Tuesday 26 January 2021 Bonnie Robinson Haberdashery - I love both the Dickensian way the word rolls off the tongue and its meaning. It is an ancient word, so ancient in fact that etymologists cannot agree on its origin. Some believe it is derived from the Anglo-French word ‘habertas’, meaning small ware and in the thirteenth century a haberdasher would sell a vast range of items such as hawk’s bells, swords and mousetraps as well as pins, cloths and buttons. As time has gone by English haberdashers have gradually ceased trading in falconry accessories and now limit themselves to items for sewing, dressmaking or knitting, and in America the word has settled to mean a shop that sells men’s clothing.