POSH COFFINS
From 1894 to 1998 Newman Brothers of Birmingham, England, produced some of the finest up-market coffin furniture in the world, used in the funerals of statesmen such as Winston Churchill, as well as members of the Royal Family, including George VI and Princess Diana. The factory is now a museum and I went to visit it this month. Below are some of the photographs I took inside the old factory and from the museum displays...
Exterior of the original Newman Brothers factory building on Fleet Street in Birmingham.
A selection of handles and decorative features for attaching to coffins.
One of many designs ready for stamping onto metal.
The handle design used on the coffin of Winston Churchill.
Shelves full of products ready for orders.
This room was full of workers using the fly presses to stamp and pierce small decorative items.
A row of sewing machines where seamstresses sat for 12 hours a day making coffin shrouds.