Happy Black Country Day!

Happy Black Country day everyone! Yes, 14th July each year is when we celebrate the rich history and heritage of the Black Country area, albeit this year the weather is so miserable that I doubt I'll be venturing out much. Instead I'll report back on a recent visit to the Black Country Living Museum where they've just unveiled their new town focusing on stories from the 1940s to the 1960s...

Launching to much acclaim last Saturday (8th July 2023), the 'Forging Ahead' High Street features the following additions to the museum's attractions:

• Stanton's Music Shop, based on a business that was originally located in Dudley town centre. Set in 1959, you can listen to the hits of the day and explore musical equipment of the post-war period. 
• West Bromwich Building Society, inspired by the former Cape Hill branch. 
• Marsh & Baxter, a famous butchers name that had many West Midlands outlets although this recreation uses their Brierley Hill shop as its reference point.
• Laurie Thomas's Hairdressers from Tividale Road, documenting the changing hairstyles and salons of the mid 1950s
• E. Minett's Ladieswear, a shopfront as replicated from Walsall Street in Wednesbury.
• Burgin's Newsagents, a well-known Dudley family business that provided newspapers, comics and confectionery.

Here are a few selected pictures from my initial look around. As is often the case, it was the smaller details that caught my eye - the goods and packaging of yesteryear...

A general snapshot of the Marsh & Baxter's shopfront lettering, although you can see hints of mock meat joints hanging in the front window. It is possible to buy tasty pork treats from the shop, such as scratchings and other hot and cold items.

A selection of vintage annuals and comics on display in Burgin's Newsagents, including Girls' Crystal (1958), the Dandy Book and a Fans Star Library cover featuring Debbie Reynolds. The Beezer was also well represented!

The living quarters behind Burgin's newspaper shop were laid out to depict a breakfast scene, complete with toaster, boiled eggs, salt and pepper shakers and cigarette boxes.

Minett's Ladieswear isn't fully operational in terms of being able to go into the shop yet, but the frontage gives a tantalising indication of the changes in late 1950s fashions that came with a boom in disposable income

Part of the Stanton's shop frontage, which includes large traditional signwriting panels for Pianos, Radio and Television - this is the Pianos piece. 

Inside Stanton's there are shelves full of records to peruse, plus racks of sheet music literature such as 'When You're In Love' and 'River, Stay 'Way From My Door'. The charts of the day used to log sheet record sales as an indicator of a song or tune's overall popularity, and it was often common for many different artists to record their own versions.

The opening of the new High Street last weekend marks just the latest milestone for the ongoing 'Forging Ahead' project, and it is important to note that many more exciting arrivals are in the pipeline. Halesowen & Hasbury Co-op, Woodside Library, Spring Hill Post Office (from Wolverhampton's Penn Road), and an Army & Navy Stores are all taking shape too along with industrial exhibits and an NHS clinic. Projected completion dates range from Autumn 2023 through into 2024. Lots to look forward to there then!