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Lewis's Department Store

  • Thread starter Thread starter Kandor
  • Start date Start date
If you look at the forum for Snow Hill Station, there is a photo of the Kardomah coffee shop on the one corner of The Great Western Arcade and Boots on the other corner. I think that Barnabys took over oneor the other in the early 1960’s.
Unfortunately I am not clever enough to copy same across to this forum, or even if I am allowed.
 
Donbogen said:
Barnbys in Colmore Row had Xmas club my soldiers and trains came from there
but i liked going to Lewis s to buy add ons with paper round money
Brought some locos last night on ebay:grinning:
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I liked Barnbys especially because Thorntons toffee was right along side as was the Model Aerodrome. Sorry off topic but those were some of my go to places growing up.
 
oh the memories, my girl friend and l would first hit Lewis's basement, to listen to the latest record of the pop music ,like nat king cole..Johney ray'' frankie lane and many more. then it was across the street to the Kardomah for a cup of tea and beans on toast for 1/6, this was in the early 1950s, how times have changed but the memories are still with me.
 
brenda barr said:
oh the memories, my girl friend and l would first hit Lewis's basement, to listen to the latest record of the pop music ,like nat king cole..Johney ray'' frankie lane and many more. then it was across the street to the Kardomah for a cup of tea and beans on toast for 1/6, this was in the early 1950s, how times have changed but the memories are still with me.
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That is what makes BHF SO good, those memories just keep getting rekindled! BTW coffee with my beans on toast :).
 
mikejee said:
I hope you don't think I'm being pernickety, Wendy, but the Minories were there long before Lewis's. In the late eighteenth century there were the Upper Minories and the Lower Minories. The present Minories (in so far as the old maps were not very accurately surveyed) seems to be approximately on the site of the Upper Minories . The 1889 map shows the south west end as being the site of the church of St Thomas the Warner (?). there was once a priory in this area. A Minoress was a nun, so there must be a clerical connection to the name.
Mike
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Do mean Upper and Lower Priory?
 
Chris
I think that statement was made before the appropriate maps were as available today, and was incorrect. Have added note to that effect
 
Martinmccabe said:
Astoness said:
not sure if this is a new one...dated 1950s

View attachment 198009
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Staff Entrancwe
If I remember rightly he used to arrive a few weeks before Father Christmas and walk around the store preparing the way for FC.In 1965 I worked in the publicity department of Lewis`s and Uncle Holly was our responsibility. The Uncle Holly in Birmingham was a tall very dignified ex actor. He would come into our office in his normal clothes, disappear into a back room and then emerge in all his glory as Uncle Holly.
I believe that Mr Carney the manager of the ticket office (posters etcetera) which was next door to our office sometimes played Father Christmas.
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Interesting, can't imagine Joe Carney playing Father Christmas. Stafff entrance between the buses.
 
Can you remember your recruitment and time at Lewis’s? Were you a management trainee?As I recall, we were all invited to the presentation evening for our ‘success ‘ in passing various years of exams. Any memories of this?
 
It all Happened By Chance PART ONE.

Originally on leaving school I'd had no thoughts about working at Lewis's, in fact I had secured a job at MORGAN & BALLS High Class Tailors in New Street for the princely sum of £3 per week, but on my way back to catch my bus home I just thought on impulse that I would pop in to Lewis's as I was passing the door and see what the job prospects were. I found my way to the personnel office and enquired, only to be told that they were not recruiting at the moment but I could take the entrance examination whilst I was there if I wanted to, so I thought why not. I waited whilst my paper was being checked and If memory serves me correctly I think I attained about 98% The lady came and said to me that the Personnel Manager would like to see me, and ushered me into his office, he said that he was impressed with my result and asked me to look at the 2 questions I had got wrong and to which I then gave the correct answers. He asked me how old I was and said the wage would £3-7-6 per week (£3.371/2 current money) and when could I start, I said but I didn't think that you were employing people at the moment, to which he replied because of your excellent test result we will make an exception, report Monday sharp at 9.00 clock to the staff training department, so on my way home I phoned the man at Morgan & Ball to tell him I would not be taking the job as I had got another one paying 7/6 a week more.
TO BE CONTINUED.
 
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Are You Being Served. PART TWO.

I think every department had their version of Mrs Slocombe in those days, in the Gardening dept we certainly did even down to her having a pussy (cat for those with a lively mind). Proprieties and the fact I don't fancy being sued means that I won't be identifying the person. The Lady in fact was a hard worker so much so she nearly knocked you down to get to a potential customer, that 6d in the £ commission drove her on relentlessly, she was forever complaining about the Saturday fellow we had as he was a good looking guy of I think Cypriot extraction and he had a way with the lady customers and sold quite a lot of merchandise much to the lady's chagrin, as she would say "He won't be here Monday to takes the goods he's sold round to the Parcels Office for delivery !!!" One or two of us were gathered at the staff lift waiting to go for a coffee in the canteen, the lady was "holding court" with some other female staff members regarding the short comings of husbands and the conversation was on these lines, the lady in question had already seen off 2 husbands and she must have been asked if she would get married again, at this point the staff lift was docking and as the gates opened she made the following pronouncement " I wouldn't have another man if his backside was studded in diamonds, I am quite happy with my cat for company". Everybody boarded the lift and as we docked on the 6th floor for the canteen the lift driver who was nice guy and a bit of a comedian announced "see this one here she would rather have an old tom cat than a bloke, much to every ones amusement. Another incident that the lady was involved in was at Greys Department Store (opposite Lewis's), on this occasion she opened the door to leave the store and a man tried to barge through, the response was that she thrust out her hand to stop him and announced "I have opened this door to let myself out, not to let you in, stand aside" and with that she left. One of lifes characters to say the least.
TO BE CONTINUED.
 
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