Price Arthur Ltd

[Astonian]

can any body tell me any think about arther price limited of spring hill passage ladywood ;
they used to produced cutlery and silver ware when did they start in bussines and are they still in bussines today i beleive they went world wide i lived up the rd from them and our school was next door to them ;
the school was steward street infant and junior school at that time ;
many thanks astonian

 

[gingerjon]

Re: arther price limited

Arthur Price works are now in Britannia Way Lichfield I did some research for John Price (son) he presented me with a book about is family and history called "The Cutlers Tale" you can visit the factory to see their merchandise
very interesting to read it mentions several places in Birmingham. Is first factory was 16 1/2 Gem street Aston this being behind a tenement building

 

[Astonian]

Re: Arthur Price Ltd

Good morning john;
many thanks for replying back on the thread and i really appreciate it and its nice to know that they are still producing good quailtity
cutlery today and also about the book of family cutlers ; can youtell me the name of the book ; i sure would like to get a hold of it
and yes i still remember old gem street from its hay days from years ago; and the school from my boy hood days even thou did not attend that
school i went to steward street which was right next door to old prices factory it was a very busy factory
and because of the passage being a very narrow paveing to walk on and try and pass the factory to and though to home and schol times
was very difficult for every body as there vans and delivery vans coming to the factory on a daily basis
i was down the spring hill passage last year i could have cryed to see the site of old prices factory it looked a right old bombed bulding
some body as come up with the idea of sub leting it into seperate bussinesss only small one tbut the building is i disrepaired conditions
its complete ugley mess at least when prices had it there property was clean and smart and respectable looking
next door was the care takers house which wa mr lumb s family by the school gate now the house as gone andnow its some kind of recylengyard with skips and scrap metals its very appauling to see from what it all looked like in its hay day hanks again john for the info;
have your sel a nice day ; astonian

 

[Vivienne14]

Price’s showroom at its Birmingham HQ. Viv.


Source: British Newspaper Archive

 

[David Quick]

My first job was at Arthur Price in Vauxhall Street as Metal Finishing Apprentice in 1963/1964. The place was like a workhouse scene from a Dickens novel. You had to queue up for your pay packet every Friday night. A lot of the building was of wooden structure, some workshops were outside, and some of the machinery was still belt driven. Amazingly they were total self sufficient, from metal casting, rolling mills, blanking, pressing, polishing, silver & chrome plating. They even made the cutlery canteen boxes for presentation. It was the epitome of the the 'one-stop shop' much heralded in manufacturing industry in years to come. Health & Safety would have had a field day if it had existed then. There were a few fingers missing in those days. I left after one year.

 

[Tinpot]

Lots of interesting information about the company and family on arthurprice.com. Interesting to read that originally they made spoons and forks. Tend to think of cutlery as historically all being made in Sheffield. The company brought together cutlery as sets. A cutlery set was the wedding present and presentation gift at one time.

 

[David Quick]

This is my mother-in-law's canteen of cutlery (God rest her soul). Purchased in 1986 for £150, it was never used, afraid of scratching the lovely polished finish. It really is great quality. Not quite sure what the point was in buying it, but a generation ago they did that sort of thing. I think it's called Kings design in Arden plate which is still a classic I believe. Probably made in Sheffield long after I left.