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Brown's grocery shop Saltley

Vivienne14

Vivienne14

Kentish Brummie Moderator
Staff member
This shop is claimed to be a grocery shop in the name of Brown, it also being a registered milk shop #16052. Lovely photo, probably c1940s. There's a celebration in progress welcoming someone on a happy occasion. Maybe it's a dignitary visiting or perhaos soldiers returning from WW2 ?

This could be difficult to place in terms of location, but maybe someone recognises the place or a person in the photo. I doubt that there are still any records of the approved milk distributors, but you never know.

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Reverse of the postcard.
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Vivienne, I think that a list of approved milk distributors would be very lengthy. I believe that all retail outlets that sold milk from the larger companies to the corner stores were possibly involved and would likely include some cafeterias and restaurants who sold milk
 
Main distinguishing feature is the ornate lintel over the door. Not as many grocers as you would think named Brown. Looking at early 1900 I have found these, most addresses have of course long since gone. Several roads in Saltley have remained unscathed but unfortunately not the likes of Alum Rock Road, Adderley Road and College Road.
 

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124 Havelock Road is on a corner.

168 Arden road is no more but there is a bit of a slope where it was, so not sure if that rules it out.

24 Ellesmere Road has a small front garden.

39 Adderley Road had a space to it's left as did 108 Saltley Road.
 
The College Road address is a different style of building.

Wonder if a map of 87 Saltley Road (between Cato Street and Devon Street) would reveal anything ?
 
Thanks. So Saltley Road was, even in the 1940s, a wide road. The various lines of bunting look to be stretched across the road, probably to houses on the opposite side of the road, so it probably rules out Saltley Road. Also, the photo doesn't suggest to me that it's on a main road.
 
Was there always green space opposite 162 Arden Road ? And could the road have been widened at some time after the 1940s? The pavement looks to have been extended to me on the present day view. Again, maybe a map might help.
 
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Apologies typed 168 instead of 162, now edited post.

It looks like the only possibility to me of all the 'Brown ' addresses listed. Though not convinced.
 
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Vivienne14 said:
Thanks. So Saltley Road was, even in the 1940s, a wide road. The various lines of bunting look to be stretched across the road, probably to houses on the opposite side of the road, so it probably rules out Saltley Road. Also, the photo doesn't suggest to me that it's on a main road.
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Your comment about the bunting made me think perhaps it was celebrating the 1937 Coronation of King George VI.
Between 1930 and 1940, 162 Arden Street is listed more than any others. I don't know how we can prove it is the one though.
 
Yes, a pity though. Maybe the best we could hope for is someone remembering the shop or even someone with a relative in the photo. You never know!
 
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