Memories are Made of Ads - Part 2

The chemists at Red Houses are now chains - Lloyds or Boots. But in the old days you had the smaller chemists, run by families, and in 1965 there would have also been Bryants Chemist at Red Houses. At some point the name changed too from Chemist to Pharmacy.

In New Zealand, Australia and the UK the term Chemist used to refer to pharmacies and pharmacists. Now we typically distinguish between a chemist (person who has studied chemistry), a pharmacist (a health professional) and the place where pharmacists work (often a pharmacy).

The change actually came earlier. The 1933 Pharmacy and Poisons Act led to Pharmaceutical Society membership becoming compulsory for chemists and druggists. From this point on, registering with the Society and being a member of the Society meant the same thing. However, following another Pharmacy Act in 1953, all pharmacists became known as ‘pharmaceutical chemists’ and the term chemist and druggist fell out of use.

But it has taken a long time for the shop names to change, and people of my generation still speak of "going to the chemist" even though even Boots Chemists is now Boots Pharmacy.

The old fashioned chemist also sold chemicals - potassium permanganate, iodine - even sulphur. I used to get all sorts of goodies for my home chemistry set from Stones the Chemist (near West Centre in town).Making preparations from scratch is not something done anymore, so the name change reflects that.

Incidentally, India only had mandatory changes of name by law in 2019!

"The words 'chemists and druggists' appearing on the signboards of medical shops will soon have to be replaced with the word 'pharmacy' following an order by the government’s top advisory body on drugs."



Amazingly Les Touristes Limited is still around, but now at 4-6 Central Market.



This has long gone, developed into flats. It existed at the top of Mont Sohier Hill, and I know that because my girlfriend at the time, Marilyn, worked there in the early 1980s, and I sometimes picked her up from there or dropped her off. I went back to the flats many years later as I'd offered several hours basic internet training for "silver surfers" in a charity auction at St Brelade's Church, and they were very nice flats indeed. I remember when we were seeing each other because Doctor Who had just had its 20th Anniversary Special (and I was a fan), and Culture Club with Boy George was hitting the top charts (and she was a fan). Perhaps not surprisingly it didn't last.



My mother rented this out at the time - it was a franchise run by a French man named Henri Chartier, who produced a fine book on Jersey postcards, and also left Jersey, owing rent, and leaving the shop bereft of all removable fittings, including lightbulbs. He also left behind a cat, which was rather a cruel thing to do, and it was adopted by my Aunt Betty.



Le Bruns the baker! Those were the days when Jersey had its own large bakery, and we never really had any time when the shops were bare. Cheaper imports often at reduced prices as loss leaders in supermarkets led to a sad decision to close the outlets and the bakery. They had brand rename first to "Island Bakery" and did a deal for a while where the Jersey Zoo got a percentage from each loaf sold.