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Marshall & Snelgrove

Hi
Its been very interesting reading your info on Marshall & Snelgroves.
It was my 1st job in 1970 i was on a training management course and
whent on day release to Mathew Bolton college.
I whent on to work at W H Smith's Corporation st. HMV Records by
day and the Tavern in the town at night.

Would like to hear from Janet Boothe & Gail Wilkes
 
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It was also a very snooty shop. My friends and I used to go in sometimes in our school uniform and they looked at us as though we were something the cat had dragged in. We reasoned that, although we might have been poor schoolkids, they ought to have been more welcoming to us as future customers.
 
Marshall & Snelgrove was owned by Debenhams as was Greys in Bull Street. Both these stores were closed and Debenhams left Birmingham. It took them a long time before they came back didn't it?
 
I didn't know they had been bought by Debenhams, Greys store was a complete opposite to M&S, cheap and cheerful. A schoolfriend's dad used to be the manager at Greys. I worked in the baby and childrens wear dept at M&S and also spent some time in the despatch room. I was taught to wrap packages by an old man called Bernard and still think of him every time I wrap a package! It was quite a snooty store, but that was down to the staff. Some staff at House of Fraser are like that now.
 
As its snowing again (well it is here) thought I'd post this festive Marshall & Snelgrove image. The little girl looks confused about the doll, no wonder, it's the same size as her ! Not a shop I remember at all. Viv.

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It's snowing in the south east as well, Viv!
I don't think I ever went into the shop, but I remember the balcony (I think). A mysterious place, somehow.
 
Marshall & Snelgrove Corporation St.
In the early 70s our firm Swan Instalations did all the Electrical work in this building when it was being converted into The Magnum Hotel by Bryants
 
I'm surprised if no photograph seems to survive of the building in its earliest guise, from the mid/late thirties when it was built before being gutted by enemy action in 1941. There must be some, somewhere, but I don't think I have ever seen one.

This is my view of it, a memory from around 1943 and no doubt into the immediate postwar years.

To the left of Horne's is a building which always fascinates me. It is, or rather was, a tall, light-coloured, confident modern building, but it is now grubby and forlorn. My mother tells me that it used to be Marshall and Snelgrove's, a beautiful shop which she visited from time to time and I try to imagine it in its original state, its white façade pristine and crowds of customers going in and out of its doors. I must have seen it then but was too young for the image to have registered. Today it is just a shell, still standing, but above each of its many curved windows, now blank and gaping, a great black smear stretches up the stonework where flames and smoke erupted from within as the interior was being consumed. It is hard to see how it can ever be restored to its former glory but it will be, eventually, in the form of a replacement with a broader façade and in a rough approximation of the original form and texture.

Chris
 
That's definitely the one from the 1950s, Lyn. The original one was much the same height, but narrower. A not dissimilar style. It must've been quite a landmark at the time and I assume that there must be newspaper photographs of its opening. I only remember it in a very sorry state with little more than the facade surviving.

Chris
 
ChrisM said:
That's definitely the one from the 1950s, Lyn. The original one was much the same height, but narrower. A not dissimilar style. It must've been quite a landmark at the time and I assume that there must be newspaper photographs of its opening. I only remember it in a very sorry state with little more than the facade surviving.

Chris
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right chris i will keep em peeled for an older photo

lyn
 
Temporary smaller shop opened on Broad Street due to the main one being bombed in WWII.
 

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During the 1950’s I was regularly sent to Marshall & Snelgrove in a chauffeur driven car to purchase a perfume called Jan Patou by Joy for my boss as a gift for his mistress. I remember the wrapping paper and packaging was a black background covered in flowers of many colours.
 
my daughter bought me some last Christmas it’s lovely and brings back many memories. I worked in Livery Street and often coming into the city by bus you would see ladies carrying The black patterned bags - probably holding their sandwiches or knitting!
 
I have only just discovered this forum,and was very interested in the posts about Marshall and Snelgrove in New St..I went to work there as an apprentice dressmaker when I was sixteen in 1957.The shop was very beautiful,as you entered the main doors,they would be opened by a man in grey top hat and tails.That was how I arrived for my interview,but was soon shown to the staff entrance in Union passage ! The areas out of sight were very different.The workrooms we’re on the top floor and when it rained we had to move the tables or else the rain leaked in through the roof.It was a very strict regime.Junior staff were not supposed to mix with senior staff and shop girls never mixed with workroom girls.I always felt this was unfair because we could have done their job but they couldn’t have done ours.Heads of department had to be addressed as Miss or Mr.It was worse than being at school ! I only stayed there for two years,but in that time learned enough to last me a lifetime.The standards were very high and on reflection it was a good place to learn the trade.I’m almost eighty two now and still doing a few alterations! Sad to hear though that the building is now a shabby hotel.Audrie B
 
Audrie B said:
I have only just discovered this forum,and was very interested in the posts about Marshall and Snelgrove in New St..I went to work there as an apprentice dressmaker when I was sixteen in 1957.The shop was very beautiful,as you entered the main doors,they would be opened by a man in grey top hat and tails.That was how I arrived for my interview,but was soon shown to the staff entrance in Union passage ! The areas out of sight were very different.The workrooms we’re on the top floor and when it rained we had to move the tables or else the rain leaked in through the roof.It was a very strict regime.Junior staff were not supposed to mix with senior staff and shop girls never mixed with workroom girls.I always felt this was unfair because we could have done their job but they couldn’t have done ours.Heads of department had to be addressed as Miss or Mr.It was worse than being at school ! I only stayed there for two years,but in that time learned enough to last me a lifetime.The standards were very high and on reflection it was a good place to learn the trade.I’m almost eighty two now and still doing a few alterations! Sad to hear though that the building is now a shabby hotel.Audrie B
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Hello Audrey B. Interesting to hear about your apprenticeship at Marshall and Snelgrove. Were you doing alterations on customer purchases?
 
Audrie B said:
I have only just discovered this forum,and was very interested in the posts about Marshall and Snelgrove in New St..I went to work there as an apprentice dressmaker when I was sixteen in 1957.The shop was very beautiful,as you entered the main doors,they would be opened by a man in grey top hat and tails.That was how I arrived for my interview,but was soon shown to the staff entrance in Union passage ! The areas out of sight were very different.The workrooms we’re on the top floor and when it rained we had to move the tables or else the rain leaked in through the roof.It was a very strict regime.Junior staff were not supposed to mix with senior staff and shop girls never mixed with workroom girls.I always felt this was unfair because we could have done their job but they couldn’t have done ours.Heads of department had to be addressed as Miss or Mr.It was worse than being at school ! I only stayed there for two years,but in that time learned enough to last me a lifetime.The standards were very high and on reflection it was a good place to learn the trade.I’m almost eighty two now and still doing a few alterations! Sad to hear though that the building is now a shabby hotel.Audrie B
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How interesting. The 'uptairs,downstairs' type of division is a bit shocking.
 
Audrie B said:
I have only just discovered this forum,and was very interested in the posts about Marshall and Snelgrove in New St..I went to work there as an apprentice dressmaker when I was sixteen in 1957.The shop was very beautiful,as you entered the main doors,they would be opened by a man in grey top hat and tails.That was how I arrived for my interview,but was soon shown to the staff entrance in Union passage ! The areas out of sight were very different.The workrooms we’re on the top floor and when it rained we had to move the tables or else the rain leaked in through the roof.It was a very strict regime.Junior staff were not supposed to mix with senior staff and shop girls never mixed with workroom girls.I always felt this was unfair because we could have done their job but they couldn’t have done ours.Heads of department had to be addressed as Miss or Mr.It was worse than being at school ! I only stayed there for two years,but in that time learned enough to last me a lifetime.The standards were very high and on reflection it was a good place to learn the trade.I’m almost eighty two now and still doing a few alterations! Sad to hear though that the building is now a shabby hotel.Audrie B
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hello audrie and welcome to the forum...what wonderful memories you have of working for marshall and snelgrove and i am so pleased that your 2 years there stood you in good stead...the division between the upstairs and downstairs staff was only to be expected in 1957...its just the way it was...thanks again and we hope to read more posts from you

lyn
 
I never went into the store. I can see it was certainly a class above all the other departmental stores. What style and class it must have had - just look at this wonderful 3 guinea gown advertised in The Tatler. They were the second store to open a Dior boutique in England

Also attaching a few snippets of history. Previously it was Warwick House departmental store and before that Holliday Son & Co.

Presumably “Twenties” was a boutique (?) - the name suggests a move perhaps to appeal to the younger generation.

Viv
37B85CB4-E044-4370-9C74-53DD8A6B1AC4.jpeg0BEEC6D8-173C-42E8-8D8F-5B9CC84631F9.jpegFFD5FFAB-D04A-453F-A9CE-A69D22FF0990.jpeg2A8CF846-A965-4EC9-84DF-FB020CF77F51.jpeg4CE4108E-2A4E-49E1-AA64-F9758210150B.jpegSource: British Newspaper Archive
 
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Vivienne14 said:
I never went into the store. I can see it was certainly a class above all the other departmental stores. What style and class it must have had - just look at this wonderful 3 guinea gown advertised in The Tatler. They were the second store to open a Dior boutique in England

Also attaching a few snippets of history. Previously it was Warwick House departmental store and before that Holliday Son & Co.

Presumably “Twenties” was a boutique (?) - the name suggests a move perhaps to appeal to the younger generation.

Viv
View attachment 176465View attachment 176468View attachment 176464View attachment 176466View attachment 176467Source: British Newspaper Archive
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Great opportunity to work on top Parisian fashion house garments.
 
Me too Maria. I’m surprised my mum never took me in there as she loved clothes. Expect the price tags were out of her reach.

Viv
 
Tinpot said:
Hello Audrey B. Interesting to hear about your apprenticeship at Marshall and Snelgrove. Were you doing alterations on customer purchases?
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Yes,that was the main part of the job,although we did make clothes as well.The workroom was divided into sections,tailoring,millinery,casual wear ,that covered sports wear and cruise wear.I worked in the model gowns section,so was fortunate enough to work on beautiful ball gowns and wedding dresses.I remember the Dior department and often worked on some of his creations.They really were works of art.I still have some of the metal Christian Dior disks that used to be sewn inside the garment.Fashion then was very formal,but extremely elegant and well made.Even working class girls wore suits or dresses most of the time.Todays casual style didn’t exist then.
 
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