Thanks Warren
Regarding my post#16 above, I had another look yesterday at the message from the 'non existent' member and show it below with all links that were in it deactivated to avoid anyone clicking on them. It looks almost authentic and referred to an image I had copied into a forum post here.
https://birminghamhistory.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=38737&p=438101#post438101
This is what I received
This is a message from Finney69 at Birmingham History Forum (
https-//birminghamhistory-co-uk/forum/forum-php ). The Birmingham History Forum owners cannot accept any responsibility for the contents of the email.
To email Finney69, you can use this online form:
https-//birminghamhistory-co-uk/forum/sendmessage.php?do=mailmember&u=92055
OR, by email:
mailto-finnimore2@gmail-com
I joined to put a comment & date the pic but its on site but not with photo, Here it is
I have joined this site as i owe to you & oldMohawk for posting the only known photo of the American Fresh Meat company, As the Meat Trade Historian on FLICKR with 1500 pics & 3 Million hits i thought i would never see one,
The A F M Co was started by John Bell a Glaswegian & later his sons who became Sir John & Henry,
They were importing live cattle from New York to Liverpool & later with the advent of freezer ships carcase,s from Mr Timothy Courser Eastman of the plains of Wyoming.
There was resistance to this so called inferior meat so Eastman told Bell to open retail shops to the number of 333 called the A F M co, In 1889 the Company of Eastmans was formed taking in the New York abattoir & storage & the Uk shops & cold stores with Eastman & the Bells on the board, Although by 1900 Eastman went back to New York & the Bell brothers done other things, The Company was headed by Lord Greville & Mr Thompson MD, Eastmans built up to 1700 shops by 1914 but closed 500 due to lack of men & meat, Sold to Vestey in 1923
(Dewhurst). So the answer to oldMohawk query is the photo was before 1889 as after that it was Eastmans Ltd.
Very strange it looked almost genuine particularly the text about an online form.