If these walls could talk...
"If these walls could talk" is a phrase we hear all the time.
And if the walls of 52 Old Compton Street could talk, just imagine the stories they could tell.
Today, Algerian Coffee Stores occupies the whole building. The shop sits on the ground floor, our offices are on the first floor, while the cellar and upper floors are now mainly used for storage. But that hasn't always been the case.
The more we discover about the history of our building, the more fascinated we become. Every piece of information uncovers another chapter in its story.
One of the earliest records we've found dates back to 1801, when a whale bone cutter was registered at these premises.
And a record from 1827 shows a William Binks, leather seller, registered here. Years later, on the upper floors above our shop, Cadel & Macdonald photographers were here during the 1920s and 30s. And at another time there was even a dentist practising above the shop.
The upper floors were once homes too. Families lived here, raised children here and built their lives above the bustle of Old Compton Street.
In fact, there is still no running water on the upper floors today, and tucked away in the tiny courtyard are the still the outside toilets. Small reminders that, although Soho has changed enormously, parts of this old building have remained wonderfully untouched.
One of my favourite photographs of the shop captures just a glimpse of that past.
Although we don't know exactly when it was taken, we believe it dates from the early 1900s. I love the lady leaning from the upstairs window, watching the world below, while passers-by stroll along Old Compton Street in their hats and long coats.
Who was she? What was she thinking? Did she live above the shop? Was she waiting for someone to come home?
Over the years, these walls have witnessed more than any of us could imagine.
The shop itself has stood through the reigns of seven monarchs, two world wars, economic recessions and, more recently, a global pandemic. They witnessed neighbouring buildings destroyed during the Blitz and, in 1999, the devastating attack on our next door neighbour, the Admiral Duncan, an event that shook the whole of Soho.
(May 1941, Old Compton Street was hit, our shop is in the right hand corner, you can just make out our striped awning)
Through tragedy, celebration and constant change, these old walls have quietly remained.
Our own family's chapter is only one part of that much longer story.
This year marks 80 years of our family running Algerian Coffee Stores, while the shop itself has now been trading for 139 years.
Some days, you'll even find three generations of our family behind the counter together.
One of the privileges of working here is hearing the stories our customers share with us, how they first visited the shop as a child with their parents or grandparents, and now they return with children—or even grandchildren—of their own.
One customer shared that his family has been shopping with us for over 100 years.
More than a century of family traditions, all connected by one little shop on Old Compton Street.
One of our own favourite stories arrived in 2005, when Paul welcomed two very special visitors into the shop.
Lucy (above) had been born on the top floor of the building on 8th June 1917. She grew up here and, twenty years later, on 6th December 1937, gave birth to her own son, Tony (below), under the very same roof.
Nearly seventy years later, they returned together.
Whenever I look at that early photograph of the woman leaning from the upstairs window, I can't help wondering whether it could be Lucy's mother looking down onto Old Compton Street.
We've also had the pleasure of meeting the niece of one of the young men pictured in another historic photograph of the shop. Her uncle (below, right) worked here during the 1930s, and she spent time sharing memories of him and the Soho she remembered hearing about as she grew up.
Moments like these are priceless.
Sometimes we have to remind ourselves that, in our own small way, we're now part of London's history too.
We're certain there are many more stories waiting to be discovered.
If you know anything about the history of 52 Old Compton Street please do email us.
Comments
Great shop which I’ve known and loved for over fifty years – long may it and the family continue.
Thanks for the history – really interesting and so rare to care these days….
For many years I’ve made a regular trip to Old Compton street which involved a visit to Camisa to stock up, Algerian Coffee for beans and if I timed it right a glass of wine in the French Pub
Still making the trip but very sad Camisa is no longer there
Long live Algerian Coffee and its wonderful staff!
It’s a must stop
I visite London twice a year coming from Algeria and always enjoying buying my coffee from the Algerian coffee store
It’s just a Marvellous feeling and a wonderful experience
Thank you ever so much 💓
Cheers to 80 Years of Family Love in your corner of a world that has seen a ‘Whale of Times!!!’ Thankfully CNN ran your shoppe’s history back in 2023- and I’ve been sipping ever since here in the U.S.!! A tapestry of wonderful people and events swirl the vast history of your shoppe and the photos – you can only imagine the stories behind each! It is because of good people that are strong in beliefs of family, traditions, and working to keep together that we share in this Love Story !! Here’s to your Family’s Generations and the cups you have filled to the brim with Happy Hearts!!! So grateful for the next generation to come up :)
What a lovely bit of history otherwise unknown to the vast majority! I still visit when on a trip to London with my sister 55 years later. We have three places we always visit Algerian coffee stores maison bertaux and what was until recently I Camisa and Sons : ( sad to lose that one they were wonderful and after all those years. We must support our independent businesses any way possible and keep back the large conglomerates. Love the new coffee storage tin ordered that one straight away : ) must get another for my sister.
Love your illustrated narrative moments, starting with a whale-cutter! #52 missed total destruction by a sliver :O
Your family generations carry the coffee-baton – long may you continue. Merci b.
I’ve now lived on Brewer Street for almost 33 years since moving into Soho in September 1993.
The Algerian Coffee Stores has remained my favourite local store throughout and I’ve always loved the fact that I can smell its gorgeous aroma from streets away.
There is no better ❤️
Not a single whalebone cutter in sight when you need one these days …
Your fondness for Soho and London past as represented at 52 Old Compton Street is heart-warming. Very few businesses in London have any such interest, and that’s a great shame because the history of one shop, one street and one city is the history of all of us, and we should be proud of it. It’s a staggering achievement that the Crocetta family has been in business there for 80 of the 139 years of Algerian Coffee Store’s life. A noisy round of applause for all of you! Your affectionate interest in the shop’s unique history is part of your business ethos – and that’s a lot to do with why we all love you!
Whalebone for corsets, I’m guessing…
Long before I shopped on line I was a customer in store. I was introduced to you by a dear friend. As a child she lived with her family in an apartment close to your store. Her father was the French chef a one of London’s top hotels. It was her job to buy the coffee beans from your store and ,on a lucky day, she would be given a treat. She went on to join the Free French forces to be dropped behind enemy lines during the Second World War. She couldn’t speak highly of your products and I can see why. Always an excellent cup of coffee.
100 years! Born there in 1917.
As newcomers we have been buying Algerian Special since 1971.
A whale bone cutter in 1801 was not an Inuit artist or sculptor. :-) He would have been a highly specialised craftsman who bought rough baleen (the flexible keratin plates from the mouths of right whales and bowhead whales) and processed it into strips, rods and shaped pieces for other trades. Baleen was the eighteenth-century equivalent of an engineering plastic: light, springy, tough, capable of being softened with heat and then permanently reshaped.
The work involved several stages:
• cleaning and trimming the imported baleen plates;
• splitting them into strips of precise widths;
• shaving and planing them to an exact thickness;
• polishing and grading them according to quality;
• selling the finished pieces to staymakers, umbrella makers, brush makers and other craftsmen.
So the “cutter” was rather like someone today who supplies precision-machined carbon fibre or engineering plastics to manufacturers.
Corsets were the principal use, overwhelmingly so in 1801.
The greatest demand came from stays (what we would call corsets). Every fashionable woman’s stays might contain twenty to forty strips of baleen, carefully cut to different lengths and thicknesses. The material was ideal because it bent without snapping and returned to shape. The entire London trade depended upon specialist whalebone cutters supplying standardised pieces.
Other important uses included:
• umbrella ribs;
• parasols;
• riding crops;
• fishing rods;
• carriage springs;
• hat brims;
• chair backs and seats;
• specialist industrial brushes.
Scrimshaw was a different thing.
Scrimshaw was almost entirely a sailor’s pastime. It was normally carved or engraved on:
• sperm whale teeth;
• walrus ivory;
• whale bone.
It did not generally use baleen. Baleen’s value lay in its flexibility rather than its decorative qualities. A London whale bone cutter was in an entirely different world from those who made scrimshaw or ornamental carvings.
When visiting London we try to visit the shop its a special place.Love the historical information you provide
Have been buying your coffee for 50 years. The coffee travels with me to Greece, France and the USA. Love this post. Never forsake Soho.
Beautiful written, thankfully read and absorbed.
Please please more blogs like this.
A very happy person!
A very interesting read
Thanks very much.
What a lovely story thank you, I live in Scotland and have been buying my coffee from you for a few years now and will continue to do so, one of these days I will come down to London and visit your shop,I can’t wait thank you for your great service.
Michael.
What is so good about this is not only who you are and what you do but you take pride in where you are. Keep on…
Another wonderful blog. They never fail to bring back lovely memories. I’m 70 now and don’t get to come into Soho much these days, but I still get my coffee delivered.
That my 50 years of being a customer, and here’s to you being around forever.
Love and hugs.
After leaving London more than 25 years ago I so miss the old London, I remember, my return over the years has been disappointing , except for my frequent visits to my three favourite shops, Algerian coffee, paxton and Whitfield and the Italian delis in Newington Green road, all remain as they were 25 years ago and it’s this continuing link with the past that makes me smile every time I visit one of my three favourites.