Foam Furniture

From the collection of

The Box
Established in 1992, the South West Film & Television Archive collection spans from 1893 to the present day containing more than 250,000 items. Formed from a variety of depositors, including broadcast news and programmes material from the Westward and TSW archive. In 2018 the archive collection transferred to The Box in Plymouth.

Foam Furniture

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Toxic foam banned.

Cornwall trading standards officers are cracking down on businesses selling furniture with newly banned toxic foam. The Truro fire department demonstrate the different between an old style sofa and one treated with new flame retardant chemicals. Flame retardants are chemicals used on foam, furniture, toys, clothes, food packaging and electronic goods which help to prevent ignition from small flames or cigarettes. The chemicals interfere with the chemistry of burning, this does increase the levels of toxic gases produced in the smoke, meaning it's necessary to buy a smoke detector and to close your doors at night.

The 1988 Furniture and Furnishings (Fire Safety) Regulations became law that year. UK legislation is often considered to be the strictest in Europe. Only furniture made before 1950 is excluded from the 1988 regulations.


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From the collection

How We Shopped

From the high street to the information superhighway: shopping undergoes a makeover.
The 1980s heralded a sea change in the way we shopped - and what we shopped for. Reflecting the growing impact of new technologies, from the arrival of credit cards to the consumer electronics boom and ultimately the internet shopping age, this collection also journeys through the changing face of our high streets into the 1990s and beyond. This is the era of out-of-town supermarkets and supersized shopping malls muscling in on the traditional town centre trade. Many smaller villages faced the loss of local shops entirely, but they didn't give up without a fight. Alongside these existential threats, local news reports investigate such emerging issues as convenience food labelling, shoplifting and the campaign to 'Buy British' as domestic manufacturing continued its long and painful decline. Glimpses of long-lost chain stores, brands and products that once dominated everyday life across the UK may inspire more than a whiff of nostalgia. Yet this collection also tells a story of continuity: despite the all-powerful internet, we do still seem to want to come together to shop in the 'real world', not least at Christmas, and those seasonal shopping moments are here waiting to be unwrapped

33 videos in this collection

1

Shopping

2

Shoplifting Is On The Increase

3

Dog: Dog Days

4

Post-Christmas Sales

5

Toy Fair 1980

6

Charm School

7

Round Robin: Think British

8

Debden Village Shop Re-opens

9

Anderson and McAuley Department Store

10

Credit Card Shopping in Northampton

11

Villagers Open Community Shop

12

St George's Market

13

Shopping Centre Santas

14

Yvonne Aston is the New Outsize Model

15

Chinese Supermarket in Nottingham

16

Big Night Out Shopping

17

E Numbers in Everyday Popular Products

18

Battle Goes On Over Sunday Trading

19

Counterfeit Goods

20

CD Video is the Future

Safely navigating the new virtual high street.
21

Shop Safely on the Net: Virtual Mail (BSL / subtitles)

22

Foam Furniture

23

One Day in the Corn Exchange

24

St Mary Street - 50 Years On

25

Manchester A to Z

26

High Streets

27

Supermarkets and City Living

28

Oh No... Not Another Manchester A-Z

29

The Fashionistas

30

Take That Ticket Frenzy

31

The Commercialisation of Easter

32

Easter Day Shopping

33

Three for a Pound

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