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Cadbury's Bournville Factory

Morturn said:
Richard, I agree entirely with you on quality. I’m on the back foot with Cadburys products now as I don’t eat anything with sugar in (only 100% chocolate), so can only rely on other who say their chocolate is not as good. There does seem to be a common theme that it has alterd for the worse and it is known that they now remove a lot of the cocoa butter and substitute it for other less expensive oils.

A lot of confectionary manufactures have also been involved in shrinkflation. If you look at the Penguin and Club biscuit multipacks, they are down from eight bars to seven (12.5% smaller) same price.

The original Jacob Club biscuit was in my opinion a classic example of cost cutting and quality loss.
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Mort, the shrinking is alive and well here combined with a price increase. At McDonalds they had a dollar menu $1.00 that is now $1.39, fortunately the same size. We used to buy coffee in I pound, 16 oz can, that same can is priced higher and there is only 12ozs. We buy coffee in a bag that used to be 16ozs now 10 or 12 for the same price! What is a shame when they shrink products they leave the packaging the same size wrapper and box. They should shrink both, increase the shipping density and reduce freight and cost, I think the only person they are fooling is themselves!
 
Monique Woodward said:
I played hockey for Bournville with home matches at Cadbury’s complete with after match food (Cadbury’s Smash - urg!). Anyone know if they still house a hockey club?
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They now seem to be called Bournville and Kings Heath Hockey club and based at King's Heath Cricket club.
Also play at King Edwards school.

I too played at Cadbury’s but against Bournville (dare I say - it was in the 1970s).
 
As probably recorded earlier in this, or similar threads, I used the Cadbury swimming baths when at college in 1953. To avoid having wet trunks and towels we were obliged to sim in the nude. :blush:
It was not mixed bathing, the odd wag wished it was, but it brought most people to realise beneath all we are similar whatever the station in life. :)
 
Radiorails said:
As probably recorded earlier in this, or similar threads, I used the Cadbury swimming baths when at college in 1953. To avoid having wet trunks and towels we were obliged to sim in the nude. :blush:
It was not mixed bathing, the odd wag wished it was, but it brought most people to realise beneath all we are similar whatever the station in life. :)
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Not that I'm suspicious or anything but it seemed to be the practise back then to make teenage boys/young men swim naked. The wag who wished that there was mixed bathing would have been disappointed. That's because there were totally seperated pools and changing rooms for males and females. In the summer months at the old Bournville Lido, it was men only on Sunday mornings from 7:00 am to 10:00 am and nude swimming was strictly 'de rigeur' apparently. Even in the late sixties, the headmaster of a local boys'senior school who always took the swimming lessons, insisted that they all swam naked. Very strange, or is it just me ?
 
trevor bow said:
Not that I'm suspicious or anything but it seemed to be the practise back then to make teenage boys/young men swim naked. The wag who wished that there was mixed bathing would have been disappointed. That's because there were totally seperated pools and changing rooms for males and females. In the summer months at the old Bournville Lido, it was men only on Sunday mornings from 7:00 am to 10:00 am and nude swimming was strictly 'de rigeur' apparently. Even in the late sixties, the headmaster of a local boys'senior school who always took the swimming lessons, insisted that they all swam naked. Very strange, or is it just me ?
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Very!
 
I call them the Mens baths, but that was when I was there. They were probably used for both early on, as I think they predate the large ones on Bournville Lane. But the woman baths later had structural problems , and were later converted to offices. Then. I assume , both were admitted. As I understand it at the time there were both they were usually segregated. This is not surprising, as , back in the early part of the 19th century, married and unmarried women had separate cloakrooms, in case young girls heard things they should not know about. I can remember seeing the remains of this with one cloakroom in an older part of the factory ornamentally labelled outside "Women" and another "Girls"
 
I don't think we will dwell on the fact that you know about the ornamentation of the ladies baths Mike or what the ladies might have heard and possibly heard. :laughing::laughing:
 
Nowadays, some fanatics spend half their time counting steps via their watch, mobile or whatever. Just found something while tidying my garage that must have been at the start of this craze. Just found something while tidying my garage which must have Not sure when it comes from, but would have been before I retired fully, so at least 20 years ago. Only vaguely remember it, but Cadburys issued employees with a pedometer (if I remember rightly all employees). And here it is. That I found it is surprising. That, when you press down the small plastic switch on the top, it seems to still work is pretty amazing. Though if anyone is going to ask me to try it out then they have another think coming.

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mikejee said:
Nowadays, some fanatics spend half their time counting steps via their watch, mobile or whatever. Just found something while tidying my garage that must have been at the start of this craze. Just found something while tidying my garage which must have Not sure when it comes from, but would have been before I retired fully, so at least 20 years ago. Only vaguely remember it, but Cadburys issued employees with a pedometer (if I remember rightly all employees). And here it is. That I found it is surprising. That, when you press down the small plastic switch on the top, it seems to still work is pretty amazing. Though if anyone is going to ask me to try it out then they have another think coming.

View attachment 200741
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Cummins issues all of their employees globally a digital pedometer to count and download still today. As part of health in the workplace.
 
My mom worked at Cadbury from about 1965- 1973. Unfortunately we have absolutely no other information or photos I would be extremely grateful.

Mom worked at the Bournville factory around 1965-73. All I know is that she worked on the Wispa line for a period. My name is Brenda Gay although she married and her married name is Brenda Bevington.

If anyone’s any Info please reply to this post and I will provide my email address.

Thank You
 
This is inCatherine hidson's book "theatre in the chocolate factory", titled "Sherwood Queen. Tableau in the pastural play", bournville magazine Aug.1909. It was performed in the Girls Grounds tice , and utilsed 170 Cadbury employees. It also celbrated the 30th anniversary of the move to Bournville
 
Ten years after the 1933 photo of the Cadbury factory was taken, the same company published a profusely illustrated 56-page educational booklet for children, entitled "Our Birmingham". I have a copy of this, inherited from my father (died in 1961). I don't recall seeing this fascinating publication mentioned on the History Forum. Has anyone come across it before?
I've attached and image of the cover, plus a PDF of the introductory page.
 

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JLB said:
Ten years after the 1933 photo of the Cadbury factory was taken, the same company published a profusely illustrated 56-page educational booklet for children, entitled "Our Birmingham". I have a copy of this, inherited from my father (died in 1961). I don't recall seeing this fascinating publication mentioned on the History Forum. Has anyone come across it before?
I've attached and image of the cover, plus a PDF of the introductory page.
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Looks like it would provide great insight into our great city!
 
As you say, Richard, the book gives a valuable insight into the development of Birmingham up to the beginning of WW2. Understandably, the Cadbury's Quaker ethos shines through, particularly in the accounts of the social aspects of the City: working conditions, housing, civic planning, etc.

I see the 1951 edition that Eric found on eBay was originally priced at 3/6. My 1943 edition was marked at just 1/-.

Being interested in my family's history in Brum, I found graphics such as the plans of three types of housing (see attachment) especially useful.
 

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JLB said:
As you say, Richard, the book gives a valuable insight into the development of Birmingham up to the beginning of WW2. Understandably, the Cadbury's Quaker ethos shines through, particularly in the accounts of the social aspects of the City: working conditions, housing, civic planning, etc.

I see the 1951 edition that Eric found on eBay was originally priced at 3/6. My 1943 edition was marked at just 1/-.

Being interested in my family's history in Brum, I found graphics such as the plans of three types of housing (see attachment) especially useful.
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I wonder if a chronology of the city could be built using those books? Does anyone know the frequency as to which/when the books were published as a starting point.
 
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