I have just become a member of this forum and came across this thread. I have some information about Meng & Ecker’s.
Three young men arrived in England in the 1890s from Switzerland. At least one of them was a master confectioner. They set up catering businesses in Newcastle and Sunderland. After some time two of these three men formed a partnership and opened the tearooms in Manchester. Their names were Fleury Meng and Joseph Buchegger. The latter was my great uncle and he was a master confectioner. He changed his name to Joseph Ecker in 1915. Hence, Meng & Ecker. My earliest memories of the cafe were during WW2. My mother worked in the cafe and she took me with her. The partnership was dissolved in 1915 on the death of Fleury Meng and Joseph Ecker took over the business. He ran the cafe until the late 40s and then retired back to Switzerland, where he resumed his original name Buchegger.
Obviously I have a lot of family information, but it would be of no interest to the readers of this forum.
I am aware of the comic book characters and feel very sad that there will be people who only know the names Meng & Ecker from them.
As this is my first posting on any forum, I hope I haven’t broken any rules. If I have, perhaps the moderator would let me know.
Jack