Hull: Is 'England's oldest joke shop' having last laugh in tough times?

Graham Williams is manager of Dinsdales joke shop, which has been trading in Hull since 1930

With the disappearance of big household names from our high streets in recent years, how are smaller but just as established independent businesses coping in uncertain economic times?

In Hull, House of Fraser, Marks and Spencer and Debenhams stores - once, of course, seemingly permanent fixtures of many town and city centres across the country - have all shut up shop, seemingly for good.

Yet, as BBC News' Kevin Shoesmith has been finding out, another big name - at least as far as people in Hull are concerned - has continued trading regardless of tough times, including war, and is now heading towards its centenary.

As I walk into Dinsdales, which claims to be England's oldest traditional joke shop, customer Darren Norton, who has called in with wife Vicky, is asking the man behind the counter: "You haven't any Terry Wogan masks?"

With a twinkle in his eye, manager Graham Williams replies: "You're right, sir - we haven't."

Darren and Vicky are attending a Eurovision party and want to dress as the late broadcaster, famous for his tongue-in-cheek commentaries on the song contest.

They say they have been coming to the shop, founded in 1930 and nestled in the Hepworth Arcade in the heart of Hull's cobbled Old Town, since they were children.

The front window - packed with eye-catching, novelty items and marvelled at by passers-by for generations - has remained pretty much untouched in decades.

Dinsdales is in Hull's historic Hepworth Arcade and still looks as it did decades ago

Darren and Vicky browse crammed shelves where whoopie cushions, itching powder and other items are displayed higgledy-piggledy, chuckling as golden childhood memories come flooding back.

"As a little girl, I used to buy these sweets that turn your mouth blue. I used to give them to my grandad," says Vicky.

Graham grins and says: "Just a second."

He reaches to a shelf and places a packet of the sweets down on the glass top counter, making Darren and Vicky gasp.

The moment golden childhood memories came flooding back for Darren and Vicky Norton in the shop

Paying for their sweets, and maybe already with new family targets in mind, Darren tells me: "It's just good, old-fashioned clean fun.

"I like to take little tricks with us on holiday to entertain the bar staff and reps. They love it."

Darren calls this place a "hidden gem", adding: "It would be a sad loss if it ever went."

For nearly a century, Dinsdales has remained a constant in this Grade II-listed arcade, opposite the street called the Land Of Green Ginger, which, as a blue plaque proclaims, is "one of the oddest street names in the country".

Stephanie Pitcher and Ashley Oates, both from Canada, show off their purchases

But how does this family business continue to remain relevant in a fast-changing world, where it is competing with video games, YouTubers and online stores for attention?

I have to wait for the answer, as more customers arrive.

Graham, a self-confessed eccentric, is holding a comedy ketchup bottle. He squeezes it in the direction of the customers who flinch as red string shoots out of the top.

Ashley Oates, 27, and Stephanie Pitcher, 41, from Newfoundland, Canada, tell me they are in the city to visit family.

"I first visited Dinsdales when I was four," says Ashley. "It's historic, it's old-fashioned and we love it. It's so nostalgic."

The joke shop in Hull is a stone's throw from one of the the country's strangest-named streets

The shop is even included on guided talks of Hull's rich history.

Graham says he believes Dinsdales is England's "oldest true joke shop".

He places a bag on the counter, with a tail protruding from it. It wriggles around the counter, to fits of laughter.

"Okay, I'll take the cat in the bag too," exhales Stephanie, clutching a union flag tote bag.

"We just love it here. We make a point of coming here every time we visit," she says.

Graham tells me visitors from abroad are not unusual, with people from all over the world "wanting a slice of British humour".

Eventually, he is able to return to my earlier question.

"A lot of places sell fancy dress and then jokes on the side," says Graham.

"It's the other way round for us. We're all about the jokes."

Customers call it a 'hidden gem' in Hull's old town

Graham began working here in 1978, initially as a summer job, he tells me.

Opened in 1930 by George William Dinsdale, by the time Graham first stood behind the glass counter the business had survived the Hull Blitz in World War Two which had left much of the city centre in ruins.

It then passed down to his son, George Alfred Dinsdale - Graham's uncle.

"What's missing?" asks Graham, passing me an order of service from his uncle George's funeral earlier this year.

I see a name but, strangely, no age. Not even a date of birth.

"Uncle George never told anyone his age," laughs Graham. "To him, you're as old as you feel.

"Life, for him, was all about having fun - laughing. With everything going on at the moment, we certainly need to laugh."

And with that, he launches into an anecdote about his uncle.

"In the late 80s, I probably wasn't pulling my weight and Uncle George told me I wasn't taking it seriously," says Graham.

"My response to him was, 'well, this is a joke shop'. He seemed to like that and made me a partner."

A tin of vintage itching powder can be seen at the joke shop in Hull

As I am about to take my leave, Graham shows me a stained pamphlet.

Inside is an advert for itching powder described as "being worse than a cart-load of fleas".

He reaches under the counter and brings out the original product.

"All those years ago, I promised the Dinsdale family I would keep the shop traditional," Graham says. "I see myself as the custodian of this shop."

However, preserving history and a family promise, though honourable, does not pay the bills. I ask him how he manages and Graham cites the afternoon's customers as an example.

"People still want to laugh," he says. "Believe me, laughing is better than going to the doctor. It makes you feel great.

"Footfall has certainly fallen. When we have events in town, I try and hook people, acting the clown.

"And of course, we get a lot of business from grandparents who want their grandchildren to experience the joys they did.

"My Uncle George also taught me to call every customer 'sir' and 'madam'. How often do you hear that nowadays?

"Little touches still count," he concludes.