sylviasayers
master brummie
There was a large department store called Marshall & Snelgroves in New Street, which was bombed during in the war. It was sited near to Corporation Street not far from where British Home Stores is now.
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Marshall & Snelgrove
- Thread starter sylviasayers
- Start date
jennyann
Gone but not forgotten. R.I.P.
Hi Sylvia, Marshall & Snelgroves was rebuilt after the war and went on for many years until it was taken over by Debenhams....as I am sure you know. It was a rather expensive store but they did have some good sales and they had plenty of make-up demos on the ground floor. I used to go in there on my lunch hours when at school round the corner and also when I first started working in town getting my face made up at the Charles of the Ritz counter where they had green face powder! The assistants used to sift the powder together on the counter with other colours using long ivory spatulas. Their make-up was so expensive I couldn't afford to buy any and used to say "I'm not sure about it" after I had had my face made up :-[. The assistants never seem to have much to do at Marshall's. The set in " Are you Being Served" TV series reminds me of the upper floors of Marshalls.
It's hard to find any real history of the Marshall & Snelgrove chain but it seems they had many stores in the UK and a very large on on Regent Street. The front of the Birmingham store was very attractive I remember.
It's hard to find any real history of the Marshall & Snelgrove chain but it seems they had many stores in the UK and a very large on on Regent Street. The front of the Birmingham store was very attractive I remember.
Di.Poppitt
GONE BUT NOT FORGOTTEN
I bought the material for my wedding dress, and my bridesmaids dress's at Marshalls. It took a bit of courage to walk through the door. :
K
kenh
Guest
Its now the Brittannia hotel
sylviasayers
master brummie
I do remember it the 60s JennyAnn, could never afford to buy anything though. In the mid-60s I worked for Wolseley Engineering in Electric Avenue, as secretary to the Sales Director and we had a function for our best dealerships to which the wives were invited, and they were each given a gift of perfume or toiletries, myself and another secretary went to Marshalls chose the items and waited while they were beautifully gifted wrapped. They were very well received.
jennyann
Gone but not forgotten. R.I.P.
I always liked those extra type of assignments Sylvia, where you had to go somewhere
special to choose gifts for the staff at your office. Secretaries often had those duties to do and I never minded since you could leave the office when everyone else was hard at it. I often took a bit of extra time and had a cup of coffee and a special cake and added it to the bill!!
That certainly sounds like a great assignment though, going to a store like Marshall's and choosing some super items. I can imagine that the perfumes and soaps were very well received by the staff at Wolseley Engineering.
special to choose gifts for the staff at your office. Secretaries often had those duties to do and I never minded since you could leave the office when everyone else was hard at it. I often took a bit of extra time and had a cup of coffee and a special cake and added it to the bill!!
That certainly sounds like a great assignment though, going to a store like Marshall's and choosing some super items. I can imagine that the perfumes and soaps were very well received by the staff at Wolseley Engineering.
M
Marshell50
Guest
Hello Judy
I worked at Marshall & Snelgrove late 60s, early 70s. It was in competition with Rackhams and was a very select shop. I wish I had some photos. I always think of it when I go to Birmingham and I'm in New Street. I also worked at Barrows the Bakers, they closed down as well - was it something I said???
I worked at Marshall & Snelgrove late 60s, early 70s. It was in competition with Rackhams and was a very select shop. I wish I had some photos. I always think of it when I go to Birmingham and I'm in New Street. I also worked at Barrows the Bakers, they closed down as well - was it something I said???
bobsummers
Gone but not forgotten. R.I.P.
Dennis I don't recall it being bombed, but I do recall that both the wooden doors of the Tavern in The Town being blown across New Street and through Marshall & Snelgroves front windows in that terrible event The police stood guard due to stock looting! My wife Maxine said there cloths where chic and fabulous, specially the cloths in the 21 shop.
My mate Roger Bailey had the task to retrieve the doors and refit them back to The Tavern In the Town.
Jayell
master brummie
Hi Marshell50
I remember Marshall & Snelgrove as being 'very posh'. I used to work around the corner in Princess Chambers, Corporation Street, near C&A, when I was 15. I booked myself in for a Make Up lesson as a treat, but can't remember how much it cost me!
The reason I asked if anyone had a photo of the store was that when I was staying in Brum recently at the Britannia Hotel, in New Street, it looks as though this may have been part of the old Marshall & Snelgrove store. Looking at it from the outside there are balconies which look as though it might have been part of the shop front. I just wanted to confirm whether I was right or not.
I remember the Barrows Stores in Corporation Street very well. They used to have a restaurant upstairs. Also a delicatessen where you could buy all weird and wonderful things.
Judy
I remember Marshall & Snelgrove as being 'very posh'. I used to work around the corner in Princess Chambers, Corporation Street, near C&A, when I was 15. I booked myself in for a Make Up lesson as a treat, but can't remember how much it cost me!
The reason I asked if anyone had a photo of the store was that when I was staying in Brum recently at the Britannia Hotel, in New Street, it looks as though this may have been part of the old Marshall & Snelgrove store. Looking at it from the outside there are balconies which look as though it might have been part of the shop front. I just wanted to confirm whether I was right or not.
I remember the Barrows Stores in Corporation Street very well. They used to have a restaurant upstairs. Also a delicatessen where you could buy all weird and wonderful things.
Judy
bobsummers
Gone but not forgotten. R.I.P.
judy39 I bet when pmc1947 comes on line, he,s bound too have a photo that you require
anthea
master brummie
There is a picture on page 21 of the August edition of 'Brummagem' magazine of 'firemen fighting the fires at Marshall & Snelgrove's in New Street after the raid of 24 October 1940'. The store isn't visible in the picture, but it does confirm that the shop was bombed. I saved hard and bought my 'going away two-piece and coat' from Marshall & Snelgrove for my wedding in 1958. Such a long time ago......
Anthea
Anthea
Yes, as anthea says, it was certainly bombed and burnt out and stayed that way for a long, long time afterwards. This is my memory of it (from something I wrote about New Street in the winter of 1942/3 seen through the eyes of a six-year-old) looking at it from the other side of New Street where the Midland Red bus stops were:
Chris
.........To the left of Horne's is a building which always fascinates me. It is, or rather was, a tall, light-coloured, confident modern building, but it is now grubby and forlorn. My mother tells me that it used to be Marshall and Snelgrove's, a beautiful shop which she visited from time to time and I try to imagine it in its original state, its white façade pristine and crowds of customers going in and out of its doors. I must have seen it then but was too young for the image to have registered. Today it is just a shell, still standing, but above each of its many curved windows, now blank and gaping, a great black smear stretches up the stonework where flames and smoke erupted from within as the interior was being consumed. It is hard to see how it can ever be restored to its former glory but it will be, eventually, in the form of a replacement with a broader façade and in a rough approximation of the original form and texture.................
Chris
My gran would only buy clothes from Marshall & Snelgrove and nowhere else. How she afforded them on a pension I have no idea, but even when she was bed-ridden and needed a pair of bloomers or something (sorry!) she'd fish out the requisite money and get my Mom to go into Brum. When she died we found drawers (sorrt again!) filled with beautiful clothes, many of them hardly worn, and all with a Marshall & Snelgrove receipt pinned to them.
Is the old Marshall & Snelgrove building still standing, and if so what is these days?
I remember a shop called The Don, also on New Street. This was a menswear shop and they specialised in school-uniforms. My parents nearly fainted when the realised how much my new George Dixon Grammar School uniform was going to cost them... Rather up-market, but they were overtaken by the changes in men's fashions in the 1960's. One of the last places where my dad could get old-fashioned high-waisted trousers with bottoms at least 24"....you could walk three paces before the trousers started to move!
Big Gee
Is the old Marshall & Snelgrove building still standing, and if so what is these days?
I remember a shop called The Don, also on New Street. This was a menswear shop and they specialised in school-uniforms. My parents nearly fainted when the realised how much my new George Dixon Grammar School uniform was going to cost them... Rather up-market, but they were overtaken by the changes in men's fashions in the 1960's. One of the last places where my dad could get old-fashioned high-waisted trousers with bottoms at least 24"....you could walk three paces before the trousers started to move!
Big Gee
A
Ann B
Guest
Once I started work (1965) I was a regular customer at Marshall and Snelgrove. Like a lot of girls and boys of my age, I had grown up never ever having had anything new. My doll was a cast down from an older cousin. But I so remember the excitement, when we picked up this 'old doll' from the Doll's hospital. She had been given to me totally bald, and then when we picked her up, she had a beautiful blonde wig in plaits. I was over the moon. My 'teddy' was previously owned by another much older cousin, so completly 'thread bare'. My bike, yes you guessed it, also was passed down to me from a male cousin. So I went to school, as a girl. on a boy's bike. Most of my clothes were 'from the girl across the road'. And seeing that she was a lot older than me, all my clothes were always 'old fashioned'. I was bullied for that. So, once I started work and I had a good well paid job in computers, Marshall & Snelgrove and Rackhams were like a mecca to me. I still have a beautiful pair of earrings that I bought from that store. I 'treated' myself quite a lot, once I started work, but I always made sure I treated my mom as well.
Ann
Ann
bobsummers
Gone but not forgotten. R.I.P.
Judy I hope you like these. Donated by Doug Sollis I found on the net and contacted by e mail. looks like old original drawings of the 1st shop and as it was in the 60/70's
bobsummers
Gone but not forgotten. R.I.P.
And one more on the history of the building, enjoy!
PS Mandy Rice-Davis was a cloths model there in the 60's Amazing!
PS Mandy Rice-Davis was a cloths model there in the 60's Amazing!
Lloyd
master brummie
My first GD grammar uniform came from The Don, too, but it was at Five Ways then, in Calthorpe Road.
bobsummers
Gone but not forgotten. R.I.P.
and another one at the turn of the last century, shame I could have used this as WHERE IS THIS!
Jayell
master brummie
Wow! Bob! You have been busy. Thank you so much for the great pictures and the fascinating information on the history of Warwick House. I was never aware of any of this, so it is all new to me and very interesting.
It was also interesting to read that the Warwick House premises were bought by C & A Modes in 1925, who traded here until 1926 when it was sold to a company known as Warwick House Ltd - later to become Marshall & Snelgrove.
Taking a lead from you Bob, I also looked on the internet and came up with the attached (fairly recent?) picture which was on another forum (put on there by a 'peterquinn'). You can clearly see in this photo the hotel sign which is above the building which used to be Marshall & Snelgrove. The hotel is the Britannia - which I definitely would not recommend to anyone, it is a very scruffy place. So as the hotel is mostly on the upper floors of the building, these must have originally been part of the store. From the angle of this photo you can see the mock balconies and shop frontage.
Thank you so much Bob, I really appreciate your research into this.
Judy
It was also interesting to read that the Warwick House premises were bought by C & A Modes in 1925, who traded here until 1926 when it was sold to a company known as Warwick House Ltd - later to become Marshall & Snelgrove.
Taking a lead from you Bob, I also looked on the internet and came up with the attached (fairly recent?) picture which was on another forum (put on there by a 'peterquinn'). You can clearly see in this photo the hotel sign which is above the building which used to be Marshall & Snelgrove. The hotel is the Britannia - which I definitely would not recommend to anyone, it is a very scruffy place. So as the hotel is mostly on the upper floors of the building, these must have originally been part of the store. From the angle of this photo you can see the mock balconies and shop frontage.
Thank you so much Bob, I really appreciate your research into this.
Judy
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bobsummers
Gone but not forgotten. R.I.P.
Judy its been a pleasure and its amazing! ( sounds like the advert) how people are so helpful, I contacted a Liverpool student for the details of photos doing a degree that put me onto John Sollis who furnished the pic's, how nice!
The one thing I've learned is that there are great areas of our City that still are not photo graphed, or are not accessible.
I intend in future to take as many photos as i can of our City and start an album on the forum. Unless there is already an album started??
The one thing I've learned is that there are great areas of our City that still are not photo graphed, or are not accessible.
I intend in future to take as many photos as i can of our City and start an album on the forum. Unless there is already an album started??
jennyann
Gone but not forgotten. R.I.P.
Bob has certainly more than filled in a lot of blanks regarding Marshall & Snelgrove. I believe I have written about the store before on the forum. I attended Lawrence's College in l953 at the corner of Martineau Street and Corporation Street(now demolished)... I had lots of opportunity to scope out Marshall & Snelgrove's store and later on when I worked in the offices at New Street Station I used to go in there for a look round.
I was always fascinated by the ground floor cosmetic counters especially Charles of the Ritz. The assistants often gave makeup demos and I would watch. I remember them saying that you should reduce the flush in your face by using green face powder which they had on display. I never put myself forward because I couldn't afford to buy any of their expensive makeup.
I did like the store very much.
Judy-- I saw an article a few months ago in one of the London newspapers
relating the top ten worst hotels in Britain. The Britannia Hotel was on that list! Shame really because it's a great location. https://styledlife.excite.co.uk/news/1259/Britains-worst-hotels-revealed
I was always fascinated by the ground floor cosmetic counters especially Charles of the Ritz. The assistants often gave makeup demos and I would watch. I remember them saying that you should reduce the flush in your face by using green face powder which they had on display. I never put myself forward because I couldn't afford to buy any of their expensive makeup.
I did like the store very much.
Judy-- I saw an article a few months ago in one of the London newspapers
relating the top ten worst hotels in Britain. The Britannia Hotel was on that list! Shame really because it's a great location. https://styledlife.excite.co.uk/news/1259/Britains-worst-hotels-revealed
Phil
Gone, but not forgotten.
Judy
I have just been looking through this thread, sorry I had not noticed it before I went away. Mind you I wouldn't have been much help as I only have the one photo of part of the replacement building after the bombing.
No matter though it looks like you have been given an abundance of information.
Phil
I have just been looking through this thread, sorry I had not noticed it before I went away. Mind you I wouldn't have been much help as I only have the one photo of part of the replacement building after the bombing.
No matter though it looks like you have been given an abundance of information.
Phil
Jayell
master brummie
Thanks Phil. I know you have loads of photos, but just my luck, not this one. However, Bob came up trumps with loads of information which was so very interesting and more than I had hoped for.
By the way, I hope you enjoyed your holiday!
Jennyann - I must say I agree fully with what the article said about the Britannia. And yes, the position is a superb one, but that is all that can be said about the hotel. I wrote to the head office and complained. I had a reply that said my complaint had been sent on to Birmingham. Needless to say I never received any reply from the hotel - I think that says it all!
By the way, I hope you enjoyed your holiday!
Jennyann - I must say I agree fully with what the article said about the Britannia. And yes, the position is a superb one, but that is all that can be said about the hotel. I wrote to the head office and complained. I had a reply that said my complaint had been sent on to Birmingham. Needless to say I never received any reply from the hotel - I think that says it all!
