The below is a guest post by Gail Crowther and discusse some of the wonders she found in the Plath Collection at Smith College during her visit to America in July and August...
Did You Know....
For those of you who have read "These Ghostly Archives 1, 2 & 3", you will know that Peter and I are very interested in the minutiae of papers, pictures, scraps of paper relating to Plath....
In a recent visit to the Plath archives at Smith College, I was fascinated to discover a cheque book covering the last months of Plath’s life, beginning 11 December 1962 with the final cheque dated 31 January 1963. Mostly this is a document that reveals a narrative of Plath’s London move – new furniture and household pieces, new clothes and cash (pre- ATMs!). One name which repeatedly appears (Plath writes five cheques) is to a store called Bowman's. A little research revealed that this store was based in Camden (in fact conveniently right next door to Plath's own bank, Lloyds which was at 140 Camden High Street) and was a high class furniture store offering modern pieces. Although it is no longer in existence, some of the original shop can still be seen at the Camden High Street address. Here, red brick archways flourish, with the department name tiled in a swirly mosaic above each window (see here, for example).
Classed as a department store, Bowman's sold curtains, furniture, carpets and bedding. Plath's cheque book reveals that on the 14 Dec 1962, she bought a bureau from this shop costing £7:3:6. On the same day, but a different cheque, she also purchased three carpets at the cost of £26:15:0. On the 20 Dec, she bought a rug for £16:16:0 and the following day on the 21 Dec, two more bureaus at the cost of £14:7:0. Her final purchase from Bowman’s was just a few weeks before her death on 18 Jan 1963 when her cheque book lists "curtaining cushions" for £4:1:0. I was curious to put these purchases into context. A modern currency converter reveals that Plath was spending money on quite fine items here. Using the retail price index converter from 1962 we can see that by today’s standards Plath was spending approximately £114 on a bureau, £426 on carpets, £268 on a rug, £228 on two more bureaus and £64 on curtains and cushions. These were not budget, disposable items but perhaps fitting pieces for Plath's stated long-view five year plan.
For me, seeing these cheques really places Plath in her historical and social context. Over the years, Bowman's shrank in size, until just before closure it took up only one small shop out of the entire block it used to occupy. But during Plath's time, the store was thriving offering modern, designed furniture aimed at those with smaller flats. Its catalogues were stylish and creative and used renowned artists to design their covers.
Catalogues from Bowman's can be viewed here and here.
And view an advert from December 1962 when Plath was making most of her purchases can be seen here.
Perhaps more than this, these cheques serve as a poignant reminder of how busy Plath was in the winter of 1962-63, decorating her new flat and making plans. Other cheque stubs show she was buying chairs, bar stools, tables, glasses, cabinets, beds and shelving. This level of busyness is also supported by her Letts 1962 calendar which shows the sheer scale of her move – painting floors and furniture on a daily basis as well as writing and broadcasting for the BBC, being a full time mother and forging a new life for herself. So, a simple document whose original purpose is to record financial comings and goings, provides for us, almost 50 years, later a privileged insight into Plath's day to day life, her sense of style, the furniture she chose....and where she chose to buy it from.....
Did You Know....
For those of you who have read "These Ghostly Archives 1, 2 & 3", you will know that Peter and I are very interested in the minutiae of papers, pictures, scraps of paper relating to Plath....
Classed as a department store, Bowman's sold curtains, furniture, carpets and bedding. Plath's cheque book reveals that on the 14 Dec 1962, she bought a bureau from this shop costing £7:3:6. On the same day, but a different cheque, she also purchased three carpets at the cost of £26:15:0. On the 20 Dec, she bought a rug for £16:16:0 and the following day on the 21 Dec, two more bureaus at the cost of £14:7:0. Her final purchase from Bowman’s was just a few weeks before her death on 18 Jan 1963 when her cheque book lists "curtaining cushions" for £4:1:0. I was curious to put these purchases into context. A modern currency converter reveals that Plath was spending money on quite fine items here. Using the retail price index converter from 1962 we can see that by today’s standards Plath was spending approximately £114 on a bureau, £426 on carpets, £268 on a rug, £228 on two more bureaus and £64 on curtains and cushions. These were not budget, disposable items but perhaps fitting pieces for Plath's stated long-view five year plan.
For me, seeing these cheques really places Plath in her historical and social context. Over the years, Bowman's shrank in size, until just before closure it took up only one small shop out of the entire block it used to occupy. But during Plath's time, the store was thriving offering modern, designed furniture aimed at those with smaller flats. Its catalogues were stylish and creative and used renowned artists to design their covers.
Catalogues from Bowman's can be viewed here and here.
And view an advert from December 1962 when Plath was making most of her purchases can be seen here.
Perhaps more than this, these cheques serve as a poignant reminder of how busy Plath was in the winter of 1962-63, decorating her new flat and making plans. Other cheque stubs show she was buying chairs, bar stools, tables, glasses, cabinets, beds and shelving. This level of busyness is also supported by her Letts 1962 calendar which shows the sheer scale of her move – painting floors and furniture on a daily basis as well as writing and broadcasting for the BBC, being a full time mother and forging a new life for herself. So, a simple document whose original purpose is to record financial comings and goings, provides for us, almost 50 years, later a privileged insight into Plath's day to day life, her sense of style, the furniture she chose....and where she chose to buy it from.....