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Cartoon, New Bridge from Sparkbrook to Smallheath
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Cartoon, New Bridge from Sparkbrook to Smallheath
Cartoon, The New Bridge from Sparkbrook to Smallheath (Small Heath), Birmingham. Dr Hugh Thomas and Labourer Tipper.
1888
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Media ID 14372446
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1888 Birmingham Bowler Braces Brick Bricklayer Bricklayers Bricks Brinsley Chimney Chimneys Dart Engineering Funding Heath Hugh Jacobs Labourer Lowe Midland Midlands Nixon Shirtsleeves Signal Sponsorship Track Tracks Waistcoat Worker Sparkbrook
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EDITORS COMMENTS
This cartoon, titled "The New Bridge from Sparkbrook to Smallheath (Small Heath), Birmingham. Dr Hugh Thomas and Labourer Tipper," was published in September 1888 in a popular Victorian magazine. The image offers a humorous take on the construction of the new railway bridge that was being built to connect Sparkbrook and Smallheath in Birmingham, a significant engineering project of the West Midlands during the 1880s. In the foreground, we see Dr. Hugh Thomas, a well-dressed gentleman, observing the construction progress from a distance, donning a bowler hat and holding a pair of binoculars. He is contrasted with Labourer Tipper, a bricklayer in shirtsleeves, waistcoat, and braces, who is seen taking a break, leaning against a pile of bricks and smoking a pipe. The chimneys of factories in the background are billowing smoke, adding to the industrious atmosphere. The cartoon humorously highlights the contrast between the intellectual and the manual laborer, with Dr. Thomas representing the financial and planning aspects of the project and Labourer Tipper symbolizing the physical labor required for its execution. The bridge's construction is also depicted, with workers carrying hods of bricks and tracks being laid. Notable figures in the background include Brinsley Fallows, Lowe, Middlemore, Nixon, and Jacobs, who may have been involved in the project's funding or sponsorship. This charming cartoon provides a unique insight into the social and industrial landscape of Birmingham during the Victorian era, offering a glimpse into the daily lives of those involved in the railway construction and the community's excitement for the new infrastructure that would connect two neighborhoods.
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