Post-war themed shops preserving the past - museum

The three stores represent different parts of the Black Country and preserve their memories, the museum said

New post-war and period-themed shops have opened to visitors at the Black Country Living Museum.

The three stores replicate a well-known military surplus shop run by a former German prisoner of war in Stourbridge, a post office in Penn, Wolverhampton and a Halesowen and Hasbury Co-op.

Visitors can browse the shelves for recipes of the time and try on military wear, as the stories of the stores are brought to life, the museum said.

Steve Langer, whose father Herbert ran Langer’s Army & Navy Stores, said he would have been very emotional to know his passion project had been recreated.

Former prisoner Mr Langer established his shop in the 1950s after settling in the Black Country.

His son has helped the museum bring it back to life, complete with museum staff portraying Herbert.

'Like coming home'

“My dad would have been so emotional and overwhelmed that someone thought that much of him to do something like this and recreate something that was his life and that he loved," his son said.

"It feels like my dad’s shop. It feels like coming home.”

Stan Nettleton, whose family ran Penn’s Spring Hill Post Office for 40 years, has also been remembered with the recreation of his shop.

Visitors can find out more about it and why it diversified to be more than a post office, stocking toys, models and greeting cards, the museum said.

Halesowen and Hasbury Co-op, which is the last to open on Thursday, is set in 1949.

It contains reproduced packaging displaying Co-op’s branding, including "nourishing, appetising and easily digested" cornflakes and puppy biscuits that are "invaluable as a staple diet for the small dog".

The local community had shown "invaluable support" for the project by sharing memories and donated items, from Airfix models and birthday cards to motorcycle helmets and rucksacks, the museum said.

Carol King, director of content, said each business represented different areas of the Black Country.

“This isn’t just about preserving the past; it’s about bringing it to life for new generations to experience and understand,” she added.