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HUNTS GARAGE

The caption read 'discreet liveried' chauffeurs, so one assumes their uniforms were fairly plain and certainly not flamboyant. Of course it could be another way of suggesting that the chauffeurs themselves were discreet and would keep their thoughts and passenger details to themselves. :D
 
The name Hunts Garage was familiar. I think it was behind the Ivy Bush shops on the Hagley Road. I remember the sign forming an arch over an entry between two shops.
 
It’s interesting how we interpret old documents, I am thinking discreet as in keeping one’s mouth shut and liveried as in uniform. After all, having a chauffeur is a status symbol. A lot of households had servants or housekeepers to also maintain their middleclass status, and a few could not really afford to do so.
 
Yes, I’m also sure that ‘discreet’ would imply keeping mum about info discussed between passengers. In time family chauffeurs were employed less and less by families, along with domestic servants, as services could no longer be afforded. I expect hiring from Hunts when needed would have been the alternative, so customers would want to be assured of the discretion of unknown drivers supplied by Hunts.

So the ‘discreet liveried’ description could imply both discreet in dress as well as in character. Viv.
 
This is the Hagley Road garage. (From Armstrong’s book: OLd Birmingham Shops from Old Photos). The occasion is a royal visit.
Advertising seems to have dropped the ‘discreet’ by the 1940s - advert from the Oratory magazine. Viv.


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A newer car illustrated by the 1940's advert; a different phone number and I notice a couple of folk named Jarrett are directors/
This raises the questions did the original owner (Hunt?) sell the business or was the name used by Jarrett's as it was a short, easily remembered name?
The Oratory not only were near neighbours but had a large congregation who read their magazine.
 
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