About Albert & Edward
Who is Albert & Edward?
My name is neither Albert nor Edward but Duncan McKean. The story of how I got the name is further down this page, just keep reading....
I have always liked to buy quirky old items from a very young age. As a child I was intrigued with my Grandad's workshop, and the odds and ends he had in there.
Once I left school I started an apprenticeship as a carpenter/joiner. I used to buy my tools from a local boot fairs in Canterbury as the quality of steel and the workmanship on the tools was far superior. Whilst at these boot fairs I started picking up old oil cans, wooden boxes and anything which caught my eye.
At this point in my life I went onto university to study Interior Architecture and became Interior Designer for many years.
For the last 16 years I have been a Design Technology teacher, but I missed being a creative. I started creating lighting from my collection of antiques in my Dad’s workshop, which I made purely for my own pleasure but my partner encouraged me to sell some of my items and that is where it all began.
Now I have a select number of people working for Albert & Edward. We have gone from selling at local fairs to selling at Greenwich Market, appearing on BBC 1 and Channel 4, and now supplying various retail outlets and shipping worldwide.
Why the name Albert & Edward?
My youngest son Nelson has to take the credit for the name. Back in 2014 when he was 9, he wanted to sell his old toys, books and clothes to raise money for a new Toy Story figure. We agreed to do a garage sale at our home in Canterbury. Nelson set out making flyers and posters and delivered these around the neighbourhood. He called the garage sale “Albert & Edward Emporium” as he had just watched the film Mr Magorium's Wonder Emporium. "Albert" and "Edward" came from the road we lived on in Canterbury and the road around the corner.
So, together with my Dad, we had a very successful garage sale, Nelson selling his toys and me selling some of the things I had collected.
When I started doing local markets and events the event organiser asked what is your business called? So I thought back to the garage sale and said “Albert & Edward Emporium”. I have now dropped the “Emporium” and we are simply called Albert & Edward.