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W T Avery scales

Hi Paul my uncle bill smart and myself worked in the Avery scales foundry lane for years we both worked in the elecrtro plating department and also i used to paint some of them scales and the jockey scales it was a great company to work for it was my uncle bill got me the job there way back in the seventys
 
Spotted this set of Avery grocery scales in my local deli. They’re lovely. Apparently they’re late 19th century, butchers' / grocers' shop counter scales with a ceramic slab, a cast brass plate for the weights on a marble topped oak main body. The oak body has transfer decoration detailing "W & T Avery Ltd" and "The Imperium Scale". Base is 20.5" by 10.5". They can sell for around £350.

Can’t say I ever remember seeing a set of these in our grocery shops in the past. They’d be the sort of equipment you’d just have to put on view. No doubt they were a pricey item when originally made. Viv

19C7D1A8-689D-4A64-9196-2225B73A0EFF.jpeg1C76C63D-47B9-40CA-BB4E-BF6F3BA6A760.jpeg
 
My pop worked there in his youth (89 years old now). so me mum owned a grocery store and my pop repaired the scales when they went wrong we had the calibration weights. back in 85 we were on the Queen Mary in Long Beach and they had a set of stand on scales that did not work and my pop offered to repair them the guy thought my pop was joking
 
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maggie said:
Avery's

A couple of years ago a friend and I were lucky enough to be shown around Avery's Musem by the then Curator. We wrongly thought we would see some scales and be out in Half an hour. Thankfully we were wrong, we spent a fasinating morning learning the history of weights and scales told to us by a gentleman whose enthusiasm was great to see, Knowing my interest in the R.A.M.C he showed me a scale on which the wounded soldiers were weighed in a military hospital during the First World War. It was a teriffic morning. It is a pity there are not more museums like that, keeping the past for future generations.
Maggie
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Is the museum still open?
 
Started at Averys 1975 (apprenticeship) worked there until 1985. Great apprenticeship may be you were in the plating shop then Astonian ? we did a week in there. I always remember the bloke in there working really hard. My grandad, dad, mum and brother worked there too. Great days :)
 
Welcome back Stephen. Sadly Astonian passed away a little while ago.

You make an interesting point about how several members of the same family might work at the same company. Unlike today, families often lived closer together, so were more likely to work for the same local large employer.

Viv.
 
Thx Viv sorry to hear that.
Yes, as you say, and Averys was especially a very family oriented business in those days.
( Also my previous post should have been directed to Astoness, sorry ).
 
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hi, my late uncle worked in birmingham & he gave me this old avery 50lb weight years ago. someone recently told me the reason it's 50lb & not the common 56lb, plus the fact its octagonal, means it was used by avery as a calibration weight but they then went on to say there were attempts to simplify the weights & measures system in the uk around the 1950's by making a similar metrification of lb & oz to use 100lb instead of 112lb. apparently the 50lb weight was made in an octagon shape to ensure no confusion could take place so can anyone shed light on this please?
thank you.
 

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HI i am a Volunteer at Bennett Brook Railway in Western Australia and im trying to find information about W&T Avery Limited Platform Scales. i do have a few other photos but im unable to upload.
 

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Hi Raquel Welcome to Birmingham history forum. We would love to see you other photos and am sure members here can help with your research.

Your problems with uploading are the file size. This forum places a limit of 250 kb (please correct me if I have this wrong folks), so you will have to reduce file size.

I do mine in Photoshop with the save for web function, but there are other ways, again the members on here will be more than happy to help.
 
The last paragraph in italics of post #1 might help you Racquel. If you still have problems, do let us know. Viv.

Uploading Photos

The short instructions below are to help members with uploading photos and images to BHF. Thank you to Oldmohawk for updating these on 4/11/18 1. Go to the thread/topic where you want to add your image 2. Write your reply in the reply box 3. Left click 'Attach files' button - bottom left...
birminghamhistory.co.uk birminghamhistory.co.uk
 
Hi All
I am a volunteer at a heritage railway they have 2 types i am trying to find a date they were made. The first is a pooley and son platform scale that is at ground level the second is a W&T avery mobile scale with 2 wheels, can anyone help please.

Thanks
 
Benny1755 said:
I tried to post 1 of each pictures but the files are too big, they were taken on my phone.
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Hi
these are the 2 sets mentioned the black were made by Pooley and son if possible I need to find out when they were made.

thanks in advance
 

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Astonian said:
HI EVERY ONE
In My Youth I Worked At Avery scales ltd ;
And I Worked Along Side My UNCLE Bill.
Whom Worked There From His Younger DAYS Right Up To His Retirement
Days And He Got A Gold Watch;
Any Way I Was Wondering Wether Or Not Can Anybody Tell ME
Who , What Why ; [ MEANING Can ANYBODY Tell Me How Did They Start
And whom Was The FOUNDER Of AVERY SCALES And When Did They Fist Stared The Bussiness ? ,And Also The First Ever Weighing Machine Was
Produced AT FOUNDRY LANE WINSON GREEN ,
And Are They Still There ?, thank you .
have a nice Day Every one Best Wishes ASTONIAN ;;;
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Hello my grandfather was R E SELVES he work for w&t Avery scales got old photos of Soho factory
 
Welcome to the forum Simon. I'm sure our members would be interested in the photos if you were able to download onto the forum
 
Viv, I remember the assistants drawing their finger down the indicator and peering at the result so I think A Sparks is right and it's a bit like the thing in the back of the map books where you look for where you are along the top and then for where you're going down the side and where the lines cross is how far it it (if that makes sense).

Whatever was being weighed in this case was 6 3/4oz so the assistant would look at the price ticket (I remember them bending the ticket over in the fridge in front of them so they could see it) and then they'd follow the indicator down till they found that price. However, it says down the side 'read only the value indicated by the red line' - do they mean that little bit of red wire, if so it doesn't go all the way down?
 
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