ON THIS DAY: MAY 1, 1967

“COME Co-operative shopping”, urged the full page advert in the Echo’s sister paper, the Evening Despatch, 54 years ago, and as we are gradually unlocking and returning to shopping, it seemed appropriate to look at what was enticing shoppers into the stores of Darlington in the late 1960s.

The co-op was, of course, on Priestgate, where it was started in 1869, and it came to occupy all the space through to Tubwell Row until it closed in 1985 to be replaced by the Cornmill Centre.

One of the highlights of the advert is the Hoover Constellation vacuum cleaner which was a space age marvel. With its cutting edge spherical design, its exhaust air made it float above the floor so that it hovered while you hoovered. It was discontinued in 1975, but is considered a classic design of its time. Is it too much to hope that someone has a Hoover Constellation in the darkest recesses of a cupboard? We’d love to hear from you if you have