Professor Anna Greenwood and Associate Professor Richard Hornsey have collaborated with the Boots Archive on a new exhibition to mark the 175th anniversary of the opening of John Boot’s herbalist store on ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½’s Goose Gate. Counter Culture explores how Boots became a national chain, leading onto the superstores of the 1980s and beyond. It uses the local Boots store to consider how the experience of shopping has changed over the last 175 years, in an exhibition that marries design and social history. Visitors can see a 19th century workbench where pharmacists made up individual medicines, original shop fittings from the 1920s, and a reconstructed window display from 1952. You can also share your own thoughts and memories on the experience of shopping. John Boot’s son, Jesse Boot, gifted the land on which the University Park campus is built in 1921, along with Highfields Lido and Highfields Park.
Anna Greenwood said: “We are so excited to examine the history of a company which is so close to the hearts of ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ residents and is such an integral part of the fabric of British shopping habits.”
Richard Hornsey said: “For this exhibition we wanted to celebrate the history of Boots in a different way, by focussing on the Boots shopper. This is a celebration of ordinary experience and the factors that have shaped it over time.”
Details about the exhibition can be found here:
Posted on Friday 10th May 2024