John Orr's Diamond Jubilee 1886-1946. A Memorable Event. Progress and Service Through Two Generations

Once Southern Africa's most famous quality soft-goods family chain, John Orr's opened in Kimberley in 1886 - five years before the foundation of Johannesburg, which, after Durban (1903), became the home of the third John Orr's in 1906.

Most of the later stores were designed in the Art Deco style. The vast Johannesburg store had a staff of 600 at the time of the jubilee. Its 50 departments occupied the lower ground, ground and first to fifth floors, with the sixth floor used for administration and mail order and the roof garden for staff recreation. Other facilities included a 27-booth ladies' hairdressing salon, a staff hospital, also available to customers, and public and staff tea-rooms, the former with seating for 350 and 40 waitresses. In those pre-credit-card days, more than a hundred state-of the art cash receiving tubes terminated in a receiving-and-sending station on the lower ground floor. Also on this floor was the washed, cooled or heated, humidified or dehumidified airconditioning plant, with its many filters and sprays, which circulated 300 tons of air an hour through out the store, which also featured engineering and carpenter's shops, an incinerator and laundry and a caretaker's flat.

It was quite remarkable what two generations of Orrs were able to achieve. We wish we had a dozen of these jubilee brochures, all of which would find good homes; but unfortunately we have only one.            

This photogravure memento of the store's jubilee is printed in two colours throughout. 64 pp saddle-stitched into limp covers.

CONDITION. Unmarked and undiscoloured throughout - and a tribute to Alan Yates, the photographer, and Cape Times, the printers.