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George Goodman Ltd Caroline Street

this might help

Newey Goodman Ltd Robin Hood Lane

Would anyone have any information regarding this company? ie what it produced etc. My Great Aunt worked there as a PA/Secretary until just before her death in 1986. Her name was Marjorie Renouf and I know very little about her other than she lived in Keddleston Road. Many thanks in...
birminghamhistory.co.uk birminghamhistory.co.uk
 
Vivienne14 said:
Workers posing outside the Goodman works in Caroline Street. They look happy and ‘clean’. I’d say the photo is around 1910s/20s. Did this business become part of Newey Goodman ?

Viv

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What a fabulous photo of those women workers! I've just found out that in 1921 my Grandmother Clara Wilson worked as a pin capper for G Goodman's of Caroline Street, Birmingham. She was living in Graham Street at that time. I don't know if that was anywhere close to the factory? I notice the 2nd poster image is dated 1929, could she be one of those ladies in the photo?

Just looked on Google maps and found it was only 5 mins walk
 
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Hi all
I wonder if anyone knows about the safety pins that George Goodman Ltd provided for Queen Mary's Dolls' House?
I have a card of six teeny safety pins which my grannie was given when she audited a company in Birmingham in about 1935. She became a chartered accountant in the early 1930s, and was taken on by her company because they needed a female auditor as one of their clients was a nunnery! (The story passed down is that when she sat her exam there was only her and one other woman among 900+ candidates.)
The attached image clearly states that they made safety pins for the dolls house - but this is a single pin, part of Selfridges' 16th birthday celebrations in 2025.
The card I have is for 6 "Empire Safety Pins" with no manufacturer mentioned... but I guess it's from George Goodman also. Perhaps she was asked to audit Goodmans because they made female oriented things such as pins, jewellery and hair curlers!
I hope this is of interest, and welcome any further information.
 

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Sue Holden said:
Hi all
I wonder if anyone knows about the safety pins that George Goodman Ltd provided for Queen Mary's Dolls' House?
I have a card of six teeny safety pins which my grannie was given when she audited a company in Birmingham in about 1935. She became a chartered accountant in the early 1930s, and was taken on by her company because they needed a female auditor as one of their clients was a nunnery! (The story passed down is that when she sat her exam there was only her and one other woman among 900+ candidates.)
The attached image clearly states that they made safety pins for the dolls house - but this is a single pin, part of Selfridges' 16th birthday celebrations in 2025.
The card I have is for 6 "Empire Safety Pins" with no manufacturer mentioned... but I guess it's from George Goodman also. Perhaps she was asked to audit Goodmans because they made female oriented things such as pins, jewellery and hair curlers!
I hope this is of interest, and welcome any further information.
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Goodness, can't believe I've been so daft... just zoomed in on my card of 6 pins and there is a shield with GG on it the middle, under the third pin! Will need a better camera to figure out what it says.
 
Welcome Sue. Two nice items you have there. I too wouldn't have immediately spotted the shield. Funny how safety pins were always needed in the past. I don't think as many people use them today, although could be wrong. Not sure I quite understand why Queen Mary would need a safety pin for her dolls house. Maybe it was a very small one. The date must be 1925 if it was to celebrate Selfridges 16th anniversary - and if I've got the maths right !
 
Oh, the dolls house was nuts... a big Empire effort to make the best ever dolls house, with all the famous folk of the day contributing... read more here
https://www.rct.uk/collection/stories/queen-marys-dolls-house
I can see now that the shield has a cross in the middle, with G and G top left and right, and a B bottom centre ... I guess the B was for Birmingham. And the penny dropped for me that perhaps my grannie was asked to audit there because, as your photo shows, on the shop floor the employees were women.
 
I have three cards of safety pins. Each card measures appx 5 inches tall. Made by George Goodman, Birmingham.
Would these relate in any way to Queen Mary’s dolls house please?
 

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The ones I had for the dolls house were much smaller - the card was about an inch long - so I guess yours are the real thing, the ones people bought and used! It's clear that the dolls house ones were the same in terms of the logo and writing at the bottom.
 
Sue Holden said:
The ones I had for the dolls house were much smaller - the card was about an inch long - so I guess yours are the real thing, the ones people bought and used! It's clear that the dolls house ones were the same in terms of the logo and writing at the bottom.
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Thank you Sue.
Do you still have your pins?
KInd regards
Alicia
 
No, I just sold them at auction yesterday - a single pin (on a Selfridges card) had previously fetched £1,300, and my set went for £220 - less than I had hoped, but at least they will now be with a collector who values them (they had just sat in a drawer for decades in my house!)
 
Sue Holden said:
No, I just sold them at auction yesterday - a single pin (on a Selfridges card) had previously fetched £1,300, and my set went for £220 - less than I had hoped, but at least they will now be with a collector who values them (they had just sat in a drawer for decades in my house!)
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Hi Sue.

I cant believe it. I actually bought them!. I was going to compare with yours when they arrive. I know the single safety pin went for far more. If only we had got together beforehand! It would have saved you auction fees and me auctioneers fees! I collect Queen Marys dolls house items, so they will have a good home they are not in dealers hands to make a profit.
Some of that auction went well, some didn't. I watched most of it.

Thank you Alicia
 
Ah, it's good to know they've gone to a good home :blush:.
For more info, my grandmother was one of the first women to quality as Chartered Accountant - she had been orphaned at 10, so needed to earn a crust. She was hired by a firm in Birmingham who had a client that was a nunnery - so they recruited a woman to do those audits. I guess she got sent to George Goodman because they had a largely female workforce.
 
Sue Holden said:
Ah, it's good to know they've gone to a good home :blush:.
For more info, my grandmother was one of the first women to quality as Chartered Accountant - she had been orphaned at 10, so needed to earn a crust. She was hired by a firm in Birmingham who had a client that was a nunnery - so they recruited a woman to do those audits. I guess she got sent to George Goodman because they had a largely female workforce.
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Sue.

Its very interesting. Thank you and thank you for selling them.Alicia
 
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