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World War One Workers

L

Loza

knowlegable brummie
This photo taken I believe where my grandmother was working in the first world war somewhere around Birmingham. Does anyone know where and what they are doing?
Cissy Hornick 001.jpg
 
Great photo ! At first I thought 'huts' - so maybe Kynoch's huts. But not sure it's munitions they're packing. They seem to be making up the boxes as well as packing the items.

The items look shiny. Badges perhaps ? It looks a very clean environment, which again suggested to me it wasn't munitions. There's a label on the desk ledge which I can't decipher, but it could help us.

Another written item is above the second lady from the left which might say " Shutters ...... Urgently" (?). Interesting photo. Viv.
 
I can see the same words as Viv, but what about that ornate lamp shade hanging in front of the lady far left .... maybe they have decorated it. It seems to be in a hut which has been partitioned off with wood planks and there is a hinged door.
 
Thanks for replies, I cant make quality any clearer. Could it be that they are counting collected money? It could explain poster behind.
 
They don't look bullet shape to me, more tablet shape. Could they be detonators?
 
Looking at certain items in the photo I have edited, one word on the tray looks to be 'LARGE' and the other word ...?
Are they assembling pearl brooches ?
The item I have marked '1' appears to be 5 round objects set around a central round object.
The item I have marked '2' appears to be a similar shape made from the small round objects.
The item I have marked '3' looks like assembly tools/jigs for something.
All conjecture of course ... :)
Cissy Hornick 002.jpg
 
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Maybe on the near side of the bench, parts made from spherical items spaced around a central spherical item are set in an assemblies which are packed in boxes on the far side of the bench. Some ladies
have moved to the far side to be in the photo.
Reference post#9
In the bottom left corner of the photo there appears to be a similar assembly of spherical objects spaced around a central spherical object.
 
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Is there something odd about the poster "A means to save a pound or two" ? It seems to have little pieces missing around the perimeter. The object behind the third lady from the left looks strange too. Viv.
 
Above the lady on the left there appears to be a very low lamp shade. Above it could the socket with the old twisted wire going to the ceiling.
 
I think it is Kynochs looking at photos of the Witton Factory and the triangular badges and I am thinking now that they are packing percussion caps. Disc objects look too bright to be coinage.
 
hi laurence what is your grandmothers name and date of birth..unless you have already checked i was just wondering what she was doing on the 1911 census...may give us a clue i thought
lyn
 
Vivienne14 said:
Is there something odd about the poster "A means to save a pound or two" ? It seems to have little pieces missing around the perimeter. The object behind the third lady from the left looks strange too. Viv.
Click to expand...
I just thought it was the way it was pinned up. You used to be able to get "drawing pins" with like a small bit of card - I assume to protect the poster if the pin rusted.
 
Hi , her name was Catherine Drennan and if I remember rightly she was down as a Stone setter, Jewelry trade I presume.
 
yes thats right so not many clues there as she could have been drafted to do anything for the war effort...must say though that compered to some of the ww1 photos of ladies at work that i have seen their faces do seem very fresh and smiley

lyn
 
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Could the lampshade and 'dog' be decorations? The ceiling looks as though it has those coloured paper concertina trimmings we used to have when I was little.
 
If you go 6 moves to the right of the image quoted in #19 you have the type of boxes shown in the picture and these are also percussion caps.
Cheers Tim
 
“A means to save a Pound or Two.”

Looking to save bob or two yes, but what would be the value of a pound or two in today’s money?
 
Great image!

It would be nice to think that these were indeed Kynoch workers ("Kynoch's Agels") and indeed most industrial images of females from those times were indeed of munition workers.

But I have some doubt as to whether this is the case. There must be other pictures of percussion cap workers/packers surviving and if they do, my gut feeling would suggest that these devices would have been handled with a bit more care and respect than appears the case in this image. Would the women have all been crammed together - not working with a bit more space between them for safety reasons - and working on a fairly cramped little table like that? Would the things even have been packed in that way?

Have to say that to me it looks much more like nice, safe, decorative items being packed. Jewellery? Enamelled badges?

Chris

PS Do we even know whether percussion caps, long since superseded by the modern cartridge case, were even being produced at that time? I don't think they were.
 
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I just found a note in amoungst family history papers saying that for a while she did work in s munitions factory in the first world war. She lived in Hansworth at the time. She appears to be in a hut too I can't find an address in Witton
 
Chris - I wondered about the number of women cramped together but thought perhaps they had squashed up to be on the photo.
 
ChrisM said:
Great image!
Have to say that to me it looks much more like nice, safe, decorative items being packed. Jewellery? Enamelled badges?

Chris

PS Do we even know whether percussion caps, long since superseded by the modern cartridge case, were even being produced at that time? I don't think they were.
Click to expand...
I was hinting at jewellery in post#9 and the 'light hearted' look of the pic seems to suggest that maybe the armistice had been declared.

I keep looking at the word 'shutters' and wonder whether it is some letters followed by the word 'setters' which would tie in with the jewellery trade from which many workers came into munitions work.
edit: I've looked again and it does appear to be 'shutters' but what does it mean ?

Maybe I was seeing what I want to see with the word on the notice... :D
It is a lovely pic ...
 
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