Tag Archives: 1942

Cameo Cafe

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Cafe/restaurant that was at 8 Upper Green East until 1940, then at 197 London Road.

1937 ad

In September 1940 the cafe was badly damaged from the bomb that destroyed the Mitcham Methodist Church. It was reopened at 197 London Road. Mrs Isobel POPAY ran the cafe from 1934 to 1942, when she died, aged 62. Source: Norwood News – Friday 22 May 1942, page 8.

This 1953 photo shows Mitcham Baths on right and further along, on the same side of the London Road, the block numbered 195 to 201. A ‘restaurant’ sign can be seen on the second from the far end property, this is number 197. This clip is from a Merton Memories photo, reference Mit_​Streets_​Lon_​38-47

An ad for an assistant cook in Norwood News – Friday 03 March 1961 showed its phone number was MIT 3359. The 1954 telephone directory shows it at 197 London Road. From around the mid-1980s to 2012 this shop was Ossie’s Taverna.

In a news item from the Norwood News – Friday 15 January 1932, the proprietor of the cafe was Mr Norton. The item was about an argument at a wedding reception that led to an assault, and went to court. From a comment on the Facebook Mitcham History Group, there was a function room upstairs that was used for wedding receptions etc.

1953 OS map showing the London Road. On the left hand side of the road is no. 224 ‘Day Nursery’, which is Eagle House. The block of 4 shops/flats north of the Public Baths shows No. 197 at the second from the far end. The entrance to the Baptist Church was built on in 1962/3.

An advert in the  Norwood News – Friday 19 February 1932 for a piano gives the address of the cafe as number 8 Upper Green East.

Maps are reproduced with the permission of the National Library of Scotland.

1942 : A former noted show-woman buried in Mitcham

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DEATH OF MRS. AMY NORMAN
A FORMER NOTED SHOWWOMAN

ONE of the most interesting characters in the show world, Mrs Amy Norman, mother of Mr Tom Norman, who for fourteen years ran a “Housey-Housey” booth in Rugby, died at Rugby Emergency Hospital Wednesday night. She had been ill a fortnight, and was taken to the hospital on Sunday.

Born in a caravan at Loughborough in 1880, Mrs. Norman was the daughter of Mr Jim Rayner, a famous showman, who owned a mumming booth in which a different play was performed each night. It was here that Mrs. Norman began her career, playing in such melodramas as “Maria Martin,” and she also played in Shakespearean plays and was a wonderful dancer.

When she was fifteen she married the late Mr Tom Norman, who was known as the “Silver King” and the showman’s auctioneer. She lived all her life in a caravan, and most of her six sons and three daughters, all of whom, with the exception of one daughter, were in the show business before the war, were born a caravan. Since her eldest son, Mr Tom Norman, left Rugby about five years ago she has been living with some of her family in a caravan in Mr Durham’s yard in West Leyes. A short time ago Mr Norman was asked to prepare a script and invite his mother to broadcast some of her reminiscences.

The funeral will take place Monday at Mitcham, Surrey, where Mrs Norman’s husband is buried in the family grave.

Source: Rugby Advertiser – Friday 05 June 1942 from the British Newspaper Archive (subscription required)