BAZAARS have always been a profitable way for charities and other groups to boost their funds.

Some might see them as glorified jumble sales, but you can often pick up good-value Christmas gifts.

And as these Oxford Mail archive pictures show, there is rarely any shortage of customers looking for that festive bargain.

Memory Lane this week

Picture 1 (top) was taken in 1963 when Scouts and pupils from East Oxford School combined their talents to organise a Christmas sale in the SS Mary and John School hall. Some of the young visitors are seen trying their luck on the roll-a-penny stall.

The soothing sounds of Beethoven did little to restrain the enthusiasm of bargain-hunters as they looked for the best buys at Oxford Pro Musica’s 20th anniversary bazaar.

Oxford Mail:

Recorded selections from Oxfordshire’s only professional orchestra played gently above the hubbub of the milling crowds, seen in Picture 2 (above).

The 1985 bazaar at the Old Fire Station Arts Centre in George Street, Oxford, was one of several events arranged to help offset the orchestra’s losses.

Dora Gaitskell, wife of Labour Opposition leader Hugh, opened the Oxford City and South Oxfordshire Constituency Labour Parties’ Christmas bazaar in 1957.

Oxford Mail:

She is seen in Picture 3 (above) throwing a hoop at one of the sideshows, watched by Fred Ingram, the city’s Labour Party agent, who later became a prominent city Conservative.

Oxford Mail:

Picture 4 (above) shows the mayor of Oxford, Alderman Lady Townsend, making a purchase at the Salvation Army Christmas Fayre at the Oxford Citadel in 1958, while in Picture 5 (below) there was brisk business at the book stall at the Conservative Party bazaar in Oxford Town Hall in 1987.

Oxford Mail:

 

Members of the Oxford Centre for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing were celebrating good news when they held their bazaar in 1966.

They had occupied the former Congregational Church in St Ebbe’s for 10 years and had just heard that they had been given planning permission to renovate and extend the building.

Picture 6 (below) shows keen buyers snapping up bargains and helping to raise money for the work.

Oxford Mail:

 



Do you want alerts delivered straight to your phone via our WhatsApp service? Text NEWS or SPORT or NEWS AND SPORT, depending on which services you want, and your full name to 07767 417704. Save our number into your phone’s contacts as Oxford Mail WhatsApp and ensure you have WhatsApp installed.