THESE photographs reveal familiar scenes as thrifty shoppers browse the January sales in Kensington High Street in 1957.

Post-war Britons picked up bargains in the crockery and glasses department.

One image shows window displays designed to lure in shoppers with ‘drastic reductions’ on bespoke hats – 20 per cent off their original price.

With London’s high street retailers reporting an increase in shoppers since last year, there is a parallel between the increase in spending after the late 1940s to the mid-1950s age of austerity.

More than half a century ago a 32-piece dinner set cost £5 7s 6d and a 73-piece set was £9 9s 0d.