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Street furniture

  • Thread starter Thread starter Kandor
  • Start date Start date
I remember being at this Police 'phone in New John Street talking to a bobby from the 'A' Division, where the Police pillar stood. The opposite side of the road was 'C' Division, which I was posted to. About 1am, a car pulled up, My Chief Supt., pulled up and gave me a right 'Rollocking' for being off my beat, albeit about eight yards. I said," I was liaising with the other 'bobby". He said, "You should have called him over to your beat". Any older bobbies would remember him. Wilfred Molloy.
 
Street furniture query in Victoria Rd Aston, three pics.
In this first pic, some sort of phone box or kiosk is visible. It looks white but could be light blue. Any ideas about what is ?
Victoria_rd_Baths.jpg


A later photo probably 1960s. The house next to the baths looks derelict, over grown front garden, possible broken windows, roof gutter damaged.
The front garden gate opening appears fenced off, but the top of a normal telephone box can be seen where the kiosk in the first image was.
The original photo is rather dark so a portion of it has been lightened to show the fence and telephone box.


This early 1920s image has no kiosk or telephone box.

 
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Two for one in this view of the Old Crown & Cushion, Perry Barr. A nice striped set of traffic lights on the left and maybe a fire pillar (? or bollard) to the right.Viv.

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Hi Viv: That's a great classic shot of the Crown and Cushion. I like the striped traffic light post and I would imagine the piece
on the right close to the curb is the Fire Brigade Call Box. Thanks for posting this.
 
hi viviene14
nice picture of the old crown and cushion pub do you know what year that picture represents it was taken;?.
as i am researching a family members of mine whom worked there im and around the very late fortys and early fifties
the lady in question was my fathers sister florence whom worked there as a barmaid as she as got abit of history there
many thanks Astonian;;
 
That looks very late 1930's, I remember the car park surface being very rough in the 1950's. The car exiting stage right looks like a Morris 12/4 that was introduced at the 1935 Motorshow
 
Thanks Paul. It really was a whopper of a pub. Alan, I used to go to discos there. People would come from quite far afield to go there. I remember one night a fight breaking out, scared the hell out of me, lots of broken bottle wielding lads letting off steam. Us girls took refuge in the toilets. Seemed like hours before the police arrived and rescued us. Viv.
 
I would imagine the piece
on the right close to the curb is the Fire Brigade Call Box. Thanks for posting this.[/QUOTE]
Hi Jennie,

Many of the major juhctions with traffic lights had a small box nearby which could be opened by the police and their lights operated manually. This happened when it was necessary to give either road priority. This box by the Crown and Cushion appears to be one of them.

Old Boy
 
Thanks OldBoy. I think there's a similar one here in this 1940 view of Coleshill Road in Ward End. Viv.

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We haven't yet mentioned horse troughs. Here are two: one in front of the General Hospital (looks early 1900s) and one alongside the Barton Ams (1939). Viv.

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When you look at old photos there's rarely a litter bin. Street litter bins appeared with the increase in packaging of products. I remember bins attached to bus stops in about the 1950s but not much else. I also remember these bins. The other ones which I think I'd only ever seen in Birmingham were the grey oblong ones on two pedestal legs. Viv.

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There was a wire-basket one outside the sweetshop...might have been advertising for "Wall's" ice-cream, it was round with a rim. I think "R. White's" pop had a wedge-shaped one?
rosie.
 
Completely forgotten about those Rosie. Of course, newsagents shops had them because of the sweet/ice cream/cigarette wrappers. The bins with advertising were always very brightly coloured unlike the council litter bins which I suppose tried to blend in. Viv.
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Thanks Viv, my memory isn't as bad as I thought!

The Post Office had a Post-box with a stamp machine, and there was a red telephone Box outside. (We used to press the button to see if we could get the pennies out!)
rosie.
 
hi nico
do you or anybody else recall the handsworh dairys milk machines out side certain shops they was pasturised carton,s for a tanner
and the news paper machines that really never took off there was one of each on spring hill and summer hill
and the news agent next to the summer hil rolling skate had one in fact he had the chclate machine as well as the news papers
and the news agent whom owned the one shop at spring hill facing george street west and he had the one next to bulpitts and our aunties fish and chip shop at spring hll and he drove a german car very posh one her wasflush ; best wishes astonian;;
 
Hi Alan

I recall there were both Handsworth and Midland county's dairy's mile machine around Birmingham. There was one in the old science museum
 
OakTreeLaneClr.jpgI remember the old litter bins as a small child. The ones on legs with a canopy over them tended to be by shops whereas bins on lamp-posts and bus stops were cylindrical, bright yellow, and had PWD embossed on them.

(Photo by DJ Norton - His sons site is excellent!)
 
Hello Astonian, I remember the Cadbury's Chocolate Bar Machines with the little tuppeny bars displayed horizontally behind glass. Not in Brum though as I left when I was a baby. I am ure you turned a metal T shaped handle to the right to get them out. I often panicked as they were very stiff as I recall. Wish my auntie had a fish and chip shop. Best Wishes Nico.
 
The 1950s/60s must have been a time when vending machines popped up everywhere. Maybe this was the shift in attitude from the war rationing years of having to wait for things, to 'I need it now'. It must also have been a means of advertising. Chocolate machines look like they'd been around before all this as this photo posted by Topsyturvey on the 1950s thread shows. Pity they're not Cadbury machines Nico. Wondering if the machines charged the same price as shop prices.

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And what would you need with all this extra litter? Bins - and of course a Keep Britain Tidy campaign. Roly, the Keith Berry photo (left) shows one of the1960s bins on legs in Erdington High Street

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Alan & Morturn, I think milk vending machines were a great idea, pity they've gone. Was this Wall's machine one on Kingstanding Circle or was it an ice cream machine?

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Viv.
 
And Rosie those stamp machines were so useful too. Who wants to queue for hours at the PO? . Viv

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That certainly looks like the back of a milk vending machine, well spotted. I suppose there were a lot of these machines around because shop opening times were a lot less than they are today. Most shops were closed all day Sunday and half day Wednesday. The only shop you would find open after 6:00pm would be an outdoor.

We did have a cigarette vending machine in our house in the early 60's.
 
Vivienne14 said:
The 1950s/60s must have been a time when vending machines popped up everywhere. Maybe this was the shift in attitude from the war rationing years of having to wait for things, to 'I need it now'. It must also have been a means of advertising. Chocolate machines look like they'd been around before all this as this photo posted by Topsyturvey on the 1950s thread shows. Pity they're not Cadbury machines Nico. Wondering if the machines charged the same price as shop prices.

View attachment 90750

And what would you need with all this extra litter? Bins - and of course a Keep Britain Tidy campaign. Roly, the Keith Berry photo (left) shows one of the1960s bins on legs in Erdington High Street

View attachment 90751

Alan & Morturn, I think milk vending machines were a great idea, pity they've gone. Was this Wall's machine one on Kingstanding Circle or was it an ice cream machine?

View attachment 90752

Viv.
Click to expand...

As I remember up until the 1960's there was a law called "Retail Price Maintenance" meant that the makers of a product set the price at which it must be sold, it was illegal to charge more or less. A lot of chocolate bars etc. had the price printed on the wrapper, so whether in a shop or a vending machine the price was the same
.
 
Stamp machines were a godsend, I am sure I remember you could just buy one. I remember bubble gum machines too and the different spearmint ones. I am sure the Cadburys chocolate in the vending machine Viv was the same price as over the counter, unlike now. I remember Polo mint dispensers too. I have seen a peanut dispenser somewhere where it gave you a handful of loose nuts.
 
I started smoking after finding an Irish half crown in my change and me and a pal (both non smokers) decided to put it in a cigarette machine outside a shop at the top of Shakespeare rd, I think the cigarettes were called Sterling.
It took me about 25 years to quit the habit.
 
Did the same with a Channel Island florin it had a cow on it. I remember a Dublin bus conductor asking me to swap my British coins. I think with the old vending machines you had to turn a lever press a button or pull a drawer, now they seem to dispense their wares after the money drops. I did see newspaper vending machines in the USA in the 70's. You don't see weighing scales anymoe where you put a penny in.
 
hi billie
is this shakespear road you speak of is it or should i say was it shakespear rd ladywood ? ,
if so i can recall it but to just add to your story down on monument next door to mr clews bike shop was mr wood whom ran the fruit and veg and little grocery shop
whom was the first person down there to get the fagg machine and just like you said we had a friend of our little gang we was running around with
he was a little irish fella from shakespear rd whom hung around with us he was a little holder than us and may i add at this oint [ may be i should not mention it but
if i am correct was the man whom tried to find out some think of an uncle cannot recall his name justyet but i do know he as never been back on this site wantedknow about an uncle of his from the franks cae just off heath street i can clearly see him now in my mind but never to mind
he hung around with us and this kid at the time of old mr wood having on his first week end o installing it out side his shop on monument rd
he put these half crowns size irish money and gotthe wood bines out about three packs and during that first week mr woods fagg machine was smashed
glass and all is faggs emptyied and just after that the shop on shakespear rd had a fag machine installed and regarding the penny ball machine bubble gum]
mrs pearson a lovely little lady took over a shop in king edwards rd and she was the first shop in the area it was a swet shop next to the other shop of mr woods
and that was on the corner of springfield street and for a couple of weeks on the trott she would have her machine removed off the wall and it was nicked
mrs pearson was a nice soken lady and polite i used to run to the bank at springhill for change and banking also up to ickneild port rd branch
i think she lived in harbourne whilst she owned the shop in the end she stopped having the penny gum machine out side her shop i expect keyon police station was fed up coming down to her shop to take details best wishes billie ;
 
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