Liberties Junk Shop, Dublin City, Ireland 1980
53,627
Published 2022-03-01
Frank Hall meets the owner of a junk shop on Francis Street Dublin where he has been trading since 1931. Sam has witnessed a lot of changes in the neighbourhood over the years. He explains what he buys and sells in his shop.
Sam’s Junk Shop stocks everything from toys, bicycles, family heirlooms and antiques to crutches and even a lady’s corset. Frank Hall is puzzled as to how you would go about selling the handlebars from a child’s bicycle.
"You’d be surprised the number of people that come and look for bits and pieces."
Sam also explains his pricing system and how he makes a profit largely based on what customers are willing to pay. He does admit however that,
"There’s some stuff here that will never sell."
He has seen a lot of changes on Francis Street over the past fifty years. The street was largely occupied by tenement buildings with tenants living in squalor. Sam believes the key to success and fitting in with the locals, as a foreign man and Jew, is to always have a smile on your face. He assumed the role of “local counsellor for the poor people”.
Despite his years in the business, Sam has yet to come across any real treasure. While he may not have made a fortune from his shop, business is better than ever as he says people have more money now than they have ever had. As he gets older, Sam is reducing his hours in the shop.
Sam, owner of Sam’s Junk Shop, Francis Street, Dublin (1980)
This episode of ‘Ireland’s Eye’ was broadcast on 19 December 1980. The reporter is Frank Hall.
All Comments (21)
-
He clearly bought things to help people out without making it look like charity.
-
The RTE reporter (Frank Hall) is the same guy who banned The Life of Brian movie. His condescension is sickening and he clearly has no idea what it would be like to be poor. As many people were back then. "Who would buy an opened can of 3 in 1 oil..." I dunno a person who needs this useful product for one or two jobs and not a whole can because they need the price of the whole can for milk or bread perhaps? Honestly, the snooty nature of RTE's overpaid types never changes.
-
With death of the high street, due to Amazon and online, we’re seeing rents drop and more independents shops again. Shops like his are good for the community and the planet. I’m all for it!
-
Lovely gentle manner
-
3 in 1 oil is useful unlike your average interviewer.
-
You'd be hard-pressed to find a greater example of the embodiment of empathy than this shopkeeper, just as you'd be hard-pressed to find a greater example of his antithesis than the interviewer
-
One mans junk is another mans treasure comes to mind
-
This channel is a gem..
-
Fascinating interview - my jaw nearly hit the floor when he said he was trading at that address since 1931! Honestly, the change that man would have seen. He must have known every single person in the Liberties and know more than he's letting on!
-
I wish we had shops and characters like this now..
-
What a lovely man. I wish I had known that shop.
-
Way ahead of his time, the forerunner to ebay.
-
This man must have had plenty of stories to tell throughout his life.
-
That was less of.an interview & more like an interrogation. He totally humiliated the man at the end. Hall's Pictorial me arse!
-
Funny thing if any of that bike stuff is Raleigh chopper it's very sought after now, I'm sure there was some definite treasure amongst it
-
What a wonderful piece of film . Thank you
-
This interview is one of the most fascinating pieces on Dublin I've seen. So insightful and very important - especially in these times - to see the truly humble spirit of Jewish Dublin. These people added so much to Dublin life - they essentially became "Dubs" and quite frankly I lament the fact that Jewish Dublin is ever disappearing, like an old photograph, exposed over time to the rays of the sun.
-
Frank Doyle's pub on the Corner,Sam's junk shop,I come from Francis st,I remember Sam as a child growing up he was a Jew man who bought almost anything, fantastic memories, Francis was fantastic back then along with the iveagh market,,,very sadly missed, all the old Characters gone as well as the character of the street and the old Liberties.
-
What a wise man, I would be happy if he was trading in my town, I would visit just to hear this man's wisdom and knowledge, I like horse and car trotting by, it gave me the idea, get rid of electric cars and let the horses and carts back on the roads again
-
Any of the older Dubs on here know how much longer Sam stayed in business after this was shot?
