| Description | An interview with Mike JONES, a married man with one son, who is a retired advertising/print manager, born in Birmingham and now living in Stafford. Mike JONES’s father was a Shoe repairer, born in England and his mother a Housewife (Munitions in war) born in England. In the interview, he talks about …
'MIKE JONES MS2255/2/124 Logged by Lorraine Blakemore & Helen lloyd.
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My name is Mike Jones…I was born in 1926 in Kings Heath….My parents were both deaf and dumb. We lived in rented property….
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Father was a shoe repairer for Paynes, which was very well known at the time. Moved to Handsworth and lived above the shop where he worked. Suffered a mental breakdown.
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It was about 1933, I was aged 7 when my father was taken to Winson Green Mental Hospital and for various reasons I wasn’t taken to see him…
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My mother had very serious difficulties….At that time there was no social security….We did have money from the Ideal Benefits Society…
32” Story about attending a Means Test.
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Reflects on difficulties of interpreting at such a young age.
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Ran errands for neighbours in order to supplement income.
40” Story about brother suffering an accident and the ensuing visit to the doctor.
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More details about the doctor who cared for the family.
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I started school at the age of 4 in the 1930s at St. James Infant’s School in Brewery Street…. Religious instruction at school.
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Mother managed to go shopping on her own. This was mainly because the shopping was groceries and mainly from the Co-Op. By visiting the same store frequently, everyone came to know her and by some sort of improvised sign language….get what she wanted….
47” Describes the Co-Op and the system in operation.
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Growing up in Handsworth. Never saw anyone who was black.
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Describes the house. Allowed to remain in property after father had left.
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Attended Wattville Road Elementary School from 1935.
31” Story about air raid during the “phoney war” in 1939. I said to the teacher, my mother is deaf and dumb and she won’t have heard this….She announced to the rest, this brave boy is going to go home and tell his mother….Eventually I got home, breathless and triumphant, and I said to my mother using sign language, “The sirens have sounded, the Germans are coming, the sky will soon be dark with bombers and we’ll all be blown to smithereens”…..The journey back wasn’t quite so courageous….
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Children were split up into various houses and given tuition. Found a job delivering fish for a shop called Stones on the Soho Road. One of the places he delivered to was Winson Green Mental Home where his father was an inmate.
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School inspector called down to Stones and told them that Mike had evaded school for 12 months. Forced to return to school. Left with no qualifications.
1.25 School assisted pupils with finding employment. First job in 1941 was for an aluminium firm making the tea.
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Describes role at solicitor’s office.
38” Moved to Phillips Cycles where he was a progress clerk. Main role was to ensure that the factory didn’t run out of pedals. Details other responsibilities.
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Visits to the Albion and Regal Cinemas once a month. Choice of films based on the stars rather than the plot.
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In 1944 at the age of 18 I was called up to Norton Barracks in Worcestershire….Served 6 weeks basic training. Entered Royal Signals.
1.29 Story about serving in India.
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Posted to York in 1948. Demobbed in the same year.
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Recalls courting his wife and the social activities they enjoyed.
58” Married at St. Matthew’s Church in Smethwick.
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Story about finding a job as a copywriter for a firm of furnace-makers.
1.19 Bought a motorcycle to get to work from Handsworth Wood to Tyburn Road.
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Had not attended church very often after leaving school. Inspired by a radio broadcast with Billy Graham, began to frequent St. Martin’s Church in the Bullring.
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In 1960 he saw an opportunity to work for a display company as a general manager. Confessed that he possessed no experience but could learn quickly. In 1965 made sales director of the company, but profits were low due to other factors.
1.19 Moved to work at Kenton Display in Balsall Heath. Cadburys commissioned a lot of work from them.
2.10 Describes the range of staff working at Kenton Display.
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It was in 1980 that we decided that we would like to leave…We were living in Handsworth Wood…We were, in effect the ethnic minority…everyone around us was either Caribbean or Asian…. Difficulty with neighbour’s cooking smells.
1.27 Background and context to the move to Staffordshire.
3.38 Son remains in Birmingham.
4.17 Changes to the centre of Birmingham.
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Continued.
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Former school and house in Handsworth have both been demolished.
1.34 Social changes in Handsworth from 1950s onwards.
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Disagrees with tendency for young people to co-habit rather than get married.
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Has always progressed through better jobs - taken care of by "someone or something."
ENDS. |