Fifties Birmingham - Fabulous 50s Birmingham in 39 Pictures
The Fifties were a decade that was mainly focused on the recovery from World War Two with Birmingham being far from an attractive place with slum housing conditions being visible across the city.
Health remained poor in the city with Birmingham with illnesses like tuberculosis being rife ahead of the nationwide BCG immunisation programme. It wasn’t an easy decade to grow up in, but many who experience these times do look back on them with fondness.
It was a decade that saw the birth of rock and roll with figures such as Elvis Presley, Chuck Berry and Buddy Holly becoming recognisable with the dawn of the Cold War and the crowning of Queen Elizabeth II.
There were huge advances in infrastructure with the first motorway between Birmingham and London being opened. Aston Villa won the FA Cup beating Manchester United 2-1 and a Blues player was in the England team.
The following 39 pictures show life in Birmingham during the Fifties and the changing landscape, fashions and transport.
1. Schoolchildren in Birmingham in 1953
(Photo by Erich Auerbach/Getty Images)
2. The Town Hall in 1950
The Town Hall in Birmingham (left). Its forty Corinthian columns are based on the design of the Temple of Jupiter in Rome. (Photo by Three Lions/Getty Images)
3. Pin factory workers in 1950
The shop floor at a major pin manufacturing plant in Birmingham. (Photo by Topical Press Agency/Getty Images)
4. British Industries Fair in Castle Browmich, 1950
Exhibitors in the Electrical Engineering section of the British Industries Fair in Castle Bromwich, Birmingham, West Midlands, England, 9th May 1950. (Photo by E. Round/Fox Photos/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
5. Edgbaston Cricket Ground in 1950
6. British Industries Fair in Castle Bromwich in 1950
Heavy engineering exhibits too large for the covered exhibition of the British Industries Fair in Castle Bromwich, Birmingham, 9th May 1950. The exhbition’s tallest exhibit is visible in the background. (Photo by E. Round/Fox Photos/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
7. Villa Park in 1951
An aerial view of the Villa Park football ground, home to the Aston Villa football team and the streets and houses surrounding it on 1 May 1951 at the Villa Park football stadium in Aston, Birmingham, United Kingdom. (Photo by Fox Photos/Hulton Archive/Getty Images).
8. Birmingham MP for Sparkbrook Leopold Amery in 1951
Leopold S Amery (1873 - 1955) British statesman, born in Gorakpur, India. Conservative MP for Sparkbrook, Birmingham, a seat which he held for 34 years. He served as colonial under-secretary, First Lord of the Admiralty, and colonial secretary between 1919 and 1929, then returned to office in Churchill’s wartime administration as secretary of state for India and Burma. (Photo by Baron/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
9. Helicopters in 1951
22nd May 1951: Westland Sikorsky H-5’s, used by British European Airways Helicopters, which fly between London and Birmingham. (Photo by Harrison /Topical Press Agency/Getty Images)
10. Office workers on holiday in 1951
Female office workers from Birmingham work on the lettuce beds at the farm of Messrs JM Stokes in Chadbury, Worcestershire, 7th June 1951. They are combining a holiday on the land with useful agricultural work. (Photo by Maeers/Fox Photos/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
11. Pin factory workers in the 1950s
A woman inspects pins as they come out of an automatic machine in a Birmingham factory. (Photo by Topical Press Agency/Getty Images)
12. Birmingham couple camp out ahead of Queen Elizabeth II’s Coronation in 1953
The Coronation Early Birds Brave The Weather, Two of the very early arrivals on the coronation route, Glen Bach and Sheila Faulkner, both from Birmingham, photographed braving the heavy showers on their stance at Piccadilly Circus, Piccadilly Circus. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
13. West Brom players in 1954
West Bromwich Albion player Ronnie Allen and goalkeeper Ray Wood (r) in the bootroom circa 1954 in West Bromwich, England. (Photo by Don Morley/Allsport/Getty Images)
14. Trans-Africa team visit the Rover factory in 1954
A tour group of British female students from Birmingham visiting Paris during Easter week-end, poses for a photograph on April 13, 1954, on the banks of the Seine river in Paris. (Photo by AFP) (Photo by -/AFP via Getty Images)
15. Birmingham students visit Paris in 1954
A tour group of British female students from Birmingham visiting Paris during Easter week-end, poses for a photograph on April 13, 1954, on the banks of the Seine river in Paris. (Photo by AFP) (Photo by -/AFP via Getty Images)
16. Birmingham students visit Paris in 1954
A tour group of British female students from Birmingham visiting Paris during Easter week-end, visit a souvenir shop on April 13, 1954 in Paris. (Photo by AFP) (Photo by -/AFP via Getty Images)
17. Queen Elizabeth Hospital in 1955
The Old Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham, circa 1955. Opened in 1938, the hospital was replaced by a new building nearby in 2010. (Photo by Fox Photos/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
18. Train crash in Sutton Coldfield in 1955
The search for survivors continues into the night, after a train crash at Sutton Coldfield in the West Midlands, 24th January 1955. The 12:15 LMS steam locomotive from York to Bristol derailed on a sharp curve, killing 17 people and injuring 25. Original Publication : Picture Post - 8216 - Black Days on Britain's Railways - pub. 1956 (Photo by Edward Miller/Keystone/Getty Images)
19. Newspaper strikes in 1955
31st March 1955: People queuing to buy a newspaper outside the offices of the Birmingham Post in Fleet Street, London, where no national papers are being printed due to a strike. (Photo by George W. Hales/Fox Photos/Getty Images)
20. Alan Swadling wins the Junior Grand Prix for the children of Longbridge workers in 1955
Sir Leonard Lord (1896 - 1967), chairman of the Austin Motor Company, congratulates 8-year-old Alan Swadling on winning the Junior Grand Prix, a race for children of employees at Longbridge, 10th July 1955. The company is celebrating its Golden Jubilee (50 years), and Alan’s prize is the car he is driving. (Photo by J. Wilds/Keystone/Hulton Archive/Getty
21. Birmingham City right back, Ron Baynham, plays for England in 1955
From left to right, England players Jeff Hall (1929 - 1959), a Birmingham City right back, Ron Baynham, a Luton Town goalkeeper, and Geoff Bradford (1927 - 1994), a Bristol Rovers inside left, during a practice match against Charlton Athletic at The Valley, London, 17th September 1955. They are preparing for a match against Denmark in Copenhagen in a few days. (Photo by Terry Fincher/Keystone/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
22. Birmingham Edgbaston MP Edith Pitt becomes Health Secretary in 1955
Politician Edith Pitt, MP for Edgbaston, pictured after being appointed as the new Parliamentary Secretary for the Ministry of Health and Pensions, London, December 21st 1955. (Photo by Terry Disney/Central Press/Getty Images)
23. Soviet Premier Nikolai Bulganin visits Birmingham in 1956
Soviet premier Nikolai Bulganin (1895 - 1975) and first secretary of the Soviet Communist party Nikita Khrushchev (1894 - 1971) in Birmingham during the Soviet leaders’ 10 day visit to Britain in an effort to ease strained relations with the West. (Photo by Express/Express/Getty Images)
24. Birmingham City Manager Arthur Turner in 1956
Portrait of Arthur Turner, Manager of Birmingham City Football Club, prior to the FA Cup final against Manchester United, London, April 28th 1956. (Photo by Fox Photos/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
25. Strikes at Austin factory in Longbridge in July 1956
27th July 1956: Police move in to clear striking workers away from blocking the entry of a lorry to the Austin factory in Longbridge, Birmingham. Women workers joined the men on the sit-down protest. (Photo by Keystone/Getty Images)
26. Birmingham Handsworth MP Sir Edward Boyle becomes Education Secretary in January, 1957
Sir Edward Boyle, 3rd Baronet Boyle (1923 - 1981), the MP for Birmingham Handsworth and the new Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Education, at his desk at the Ministry of Education, 21st January 1957. (Photo by Douglas Miller/Keystone Features/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
27. Filming for the Tonight programme in April, 1957
25th April 1957: Psychologist, Doctor Cyril Franks, places dark goggles on Russel Willet from Birmingham for an experiment in sensory deprivation to be broadcast on the 'Tonight' programme. (Photo by Fred Ramage/Keystone/Getty Images)
28. Aston Villa with the FA Trophy in May 1957
Crowds line the streets of Birmingham cheering the Aston Villa team as they parade the FA Cup trophy from an open top bus, after their 2-1 win over Manchester United in the FA Cup final at Wembley. (Photo by Express/Express/Getty Images)
am to celebrate the centenary of Baden-Powell's birthday. (Photo by R. Knight/BIPs/Getty Images)
30. Scout gathering in Sutton Coldfield in May 1957
Scouts gather in a vast camp at Sutton Coldfield, near Birmingham to celebrate the centenary of Baden-Powell’s birthday. (Photo by Russell Knight/BIPs/Getty Images)
31. Scout gathering in Sutton Coldfield in May 1957
Scouts gather in a vast camp at Sutton Coldfield, near Birmingham to celebrate the centenary of Baden-Powell’s birthday. (Photo by Russell Knight/BIPs/Getty Images)
32. Canal life in June 1957
A converted cargo canal barge ‘Water Rambler’ carrying passengers between Oxford and Birmingham. (Photo by Central Press/Getty Images)
33. Edgbaston Cricket Ground in 1957
Crowds of spectators in the grandstand and the Pavilion look on during the third day of the first Test match of the series between England and the West Indies on 1 June 1957 at the Edgbaston Cricket Ground in Birmingham, United Kingdom. (Photo by Central Press/Hulton Archive/Getty Images).
34. Austin A 95 cars are inspected at the Longbridge plant in August 1957
Austin A 95 cars are inspected at the end of the production line at the Austin Motor Company's Longbridge plant in Birmingham, August 1957. (Photo by Central Press/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
35. Boxmag works in Birmngham 1957
Fox Photos photographer Derek Berwin is hoisted up on an electromagnet at the Boxmag works in Birmingham, in order to take a photograph of typist Kathleen Reddington who is similarly suspended, December 1957. Kathleen is hanging from a 40 inch magnet by her ice skates. (Photo by Fox Photos/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
36. Birmingham Aston MP Julius Silverman shows members of the Moscow Arts Theatre Company around the House of Commons in 1958
British Labour politician Julius Silverman (1905 - 1996), the MP for Birmingham Aston, shows members of the Moscow Arts Theatre Company around the House of Commons in London, 8th July 1958. From left to right, the actresses are Loretta Ovnanyan, Liudmilla Isaeva, Lilya Ustinova and Valentina Skvartzavo, who are appearing on stage in Streatham with the Company. (Photo by Fred
37. Plans in place to open Britian’s first motorway in 1959
One of the huge signs for the London-Birmingham motorway is wheeled from the Borehamwood factory. The sign reads 'Fuel 29m'. (Photo by Fox Photos/Getty Images)
38. November 2 1959 - Britain’s first motorway opens
Minister of Transport, Ernest Marples uses a police radio telephone to order County Police to open up the newly inaugurated M1 motorway to traffic. The 72 mile section between London and Birmingham is Britain’s first motorway. (Photo by Harry Todd/Fox Photos/Getty Images)
39. Britain’s first motor way opens November 2, 1959
A crowd on a bridge watching the opening by Ernest Marples, British Minister of
Transport, of the London to Birmingham motorway - 72 miles long and Great Britain's first motorway. (Photo by Harry Todd/Fox Photos/Getty Images)
