| Description | An interview with Dennis OWENS, a married man with one son, one daughter, who is a Jeweller. Manages small company, born in Birmingham and now living in Birmingham. Dennis OWENS’s father was a Jeweller/Optician/Pub manager, born in England and his mother a Housewife & caterer born in England. In the interview, he talks about …
'MS2255/2/088 OWENS, Dennis
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I was born on December 6th, 1919…. 3 sisters. Father came from large entertaining family, mother was very active with catering.
1.54 It was a very happy childhood really, possibly because we were never short of money. We all helped in the pub….we had the rough corners knocked off us because we all knew about the seedy side if life….pubs were very sordid….bookmakers and ladies of the night…
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I lived through my childhood in Alston Street in Birmingham….I could walk to school…I went to the Oratory School…
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When I was about 10 years old….my father decided he would like to keep a pub….and we went to Coventry….I don’t think I settled down very well at St Philip’s and I left when I was 15…..my mother was a very strict Catholic….it was a very busy pub…Describes the pub.
Anecdotes about life at the pub.
4.24 Lots of Irish people at the pub.
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Continues to discuss life at the pub.
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In the early 30s ,the pubs were very sordid, quite happy places but sordid….a lot of the houses were theatrical boarding houses…there was a big change in clientele in the pub….ladies of easy virtue….Describes the community.
4.07 The layout of the pub.
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In working-class communities at that time there were a lot of bookmakers….it was supposed to be illegal….Story about local bookmaker.
1.17 My father used to say it cost him a fortune to keep the police happy….we needed a police presence…Story about police constable.
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The police in those days were local men….they were very tolerant of the bookmaker and the prostitutes…my father used to keep them well supplied in beer….
1.09 Fighting at the pub
1.48 Financially well-off.
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My mother and her mother were very strong Catholics, brought up to say our prayers…..at a Catholic school in those days they used to keep a register of your attendance at church….
1.33 Joined civil defence and met wife who was an ambulance attendant.
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Catholics in those days were a little bit isolated. A lot of them were Irish….all my friends went to St Philips…..Story about best friend.
2.31 How friend helped him out and found a job.
3.55 It was 1934 that I went to PF Jacksons….the first job I had…..practically every diamond ring needed sizing and new settings
Attended the School of Art for a short time.
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Lists some of the companies worked for.
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I was very anxious to leave school. I remember being brought down to the Jewellery Quarter and seeing people working at the board….
Reasons for being interested in jewellery.
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Wartime.
People couldn’t get jewellery, there was no gold available….Story about meeting someone who offered him a job in 1945.
2.09 A firm named William Griffiths, a very famous firm, then they’d been established 100 years….I was their traveller from1955-67…travelled all over the country selling jewellery….I decided to start on my own….at 27, Hilton Street…..eventually we had 9 working here….
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The Jewellery Quarter today is more or less a cottage industry….they decide to make one thing that interests them….Details the variety of expertise.
1.40 We had some really boom years for this area…quite a successful business.
Sense of community in the Jewellery Quarter.
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Quite a lot of young people are coming into the trade….a lot of them now are girls…..You couldn’t replicate this area because everything is within walking distance….
1.46 The shops only came in the last 10 years or so, prior to that they were all manufacturers….Developments in the area.
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37” After the war, when I first came into the trade….for the first 5 or 6 years the shops were starved of goods….no jewellery being made….there was 100% purchase tax….there were some very Runyonesque characters operating….Story about some of the dealings that went on.
2.43 You could make a wedding ring out of a sovereign….
3.18 All the shopkeepers used to come into the trade on Wednesdays and Thursdays. We called it ‘country cousins’ day….most of the shops were empty….
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In the late 50s and 60s, the multiple jewellers were growing, and they had factories here in the trade for mass producing jewellery….the trade went flat because there was so much importing goods….
1.07 In 1980 when Smith and Pepper closed……Recession in the trade.
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Future of the trade.
2.54 Story about Smith and Pepper.
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The office is in Newhall Street….one of my jobs in the museum is reading people’s hallmarks and telling them the date….
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Discusses son and daughter.
County organiser for the British Heart Foundation for 8 years.
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I didn’t have anything to do with Catholic religion after I was married…I joined the Masons….for 30 years….
2.32 In the 50s and 60s there was an influx of Jewish people….the same with Asians… for a time there were a lot making 22 carat jewellery….
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Thoughts on Birmingham.
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Member of Droitwich golf club.
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Musical interests. Plays the saxophone.
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The only thing about immigration in my generation was when they first came we had no idea of the numbers that would be eventually here….the only thing I regret is that they are in enormous ghettoes….we thought they’d be anglicised…..it’s sad that there isn’t a greater mix….
ENDS. |