{"id":13916,"date":"2025-07-02T11:55:02","date_gmt":"2025-07-02T18:55:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mattfife.com\/?p=13916"},"modified":"2025-05-02T12:02:31","modified_gmt":"2025-05-02T19:02:31","slug":"are-you-being-served","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mattfife.com\/?p=13916","title":{"rendered":"Are You Being Served?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Are_You_Being_Served%3F\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Are_You_Being_Served%3F\">Are You Being Served<\/a> is one of my favorite British comedies. It very much reminded me of the funny and interesting characters that worked with me at one of my first jobs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It turns out, his amazing characters\/stories were based in some truth. In the early 1950s, scriptwriter\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/areyoubeingserved.fandom.com\/wiki\/Jeremy_Lloyd\">Jeremy Lloyd<\/a>\u00a0was employed as a junior assistant at <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Simpsons_of_Piccadilly\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Simpsons_of_Piccadilly\">Simpson of Piccadilly<\/a> and he drew on his experiences to come-up with the idea for\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/areyoubeingserved.fandom.com\/wiki\/Are_You_Being_Served%3F\">Are You Being Served?<\/a> <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">When Simpsons opened in 1936, it was the largest menswear store in Britain. It&#8217;s now owned by Waterstones chain of bookshops.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-gallery has-nested-images columns-default is-cropped wp-block-gallery-1 is-layout-flex wp-block-gallery-is-layout-flex\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"620\" height=\"413\" data-attachment-id=\"13917\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/mattfife.com\/?attachment_id=13917\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mattfife.com\/wp-content\/themes\/mattTheme\/headerimgs\/2025\/05\/croft2_215209c.jpg?fit=620%2C413&amp;ssl=1\" data-orig-size=\"620,413\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"croft2_215209c\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mattfife.com\/wp-content\/themes\/mattTheme\/headerimgs\/2025\/05\/croft2_215209c.jpg?fit=620%2C413&amp;ssl=1\" data-id=\"13917\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mattfife.com\/wp-content\/themes\/mattTheme\/headerimgs\/2025\/05\/croft2_215209c.jpg?resize=620%2C413&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-13917\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mattfife.com\/wp-content\/themes\/mattTheme\/headerimgs\/2025\/05\/croft2_215209c.jpg?w=620&amp;ssl=1 620w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mattfife.com\/wp-content\/themes\/mattTheme\/headerimgs\/2025\/05\/croft2_215209c.jpg?resize=300%2C200&amp;ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mattfife.com\/wp-content\/themes\/mattTheme\/headerimgs\/2025\/05\/croft2_215209c.jpg?resize=405%2C270&amp;ssl=1 405w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 620px) 100vw, 620px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"640\" height=\"965\" data-attachment-id=\"13919\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/mattfife.com\/?attachment_id=13919\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mattfife.com\/wp-content\/themes\/mattTheme\/headerimgs\/2025\/05\/1024px-Simpson_57_40419.jpg?fit=1024%2C1544&amp;ssl=1\" data-orig-size=\"1024,1544\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"1024px-Simpson_57_40419\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mattfife.com\/wp-content\/themes\/mattTheme\/headerimgs\/2025\/05\/1024px-Simpson_57_40419.jpg?fit=640%2C965&amp;ssl=1\" data-id=\"13919\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mattfife.com\/wp-content\/themes\/mattTheme\/headerimgs\/2025\/05\/1024px-Simpson_57_40419.jpg?resize=640%2C965&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-13919\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mattfife.com\/wp-content\/themes\/mattTheme\/headerimgs\/2025\/05\/1024px-Simpson_57_40419.jpg?w=1024&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mattfife.com\/wp-content\/themes\/mattTheme\/headerimgs\/2025\/05\/1024px-Simpson_57_40419.jpg?resize=199%2C300&amp;ssl=1 199w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mattfife.com\/wp-content\/themes\/mattTheme\/headerimgs\/2025\/05\/1024px-Simpson_57_40419.jpg?resize=679%2C1024&amp;ssl=1 679w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mattfife.com\/wp-content\/themes\/mattTheme\/headerimgs\/2025\/05\/1024px-Simpson_57_40419.jpg?resize=768%2C1158&amp;ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mattfife.com\/wp-content\/themes\/mattTheme\/headerimgs\/2025\/05\/1024px-Simpson_57_40419.jpg?resize=1019%2C1536&amp;ssl=1 1019w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mattfife.com\/wp-content\/themes\/mattTheme\/headerimgs\/2025\/05\/1024px-Simpson_57_40419.jpg?resize=179%2C270&amp;ssl=1 179w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"640\" height=\"853\" data-attachment-id=\"13920\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/mattfife.com\/?attachment_id=13920\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mattfife.com\/wp-content\/themes\/mattTheme\/headerimgs\/2025\/05\/Simpsons_of_Piccadilly_2005-1.webp?fit=1920%2C2560&amp;ssl=1\" data-orig-size=\"1920,2560\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"Simpsons_of_Piccadilly_2005\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mattfife.com\/wp-content\/themes\/mattTheme\/headerimgs\/2025\/05\/Simpsons_of_Piccadilly_2005-1.webp?fit=640%2C853&amp;ssl=1\" data-id=\"13920\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mattfife.com\/wp-content\/themes\/mattTheme\/headerimgs\/2025\/05\/Simpsons_of_Piccadilly_2005-1.webp?resize=640%2C853&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-13920\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mattfife.com\/wp-content\/themes\/mattTheme\/headerimgs\/2025\/05\/Simpsons_of_Piccadilly_2005-1.webp?w=1920&amp;ssl=1 1920w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mattfife.com\/wp-content\/themes\/mattTheme\/headerimgs\/2025\/05\/Simpsons_of_Piccadilly_2005-1.webp?resize=225%2C300&amp;ssl=1 225w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mattfife.com\/wp-content\/themes\/mattTheme\/headerimgs\/2025\/05\/Simpsons_of_Piccadilly_2005-1.webp?resize=768%2C1024&amp;ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mattfife.com\/wp-content\/themes\/mattTheme\/headerimgs\/2025\/05\/Simpsons_of_Piccadilly_2005-1.webp?resize=1152%2C1536&amp;ssl=1 1152w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mattfife.com\/wp-content\/themes\/mattTheme\/headerimgs\/2025\/05\/Simpsons_of_Piccadilly_2005-1.webp?resize=1536%2C2048&amp;ssl=1 1536w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mattfife.com\/wp-content\/themes\/mattTheme\/headerimgs\/2025\/05\/Simpsons_of_Piccadilly_2005-1.webp?resize=203%2C270&amp;ssl=1 203w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mattfife.com\/wp-content\/themes\/mattTheme\/headerimgs\/2025\/05\/Simpsons_of_Piccadilly_2005-1.webp?w=1280&amp;ssl=1 1280w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Links:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Simpsons_of_Piccadilly\">https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Simpsons_of_Piccadilly<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Are_You_Being_Served%3F\">https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Are_You_Being_Served%3F<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/areyoubeingserved.fandom.com\/wiki\/Simpsons_of_Piccadilly\">https:\/\/areyoubeingserved.fandom.com\/wiki\/Simpsons_of_Piccadilly<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Are You Being Served is one of my favorite British comedies. It very much reminded me of the funny and interesting characters that worked with me at one of my first jobs. It turns out, his amazing characters\/stories were based in some truth. In the early 1950s, scriptwriter\u00a0Jeremy Lloyd\u00a0was employed as a junior assistant at Simpson of Piccadilly and he drew on his experiences to come-up with the idea for\u00a0Are You Being Served? When Simpsons opened in 1936, it was&#8230;<\/p>\n<p class=\"read-more\"><a class=\"btn btn-default\" href=\"https:\/\/mattfife.com\/?p=13916\"> Read More<span class=\"screen-reader-text\">  Read More<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13916","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-cool"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4WECr-3Cs","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mattfife.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13916","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mattfife.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mattfife.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mattfife.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mattfife.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=13916"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/mattfife.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13916\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13921,"href":"https:\/\/mattfife.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13916\/revisions\/13921"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mattfife.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=13916"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mattfife.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=13916"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mattfife.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=13916"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}