Newspapers : From Birmingham Post 150 years ago

[mikejee]

16.11.1863
Whereas we might call it Taxidermy, here they are more forthright and call it bird stuffing.
The Proof House is there to try and prevent this sort of thing !
I can think of a number of "celebrities" and politicians today who might fancy that kind of will.

 

[mikejee]

17.11.1863
Financial companies act the same throughout the ages .
Would like to have seen this.The paper sounds quite indignant about the fate of the earlier swans

 

[Charlie]

Love the story of the swans. Squillions of them now by the bridge waiting to be fed, see what Mrs Rogers started!

 

[mikejee]

18.11.1863
The dangers of gas lighting

 

[mikejee]

19.11.1863
Sounds painful for the pigs, and would rouse a lot of complaints today, but not sure if it is much worse than clipping metal tags to cattle's ears ( or having tongue studs or tattooing sensitive parts of the body.
Would love to know the story behind this advert.
Not a job I would like to do without scaffolding.

 

[mikejee]

20.11.1863
Sounds like a romantic preparing for Christmas and sending a pair of turtle doves as in the song, but seems he has TWO true loves if he needs 2x pairs.
This church reform organization sound s bit radical for the 1860s - short sermons, only one service, better music, better pay...
Must have given a few people a shock when they saw this notice, thinking it was THE Sampson Lloyd being made bankrupt. It is not a very common name, only 10 found in England in 1862.

 

[mikejee]

21.11.1863
Not sure how this worked. Have seen adverts in paper saying they had lost a half of a note before. Was it like a deposit, so you knew they would pay the other half later?

 

[mikejee]

23.11.1863
I know health & Safety was not the issue then as now, but am surprised that thye did not close the bridge to traffic, and amazed that the two children escaped harm.
Not sure if this is a joke (which was also repeated the next day), or whether Unicorn horns means something else other than the obvious.

 

[mikejee]

25.11.1863
Extract from watch committee report. Would think that, even if the wicks were trimmed, if they were chasing someone it would be likely to go out.

 

[mikejee]

26.11.1863
One of the less pleasant occupations of the time
Nowadays it would be the mother that would be in the Wolverhampton court for beating her sonb, and the son would be told to go away and be good.

 

[mikejee]

28.11.1863

This is an unusual advertisement/recommendation. Presumably it was inserted by Josiah Mason, as I can't imagine the manufacturers putting in something with the only reference to their firm in tiny letters. I can't imagine anyone today paying off their own bat to give a recommendation for someone's product.

Well at least he was honest in saying he hadn't recently killed anyone.

 

[Vivienne14]

After 150 years have passed, let's give the laundry engineers, Summerscales & Sons some proper advertising! Here's their product. Viv.

 

[brummie nick]

So it’s Mr Summerscales I have to thank for finding me a job every ‘washday,’ turning the handle on my Mothers mangle.

:stupid:

 

[Vivienne14]

Must have been boring Nick. But I bet your mum thought it a godsend, better than wringing by hand.

Surprised Mr Mason went to Yorkshire for his laundry equipment. Surely there were manufacturers in Birmingham. Or maybe the machine was brand new on the market Viv.

 

[mikejee]

30.11.1863
Snap, Coincidence theses two adverts inserted on the same day, though I suspect the positioning of them together was deliberate
Somehow I never imagined Queen Victoria as an aficionado of pork pies.
A reminder that , at this time, many roads were not properly numbered, sometimes, for historical reasons, having several houses with the same number, and many without any.
An original complaint against srinolinr. This time not due to its inflammability .

 

[Glennys Jean]

Lovely articles above ! They bring to life a bit of the past in1863; Thanks Mike

 

[Vivienne14]

The reward for the return of the notebook seems generous (about £300 ? by today's standard). Must have contained quite valuable items. Interesting that the paper money could be stopped - similar to stopping a cheque. Didn't know that could be done with Victorian notes. Viv.

 

[Vivienne14]

And pork pies are still a royal favourite according to the Glasgow Herald. Queen Victoria had her own chef's recipe. The pork pie history seems to go way, way back. Viv.

 

[mikejee]

Viv
It seems to be a common practice, as it is mentioned in most cases where people have lost notes and are seeking their return.

 

[mikejee]

1.12.1863
They did recycle in the 19th century.
This must have been a very posh shoe shop to have a separate ladies sitting room.
I have heard of the Old Leather Hall, which was on the corner of High St & New St, but does this mean that there was a separate section/room in the Market Hall for leather goods?

 

[mikejee]

2.12.1863
I think the operative word is "reported"

 

[DavidGrain]

Reverting to the subject of pork pies, a few years ago I was in Melton Mowbray and visited a pie manufacturer who told me that the popularity of the pork pie developed from the fact that it was a convenient way of carrying a midday meal whilst out hunting and shooting.

 

[Radiorails]

Good pork pies are still available but the cheaper versions in many supermarkets do not do justice to the pork pie. A friend from Leicestershire once told me that Melton Mowbray pork pies are a traditional Christmas morning fare. I never did try them but maybe for a change...................:friendly_wink:
Looking at post 1185 might suggest a well know Birmingham football team is named after a large house. :biggrin: 'Up The Blues'

 

[mikejee]

4.12.1863
It's amazing, from the number of fires reported with a similar cause, the number of people that at this time did not seem to realise that flammable solvents do not mix with flames

 

[barrie]

What a frightful way to die. Poor man.

 

[mikejee]

5.12.1863
Working for this railway company does not sound like an easy job.
This might have come out of a Dickens novel.
No mention of the poor bloke who dies -everyone else was having too good a time to think of him.

 

[Astoness]

what a lovely ending to the workhouse story mike...

lyn

 

[mikejee]

7.12.1863
(In this issue there is a long description of a factory , in golden hillock road which must be the original buildings of BSA. It is two long to include but is available if anyone is particularly interested).
I think I've been on a few trains like this, though we did have lighting.
What trouble a wooden leg causes.

 

[rosie]

I love the wooden leg story Mike! I laughed out loud I but know I shouldn't. They removed grandad's artificial leg before he was cremated, I doubt he had anything tucked away in there!!
rosie.

 

[mikejee]

8.12.1863

Consecration of St Mary's
A warning from the Proof house,