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History of Arthur Price
The Price is Right
The story of Arthur Price and his company
told by his great-grandson, Simon Price
J
ust as Sheffield was home to
knife and blade manufacturing
in the UK, turn-of-the-20th
century Birmingham was the home
of spoon and fork making. The two
trades used different materials and
processes, and it wasn’t until after
WWII that the two elements came
together.
In the latter part of the 19th
century, my great-grandfather
Arthur Price spent 20 years
working for cutlery companies
in the Birmingham area before
setting up his own business.
During this time, he mastered
every skill required for the cutlery
trade and slowly accumulated
second-hand machinery to start
his own enterprise. A dedicated
and ambitious man, he made his
own tools and dies at home once
he’d finished his 12-hour factory
shifts. The Price family’s front room
became Arthur’s workshop.
His very first factory was at 16
½ Gem Street in the Aston area
of Birmingham. He employed 12
people including his eldest daughter,
my great aunt Maud, who was the
company’s secretary from 1905 until
the outbreak of the Great War. T