Brown bags, white bags, paper bags, vacuum-sealed bags — even takeaway bags and Christmas bags. When you think about it, bags are big business. So who is London's Paper Bag Baron? It's Paul Gardner from Gardners' Market Sundriesman, which opened in Spitalfields in 1870. He's even got the hat to prove it.
Now a fourth-generation family business, we visited the shop to meet the man himself and talk history, challenges and why bags still matter, 150 years later.
Pay Gardners' Market Sundriesman (and Paul!) a visit at 149 Commercial Street, Spitalfields, E1 6BJ.