'We’re Here for Shippam’s!'

By Sally Jones, Shippam's Project Officer

With a resounding ‘Hurrah!’ the much-anticipated Shippam’s exhibition has opened at The Novium Museum, bringing with it memories of bloater paste on hot buttered toast and the whiff of cooking meat and fish. Cicestrians will be relieved to hear that, unlike in Shippam’s heyday, these pungent aromas are now confined to smell boxes in the exhibition gallery!

 A talking point for visitors, the smell boxes are also a reminder of one of the downsides of having an industrial food production site in the heart of the city centre.

The exhibition has already attracted hundreds of visitors, many of whom enter the museum with the words ‘we’re here for Shippam’s!’ Having spent the past eighteen months working with The Novium Museum team and a band of enthusiastic volunteers on the Shippam’s project, it is wonderful to see the exhibition bringing people together and sparking recollections of the past.  

Shippam’s is often remembered with nostalgia and fondness, and nowhere is this more evident than the exhibition memory board. Here, visitors are encouraged to post personal reminiscences of what Shippam’s meant to them - whether it be eating paste sandwiches, touring the factory, singing along to advertising jingles, or celebrating family events at the Shippam’s Social Club. Their observations are amusing, compelling, insightful and poignant.

Visitors are invited to add their personal memories of Shippam’s to the memory board in the exhibition.

Recently, a gentleman recalled the day in the 1950s when his father brought home a brand-new television set. The first ever commercial the family viewed on it was one for Shippam’s. Another visitor wrote about their delight as a child when they were invited to Shippam’s Social Club, along with other children from poor families, to receive a free Christmas meal and a present - evidence of the company’s long-standing commitment to caring for their community.

These personal experiences add meaning and warmth to the story of Shippam’s, revealing how the company touched the lives of so many. They will be collated by The Novium Museum and preserved as part of the Shippam’s legacy.

 ‘Fish paste with sliced cucumber on white bread was considered to be posh in our house 1950’s!’ 

 Shippam’s combined the flavours of salmon and cucumber in a ‘delicious new paste’, as advertised on this 1930s billboard.

 As my time working on the Shippam’s Project draws to an end, I feel very proud of what we’ve achieved and also very privileged to have been involved in such an important project. We’ve catalogued, digitised and repacked over 1200 items from the Shippam’s advertising archive, increasing accessibility and ensuring its safekeeping for the future. We’ve conducted ten oral histories which will be deposited at the West Sussex Record Office and which featured in the exhibition film. We’ve worked with volunteers who have dedicated hours of their time to the project, and we’ve brought together collections from The Novium Museum, West Sussex Record Office and Screen Archive South East. We’ve written in excess of 16,000 words and displayed over 240 objects, all to tell the story of this unique company and its place in history. But more than that, we’ve built connections with people and brought together their experiences for others to share and enjoy.

When visitors to The Novium Museum say ‘we’re here for Shippam’s’, I’m pleased to think that, as a museum, we’re here for Shippam’s too.

Actors reimagining scenes from Shippam’s past, outside The Novium Museum, on a recent family activity day.