“Of all the customs, that which appears to me the most absurd, is the one that condemns the Colleger to live on mutton, during the whole of the seven or eight years which he passes in those venerable halls” – Eton College Magazine
Respite was sought and found in the tuck shop:
23rd January 1937: Students crowding the tuck shop at Eton. (Photo by Ward/Fox Photos/Getty Images)
Over at Westminster School, London, the tuck shop treats were even better:
23rd December 1925: Miss Houd, who runs the tuck shop at Westminster School, London. (Photo by Kirby/Topical Press Agency/Getty Images)
“Come along down to Sally Harrowell’s; that’s our School-house tuck shop – she bakes such stunning murphies” – Tom Brown’s Schooldays
1857 (Rugby School).
December 1928: Mrs Rouse serves pupils in the tuckshop at Westminster School, London. (Photo by Fox Photos/Getty Images)
The Tuck Shop was a mainstay of school life:
2nd January 1926: Shopkeeper Miss Roud selling chocolate to pupils in the tuck shop at the Schoolboy’s Exhibition at the Horticultural Hall, Westminster London. (Photo by MacGregor/Topical Press Agency/Getty Images)
In the above pictures the Westminster sweet seller is called Miss Roud, Miss Houd and Mrs Rouse. Are they all correct? Surely not.
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