Staff of the Palace Cinema.
The boy in the centre is Horace Wills.
July 1912
Horace Wills, son of Frank Wills, became a cinema "limelight boy" at the Palace and is pictured here with the staff in 1912.
Horace established himself as a wireless engineer in 1920 at 38 High Street.
A record sleeve
Advert for Songster needles
Rushden Echo & Argus, 24th February 1939, transcribed by Kay Collins
Fight Seen at Rushden Clear Reception on Standard Television Set That television can be received in Rushden with a high degree of success was proved again last night (Thursday), when Mr. Horace Wills, of the "Sound" Stores, High-street, invited several people to see the Boon-Danahar fight.
A "Murphy" standard £30 receiver was used in Hall-avenue, which is free from traffic interference, and the complete transmission was received clearly and without difficulty.
The viewers had the two boxers identified the whole of the time, and the spoken commentary, though helpful, could for the main part have been dispensed with.
1940 calendar card given to customers at
Christmas 1939 showing the postal rates
Horace Wills' Electrical shop in High Street at the
corner of George Street pictured in 1962.
Today it is Extra Care Charity shop (2008)
A record sleeve after the Irthlingborough shop had opened
A second shop opened
at 82 High Street, Irthlingborough.
For a short time Horace was in partnership with Cyril Johnson and they called the new company "Sound Engineering".
In the 1930s
Wills' shop was taken over in the mid 1960s by H York & Sons
Horace's brother Don took over the Palace cinema when it closed, and traded there as a taxi service, driving school and vehicle sales as "Palace Motors".
