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Photo with slight mystery

M

Maria Magenta

master brummie
Auntie and crew.jpg

This is one of many photos that have come down to me and I have no idea of the subjects or places. In this one I do know something; on the extreme right is my great-aunt, known as "Auntie," Lizzie Kemp, sometimes known as Dolly.
She looks about 40 here, which would mean that the picture dates from 1940ish. The women look like a group of workers, but as far as I know Auntie didn't have a job after she married. But I'm wondering whether the women are doing some kind of war work, with those overalls.
If any one could suggest what they might be doing, or recognises Auntie (who lived at 250 Bordesley Green East and had two children, Audrey and Gordon) or any of the others, that would be good.

maria
 
hi maria its a smashing photo..would think the ladies worked in a factory of some sorts possibly in munitions or even aircraft making as it was all hands to the pump while the men were away fighting... this is assuming the photo was taken during the war years...looks like a factory building behind them..there again gt auntie could have been a volunteer for something...quite a mystery

lyn
 
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Could they have been working a garden allotment, there were a lot of those out that way during the war years I believe. Though the way they are dressed looks more suited to something industrial.
 
phil i also think factory work...

maria its time like this we think...oh why didnt they write more info on the back of photos lol..

lyn
 
Astoness said:
phil i also think factory work...

maria its time like this we think...oh why didnt they write more info on the back of photos lol..

lyn
Click to expand...

I know! I've got so many photos with no information, where I don't recognise any one...

Phil, I think there were allotments behind Auntie's house, but the overalls point to work that was a bit heavier.
 
I wondered why they haven't got their hair tied up in turbans, nets or caps etc. In the ones my husband has of his Mom and her friends at a factory, they all had something on their head.
One lady seem to have spots of paint, maybe there was a pottery? (They wouldn't need to have their hair made safe from machinery?) One of my ancestors was called a "potter's paintress" and that's what made me think of that!!!
rosie.
 
rosie said:
I wondered why they haven't got their hair tied up in turbans, nets or caps etc. In the ones my husband has of his Mom and her friends at a factory, they all had something on their head.
One lady seem to have spots of paint, maybe there was a pottery? (They wouldn't need to have their hair made safe from machinery?) One of my ancestors was called a "potter's paintress" and that's what made me think of that!!!
rosie.
Click to expand...

You're right, rosie, no turbans! My sister thouhght that Auntie had a connection with Marsh & Baxter. I think that Uncle (we never used their first names!) worked for them, but if the ladies were working with food, they'd surely have nets?
Painting..the plot thickens...
 
if they did have to wear nets etc to work in it could be they took them off to have their photo taken so the plot thickens even more..just wondering if there was a marsh and baxters near bordesley green east..

lyn
 
Astoness said:
if they did have to wear nets etc to work in it could be they took them off to have their photo taken so the plot thickens even more..just wondering if there was a marsh and baxters near bordesley green east..

lyn
Click to expand...

They do look as if they're on their lunch hour. There's quite a bit on the internet about Marsh & Baxter, so that might be something to pursue.
 
What a good photo, they all seem to have the same style of work ware, no buttons, but what they were doing I do not know. I seem to recall form somewhere a short film about safety at work in machine shops, and advising female workers not to have buttons on overalls, in case they snag in machines.

We may never know, but it is certainly a very special photo
 
The factory behind them might hold a clue. It's not the Jag (Spitfire) factory. Looks like an Anderson shelter on the right.
 
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