Merryweather Menswear, Newmarket

From the collection of

East Anglian Film Archive at the University of East Anglia

The East Anglian Film Archive, the UK's first regional film archive, offers a unique record of the East of England's social and cultural history. As part of the University of East Anglia, we continue to lead moving image heritage research and inspire audience participation through community projects and events. Our collections represent a broad range of amateur and professional creativity, from 1896 to the present day.

Merryweather Menswear, Newmarket

East Anglian Film Archive at the University of East Anglia
Newmarket
1965-01-01
Sound

Merryweather Menswear 'have the flair to suit you!' A short and snappy 1965 cinema commercial for a Newmarket fashion retailer.

With the tone of tongue-in-cheek, a confident well-suited man is the envy of others in this 1965 cinema advertisement for Merryweather Menswear, a popular local fashion retailer in Newmarket, Suffolk. Ralph Merryweather and his wife Gwyneth worked together in their Newmarket menswear shop, which was located on Sun Lane, for more than 40 years. Advertising at the local cinema offered local businesses a great opportunity to show off their goods to potential customers.

Near Your Local Cinema

Local goods for local people! Screen advertising wasn’t all national brands and chain stores.

Purpose-built cinemas began appearing around Britain shortly before WWI, booming in popularity during the War and developing into the ‘picture palaces’ of the 1920s - when adverts jostled for space alongside newsreels before the main feature. Local businesses were quick to see the potential of a big screen and a captive audience to promote their wares.

While they didn’t have access to the budgets of the national brands, regionally-specific businesses had the benefit of that personal touch. Products and services evolved over time, but that scratchy ad for your local Indian restaurant, so integral to the cinema-going experience into the 1990s, had its roots in the booming entrepreneurship of the industry many decades before.