stonehurst which became known as the Belgian House when it was a hostel for Belgian refugees in WWI.

Index of Early Local Businesses