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Beautiful Birmingham - Postcards
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cookie273uk
master brummie
I have seen these before some where, personally I think they are terrible and an insult to Birmingham, although they may be meant to be a joke. Eric
farmerdave
master brummie
Smudger
master brummie
Birmingham is a dirty place but no worse than any other large town or city. When there was something on the news about schools in Brum being "taken over" by hard liners, they showed children coming out of a school ( Golden hillock? or something like that ) & the litter lying about was pretty awful. We seem to have lost our pride in this country & it`s not unusual to see mothers taking their kids to school & the kids are munching on crisps or sweets & the empty packets get thrown to the ground. If the adults have no pride it`s not surprising it rubs off on the kids. If you go to cities in Europe you will see very little litter with the exception of some parts of Paris & i haven`t been to Germany or Austria for a long time but those countries were litter free & probably still are. They have pride in their surroundings.
Frothblower
Lubrication In Moderation
I agree Eric. Bet the artist was a cockney
Shortie
master brummie
Smudger I agree, but I was referring to the dirt prior to the 1960's when all the public buildings were black, and not the little problem which we have now. Not sure which is the worst, but I do prefer living in a smokeless atmosphere. It's the early smoke that the postcards were referring to.
hi folks if i am assuming correctly and the postcards depict brum way back then then i would have no problem having those 4 postcards enlarged and hanging up...i like them they are part of our history..
birmingham was after all once a city of a thousand trades.. as with most citys it was not meant to clean and tidy what with all the industry and open coal fires and the smog....just my own personal opinion
lyn
birmingham was after all once a city of a thousand trades.. as with most citys it was not meant to clean and tidy what with all the industry and open coal fires and the smog....just my own personal opinion
lyn
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Shortie
master brummie
I certainly would not disagree with you there, Lyn, Birmingham is somewhere to be proud of, it was the first manufacturing city in the world - and not everyone realises that. I don't think I would want the postcards on my wall, but I still think they were produced a bit tongue-in-cheek. I also think they were a bit unkind. Bristol was built on slavery and sugar, but were postcards produced of that? I suspect not.
I think the worst thing about it is the realisation that our ancestors had to breathe in this heavy smoke, no wonder a lot of them had chest problems. People in London still think Birmingham is dirty - I was at a meeting in about 2004 with some councillors, and one of them spoke of a function he had been to in London, just the year before, where Anna Ford (the ex-newsreader) in a speech, spoke about 'dirty Birmingham' - what was once true is probably always true to anyone south of Watford, more is the pity.
I think the worst thing about it is the realisation that our ancestors had to breathe in this heavy smoke, no wonder a lot of them had chest problems. People in London still think Birmingham is dirty - I was at a meeting in about 2004 with some councillors, and one of them spoke of a function he had been to in London, just the year before, where Anna Ford (the ex-newsreader) in a speech, spoke about 'dirty Birmingham' - what was once true is probably always true to anyone south of Watford, more is the pity.
Shortie
master brummie
Lyn, I was thinking during the night (as you do), that these postacrds may have been originally meant for people within Birmingham to send to others within Birmingham. No phones, and it was cheaper to send a postcard than a letter, so I did think they might have been for that purpose, initially. I have a postcard addressed to my grandmother's cousin, posted in Queens Head Road, Handsworth, asking if Gertie (the recipient) wanted to go for a walk that morning. Then the sender went on to say she would be at Gertie's house at 11am (Gertie lived in Ladywood Road). I have no doubt there were many postcards sent of similar sentiment, showing, amongst other things, that the postal service in those days was second to none! I think the Birmingham post cards may have been meant for this kind of thing.
