Dudley museum wants Spring Hill post office toys and memories

As part of Black Country Living Museum’s brand new Forging Ahead development, the museum is recreating Spring Hill Post Office, which originally stood on Penn Road in Wolverhampton.

The shop will form part of the museum’s new 1940s-60s high street.

CGI view of the main street at the Black Country Living Museum.

Post Offices were a fixture of every high street in the Black Country and, by the post-war period, had often been there for a century or more.

By the 1960s the Post Office was converted from a government department into a self-financing nationalised business and local branches played a central role in the lives of the communities they served.

In 1965, when the recreated shop will be set, Spring Hill Post office was run by Stan Nettleton who sold several iconic toy brands from the era alongside the traditional products and services of a post office.

Dolls by Pedigree, model vehicles from Dinky and Model and construction kits from Meccano were among items sold along with items from other well-known makers including locally made Tri-ang toys, Waddington Games and Hornby train sets.

Stan was also known for creating spectacular window displays and building creative sets to show off his stock of toys.

To help the museum team faithfully recreate Spring Hill Post Office they want to hear from people who may have memories or toys they bought to add to the interpretation of the shop.

The collections team are also particularly interested in collecting classic toys or modelling kits from the era to help set up the shop authentically.

They'd also like to hear from anyone who worked for the Post Office, perhaps as a postman or postwoman, in the 1960s.

Anyone with memories or objects they would like to share with the museum can get in touch with the team by emailing collections@bclm.com or calling 0121 557 9643.