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H B Sale Summer Lane

Astoness

Astoness

TRUE BRUMMIE MODERATOR
Staff member
heres another one ready for the bulldozers...h b sale....bottom of summer lane just before constitution hil...they made commemorative medals and trophies..this building suffered a bad fire some time ago but i cant be sure if they had closed down before or after it....i was given permission to take these photos by the site manager and to remove anything which i thought may be of interest in the historial sense...

lyn
 
WHY YOU LUCKY.......................

Good job Lyn, did you come away with anything worth saving? I'd like to think there was something in there after all these years.

Nice work

Neil :)
 
hi neil..not too much but still worth having...promotional combs.a few blank medals...1 blank trophy..stock taking book..postal receipt book..gift boxes.. leaflets showing designs of medals..a few other bits and bobs but the best was the old index cards dated 1951...not that old to some but old enough i think...

its always pay to ask but really i think they just felt sorry for me...lol

lyn
 
Astoness said:
hi neil..not too much but still worth having...promotional combs.a few blank medals...1 blank trophy..stock taking book..postal receipt book..gift boxes.. leaflets showing designs of medals..a few other bits and bobs but the best was the old index cards dated 1951...not that old to some but old enough i think...

its always pay to ask but really i think they just felt sorry for me...lol

lyn
Click to expand...


I hate you
 
no you dont...lol...ok i will bring you comb to the meet up....now stop yer sulking....

oh this is what i had to climb over to get to get to that door..

lyn
 
Frothblower said:
I hate you
Click to expand...

Frothy, I second that motion. Oh well, lets see how many guns I can find on my return to Westley Richards at the weekend! I hope none to be honest!
Sounds like you came away with quite a collection, well done Lyn, it's always worth saving stuff if you can do it legally!

Neil
 
good luck with your mission neil..im having a break for a couple of weeks..been out most days this week...but i will carry the small camera just in case i see anything of interest....

lyn
 
Astoness said:
heres another one ready for the bulldozers...h b sale....bottom of summer lane just before constitution hil...they made commemorative medals and trophies..this building suffered a bad fire some time ago but i cant be sure if they had closed down before or after it....i was given permission to take these photos by the site manager and to remove anything which i thought may be of interest in the historial sense...

lyn
Click to expand...
Coming to this conversation a bit late but I believe they closed down after the fire. The Sale family had already sold the company by this point.
Thankfully the original H.B.Sale factory on Constitution hill survived it's recent fire.
(H.B.Sale was my G.G.Grandfather although I only discovered this relatively recently, long after leaving Birmingham)
 
I worked in Henrietta Street in the 70's and was very big friends with the handyman at H B Sale he worked very hour he could the weekends were'nt sacred to him, I regularly met him at dinnertime in the Hen & Chickens . One of his standard funnies was I can't afford to eat and drink on my money so I packed up eating good on yer Alf haha
 
H.B. Sale Ltd.

Henry Sales was established in 1862 by Henry Bailey Sale who was a letter cutter and engraver. By 1882 the company was further listed as a “contractor for of steel, and brass letter punches, brands, dies, seals, endorsing machines, etc.” By 1901 the company was trading as H.B. Sale Ltd. and it remained a family run company by the Sales until 1977. Another great example of Birmingham initiative; small company founded locally and later developing into a major national player in its field.​
1780577884799.png 1780577912892.png
Copied from Ebay Successive factories with dates
The letter head is fascinating as is the “Milestones” illus... It illustrates successively their premises over the years. The illustration dated 1890[??] is of the iconic factory in Constitution Hill. Built in 1895 to a design by William Doubleday & James R. Shaw. It was originally designed to have five storeys but only four were built at the time with a fifth storey added in the mid-20th century. Sadly the top storey was totally out of character with the rest of the building and spoilt the appearance of what later became a listed building. Various uses over later years and damaged by a major fire in Jan 2026.

1780578076134.png
In 1915, operations moved to the nearby Progress Works on Summer Lane. Can’t find an illustration of the factory but these pics were previously shown on the Forum under Summer Lane, 541 by Vivienne.
1780578193011.png 1780578940413.png
The range of products they produced was tremendous. Just a selection from over the years:
1780578442154.png 1780578467674.png
1780578494112.png
And finally “Over its history the company had been a prodigious producer of checks, tokens, tickets, key fobs and medals” [https://war-work.com/h-b-sale/]. Just a few examples which may be of interest:
1780578580817.png1780578600548.png1780578623791.png
 

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i wonder if any of our members happened to have saved the photos i took ..they were lost when the forum was hacked..i do have a disc i saved them on but sadly i have no device now that plays discs or saves them so that i could re post my photos.. :(

lyn
 
superdad3 said:
H.B. Sale Ltd.

Henry Sales was established in 1862 by Henry Bailey Sale who was a letter cutter and engraver. By 1882 the company was further listed as a “contractor for of steel, and brass letter punches, brands, dies, seals, endorsing machines, etc.” By 1901 the company was trading as H.B. Sale Ltd. and it remained a family run company by the Sales until 1977. Another great example of Birmingham initiative; small company founded locally and later developing into a major national player in its field.​
View attachment 224393 View attachment 224395
Copied from Ebay Successive factories with dates
The letter head is fascinating as is the “Milestones” illus... It illustrates successively their premises over the years. The illustration dated 1890[??] is of the iconic factory in Constitution Hill. Built in 1895 to a design by William Doubleday & James R. Shaw. It was originally designed to have five storeys but only four were built at the time with a fifth storey added in the mid-20th century. Sadly the top storey was totally out of character with the rest of the building and spoilt the appearance of what later became a listed building. Various uses over later years and damaged by a major fire in Jan 2026.

View attachment 224397
In 1915, operations moved to the nearby Progress Works on Summer Lane. Can’t find an illustration of the factory but these pics were previously shown on the Forum under Summer Lane, 541 by Vivienne.
View attachment 224399 View attachment 224417
The range of products they produced was tremendous. Just a selection from over the years:
View attachment 224405 View attachment 224407
View attachment 224409
And finally “Over its history the company had been a prodigious producer of checks, tokens, tickets, key fobs and medals” [https://war-work.com/h-b-sale/]. Just a few examples which may be of interest:
View attachment 224411View attachment 224413View attachment 224415
Click to expand...
During the 70's I used to drink with Sale's handy man in the Hen & Chick's
 
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