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Old street pics..

berniew said:
some of the kids were sewn into their winter clothes and had to be cut out to be bathed
Click to expand...
Reading this I started to wonder why some kids were sewn into their clothes and had a search on Google which was not too helpful.
One answer was 'Mothers would sew their children into their clothes because they were made out of scraps'.
 
I think that they were sewn in winter time Phil and didn't change their clothes again till they fell apart or out grew them that's why they were so dirty and there was so much poor health and disease about .
 
Looking at some existing forum photos of poor children they look as if the photos were taken and published to raise awareness of their conditions.
The children in the first pic are poorly dressed but seem to have chubby faces so they seem to have meals.
I like the way the tall child appears to be holding the hand of the worried looking little chap on the left.
img602.jpg
Original pic is in https://birminghamhistory.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=40378&p=463618#post463618

Playing with a chair ...
img604.jpg
Original pic is 2nd in https://birminghamhistory.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=40378&p=463617#post463617
shoothill
 
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There are lots of pics where the kids have no shoes on the forum Phil I wonder what their life expectancy was bet it wasn't long
 
#2738/2 photo of the two girls playing with chair!!, in the back ground on the wall of the house opposite the girls yard, looks like a WW1 residents memorial, these wooden boxes, still existed in the late 50's showing the house numbers of the houses where the soldier killed lived on enlistment.paul
 
That's right Paul it's Arthur Street Small Heath I've seen a few of the memorials around , they look to be made of wood so that's probably why they don't seem to have lasted
 
re Singer building was it Rootes ? I remember the writing on the front of the building was ..HUMBER HILLMAN SUNBEAM SINGER COMMER KARRIER we use to compete with each other trying to remember the names when we were going past.
 
Hi
Yes you are right crimble. I worked just down the road at Vaughan motors and Sheldon motors. I had to
Go to roots to pick up the new hillman hunter which was just being released and the gaffer said get back
Quick and cover it up as it should not be seen by the public before launch date. I remember the names
On the front of the building.
Regards stars
 
Going back to the point about children being sewn into their clothes. I remember a radio programme many years ago in which it said that for the winter mother got a bale of red flannel and sewed all the children up in it as a protection against the cold of the winter. They when all the children were done Mom and Dad sewed each other up. All this done lying on the table. Remember houses were not well heated in those days and few people probably had thick outdoor coats.
 
Thats pretty much what I assumed happened to the kids David but they must have slept in the clothes as well for months , doesn't bear thinking about poor little souls
 
I know they're all Roots makes Richie but I,m not sure they made trucks and lorries at the Hay Mills plant but I'm often wrong
 
I think but could be wrong that the trucks were made in Southall. Will look it up when back home.

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It was Singer Cars that was situated there Paul.

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