by Sally Scagell-Peace, daughter of Jack Peace, 1906-1997
In the town of High Wycombe, in the late 1920s, there were
three boys
who were the best of friends.
They all worked in Queens Square as apprentices to their
fathers.
Jack Luttman was training to be a butcher, his friend Eric George was
an
apprentice in the ironmongers (next door but one) and their best friend
Jack Peace worked in the tailors and outfitters opposite. Eric and Jack
Luttman were also cousins and Eric would later say "Jack was the
closest
thing I had to a brother". Being the heirs to their fathers’ businesses meant
that they
held a
status above that of a lowly shop assistant and enjoyed certain
privileges.
These were job security, a thorough training and the opportunity to
enjoy
themselves in their free time.
Shop hours were long and the pressures to perform to
their
fathers'
exacting standards were no doubt tedious for they had the family
reputation
to maintain. They were expected to work a six day week but,
with
luck, were allowed to enjoy half day closing on Wednesdays.
All three
boys would meet for lunch in one of the town's pubs, the Coach and
Horses
in Easton Street being a popular haunt. They were all members
of
a social group within the town called the IMPS. This group
was best
likened to a young conservative club with both men and women as
members.
The group would organise trips to the sea, swimming parties by the
river
and dances at the town hall - all with the express purpose of having
fun,
socialising and meeting members of the opposite sex.
Of course in the 1920s there was a level of social
etiquette
that had
to be maintained and dances at the town hall required a tail coat and
white
gloves to be worn by the men, ballgowns by the women. It was
a matter
of necessity that you had an understanding of the rudiments of ballroom
dancing and so classes were attended regularly or lessons were given by
older brothers or sisters. The excitement of attending such
events
was overshadowed by the feelings of inadequacy if you could not
remember
your dance steps.
Although the three friends were able to walk to
these social
gatherings
from home it was imperative that to enjoy yourself in the country you
needed
your own set of wheels. Motorbikes were particularly popular
and
most young men in their position had one. They would enjoy
days out
to the river and visits to friends and family in the countryside.
During the 1930s the three boys became much more
serious in
their efforts
to find suitable girlfriends and began to have steady dates.
However
a motorbike was not considered appropriate transport if you were taking
a girl out for the day so it was common to trade in your motorbike for
a car as soon as you could afford to do so. These were the
days when,
to have any privacy at all away from friends and family, the back seat
of a car became a much sought after imperative.
There were no driving tests in the the 1930s so you
simply
went along
to the showroom, asked to sit in the car of your choice and were given
a test drive. If the car met with your expectations you would
buy
it there and then and worry about how to drive it later.
Jack Peace recalled "I chose the car I wanted, the
salesman
asked if
I had driven before and when I said 'no' offered to give me a quick
introduction.
After all of ten minutes the car was mine and I drove it home - all the
way in first gear because I had yet to learn how to use the clutch."
Car journeys out of town became jolly occasions, the
IMPS
meeting up
for picnics by the sea, walks by the coast and so on. There
were,
however, plenty of pleasures to be found nearer to home with visits to
the cinema or to the theatre - and High Wycombe had both.
There was
also a roller skating rink and a public swimming pool.
Amateur dramatics
were also a very popular form of entertainment before the days of
television
and many young people joined drama and musical groups in order to make
new friends. The three boys would meet up for 'musical entertainment'
provided
by themselves. Eric later recalled that "Jack Peace was a virtuoso on
the
musical submarine!"
These happy times, however, were to change in 1939
with the
declaration
of war.
This was an opportunity for some young men to experience life away from
the confines of shop work and Jack Peace seized the
opportunity to
join the RAF where he became a Pilot Officer and was posted to
India.
Eric George was posted first to the West Country and then to Italy.
Jack
Luttman, however, was needed by the Ministry of Food to organise meat
rationing
within the Wycombe area and thus he was to experience the effects of
war
on the home front.
Unlike many service men who found that they were out
of work
on their
return from the war Jack Peace and Eric George were able to step back
into
the positions that they had held in their fathers' shops. But
things
were very different. Rationing was still a requirement until
the
early 1950s and coupons were required for nearly everything.
The
whole nature of supply and demand had changed from the pre-war days.
The three men now found that they were holding far
greater
responsibiities
within their relevant businesses. Jack Peace was now a
partner in
the tailoring firm of Peace, Ballantyne and Goodwin Ltd (his father
having
died before the war), and Jack Luttman opened his own butchers shop in
Flackwell Heath. All three friends married, went to each
other's
weddings and maintained regular contact. Ironically Jack Peace now
lived
in Flackwell Heath and travelled to work in High Wycombe while Jack
Luttman
still lived in High Wycombe but travelled to work in Flackwell Heath
and
they joked that perhaps they should swop houses or even families.
By the late1950s they were running well reputed
businesses and
the two
Jacks were bringing up children and exchanging information about the
best
schools to send them to. All three men seemed to share the
same customers
and would regularly swop gossip on Wycombe eccentrics. In
fact they
were also good customers to each other - Eric was a regular visitor to
Jack Peace's outfitters shop and often remarked that suits made by Mr
Ballantyne
(the head tailor) never seemed to wear out. The Peace family
were
regular shoppers at Jack Luttman's butchers and grocery store where
they
sold the tastiest of meat pies and Jack Luttman was a good customer
of
Jack Peace.
By the 1960s the two Jacks were sharing their
concerns about
disgruntled
teenagers, and their wives were sharing their concerns about unpaid
housework.
By the early 1970s they were looking forward to retirement and seeing
their
offspring married and off their hands.
By the mid 1970s all three shops had ceased trading
as family
businesses.
Eric's ironmongers was sold to make way for redevelopment, Jack
Luttman's
butchers and grocery store was taken over by new owners and Jack
Peace's
tailors and outfitters shop was sold to Milletts.
During all this time the three men remained in
regular
contact.
Even when Jack Luttman moved to Kingsbridge in Devon, Eric
George
to St Austell in Cornwall and Jack Peace retired to his home in
Flackwell
Heath they met for holidays and wrote long letters to each other
'putting
the world to rights'. When they died in the late 1980s and
1990s
their wives remained in touch - still sharing their concerns about the
housework and the 'children'.
By Sally Scagell nee Peace, daughter of John (Jack)
Godfrey
Peace
Summer 2000
They all worked in Queens Square as apprentices to their
fathers.
Jack Luttman was training to be a butcher, his friend Eric George was
an
apprentice in the ironmongers (next door but one) and their best friend
Jack Peace worked in the tailors and outfitters opposite. Eric and Jack
Luttman were also cousins and Eric would later say "Jack was the
closest
thing I had to a brother".
This was an opportunity for some young men to experience life away from
the confines of shop work and Jack Peace seized the
opportunity to
join the RAF where he became a Pilot Officer and was posted to
India.
Eric George was posted first to the West Country and then to Italy.
Jack
Luttman, however, was needed by the Ministry of Food to organise meat
rationing
within the Wycombe area and thus he was to experience the effects of
war
on the home front.
