Putting industry on video - an archive for the future
The Crown Nail Company
Metal Working, Compilation No.56
Tack and nail making in Wolverhampton
The Crown Nail Company
Metal Working, Compilation No.56
Tack and nail making in Wolverhampton
Background
A few weeks before they closed in December 2004, Bev Parker of the Wolverhampton History and Heritage Society asked us to record The Crown Nail Company in Commercial Road, Wolverhampton.
They were the last tack manufacturer in the country and one of the last cut nail and tack makers in Europe, with world-wide exports particularly of their well-known blued cut tacks
Starting beside a basin of the Birmingham Canal Navigation about 1850 they gained their reputation by constantly innovating and building their own machines in-house with a highly skilled workforce, and using the finest quality steel.
Despite this leading role in a competitive market, there was a very pleasant family firm atmosphere and the closure forced by competition from cheaper labour abroad was regretted by all.
Examples of their nail and tack making machinery are now preserved in the Black Country Living Museum, Dudley.
