Page 124 - Demo

124 Jacky WhiteJacky White%u2019s Market is a Wearside institution. Based in the Bridges, it is home to butchers, fish mongers, fruit and veg sellers, bakers and more besides. But who was Jackie White?Like Maggie O%u2019Hare, James %u2018Jacky%u2019 Whyte%u2019s family came to Sunderland from Scotland. His dad was born in a village called Keith north west of Aberdeen, but his blacksmith grandfather (also called James) moved the family to Sunderland before Jacky%u2019s dad was 10.Jacky started in the trade by selling fruit and vegetables from a hand cart around the outer lying areas of Sunderland and the pit villages beyond. Business was good, and he upgraded to a horse and cart. Of course, something so illustrious needs the name of the business on the side. Only Jacky communicated this to the signwriter verbally rather than writing it down. Jacky White was born. Little would they both know how that mistake would reach over a century into the future.Jacky seems to have been an enterprising fella, hiring out horse and carts, owning two shops (one on High Street East and the other opposite the Peacock pub) and setting up his first market in the town centre in 1925. Jacky%u2019s business worked by buying in bulk. He bought potatoes and strawberries by the field. He%u2019d keep bananas in a large store in the market where he%u2019d put straw on the floor and heat with open gas heaters to help the green bananas ripen. And he%u2019d work