KATHLEEN Pratley rubbed shoulders with the stars as well as the aristocracy when she worked at the famous Oxford shop of Zacharias & Co.

The store, at the corner of Cornmarket Street and Ship Street, was “waterproofer and outfitter to the gentry, squirearchy, dons and visitors to Oxford” for more than 120 years.

Miss Pratley, who worked at the shop from 1955 until it closed in 1983, remembers many celebrities coming in while appearing at the New Theatre, among them comedian Jimmy Edwards.

Fellow comedian Dick Emery pulled faces at staff through the glass as they put together window displays.

She also recalls great excitement among staff and customers when actor Edward Woodward – then a ‘glamour boy’ – came into the shop while in Oxford.

Owner Cecil Osborn King often told a story about how the French singer and actor Maurice Chevalier left the store wearing a heavy rubber raincoat – on a blisteringly hot summer’s day!

Miss Pratley, of Ulfgar Road, Wolvercote, tells me that staff faced a daily battle to keep the shop clean from the grime caused by passing traffic.

“It was much better when they closed Cornmarket Street.”

As we recalled (Memory Lane, February 15), the firm can be traced back to Abraham Zacharias, who traded in Cornmarket Street from the 1850s.

When his son Joel died early in the 20th century, the firm was taken over by Henry Osborn King, a Wolvercote farmer, who eventually passed it to his youngest son, Cecil.

The firm’s advertising slogan, Zacs for Macs, was used extensively in newspapers, on posters and on buses to publicise its waterproof clothing business.

Miss Pratley, who was manager in her final year, has fond memories of her 28 years in the shop.

“I enjoyed it very much. The staff didn’t change very much. It was a nice place to work, with very nice colleagues.”

Any other memories of Zacharias & Co to share with readers?