The Shanghai Emporium, Greek Street, Soho – glimpsed through a pub window in 1933

I’ve blogged about the once famous Shanghai Emporium, a Chinese food store that was adjacent to the Shanghai restaurant on Soho’s Greek Street (here, here and here). Here’s a photograph taken inside the Pillars of Hercules pub (which is still going strong) from 24th November 1933. The Pillars of Hercules pub is itself is on Greek Street (see below) and the small alleyway that runs up its side is Manette Street (named after the Dickens character in Tale of Two Cities) that cuts through to Charing Cross Road by the side of the old Foyles bookshop. In this picture you can see out the side window, facing north, onto the Manette Street cut through and see the street signage for the old Shanghai Emporium was the building immediately to the north of the pub, i.e. up towards Soho Square. And so, as the gent in the picture is obviously saying, “cheers”…