This Wednesday 20th July Enter the World of Kays!

Click Image For A Closer View!

A special event is taking place at the University of Worcester next week to celebrate the history of one of the City’s most famous firms.

Visitors to the Coffee & Kays event are invited to share their memories of the mail-order company, browse the original catalogues, and find out about a new web-based community history project.

Members of the public are encouraged to bring along their own photographs, clothes and memories of Kays of Worcester so that they can contribute to the website. Or they are welcome to just drop in for coffee and biscuits and exchange tales of Kays with others.

The event, on Wednesday 20th July will run from 11am to 5pm in the Peirson Library at the University of Worcester’s St John’s Campus. Free refreshments will be available as well as a prize quiz and a chance to relive your past with a vintage clothing stall and Atari computer games.

Kay and Co Ltd was one of Worcester’s largest and best known companies, answering the nation’s shopping needs for more than 100 years. Their mail-order catalogues were extremely popular, containing contemporary fashions, household items and luxuries.

‘World of Kays’ is a JISC-funded project run by a University of Worcester team to create an online resource, based around digitalised images from the catalogues and contributions from the public. The website will explore the impact of Kays of Worcester on shaping the nation’s lifestyle and clothing choices from 1920 to 2000, as well as the contribution the company made to city life.

Project manager Jenni Waugh said: “The website will be a fantastic resource for community historians and fashion enthusiasts alike. It’s a wonderful opportunity to make the history of Kays more available.”
The project has received a £55,500 grant from JISC, an organisation which inspires UK colleges and universities in the innovative use of digital technologies.

The Kays Collection is currently housed at the University of Worcester. The collection includes an almost complete set of mail order catalogues, photographs, company accounting records, reports and minutes from boardroom meetings.
The website is due to go live in late July 2011 and the team will be attending events across the city throughout the summer and autumn.

For more information on the event, to view the collection or to share your memories of Kays, contact Jenni Waugh.

Until the website is launched, members of the public can find out more about the Kays project and how to get involved on Facebook at www.facebook.com/Cataloguing-Kays or following @WorldofKays on Twitter.