The Old Hall Story

Everyone who got married in England in the late 1960s or early 1970s would have have had some Old Hall Tableware amongst their wedding presents. Their stainless steel tea and coffee sets, cutlery, cake stands, etc were treasured and many have survived to this day. We have many examples, mainly still in their original boxes, and though they are still used regularly they remain in excellent condition.

Old Hall Tableware was made to the highest standards in Bloxwich, in the Black Country area of the West Midlands, however competition from imports and changing tastes effectively meant the end of the company in the 1980s. But the name still lives on. Many of their pieces were designed by Robert Welch, recognised as one of the great designers of the 20th century, and there is a flourishing collectors club, enthusiastically run by Nigel Wiggin, one of the family who owned the company. In spite of that it is reasonably priced, easy to pack and post, and the different designs are well known. This should make it an ideal subject for internet auctions and it is, but for one site only!

I have criticised Ebay in the past, but this time they have come up trumps; searching for ‘Old Hall Robert Welch’ gave me 20 auctions plus 22 shop listings. Completed auctions over the past two weeks gave 43 sold outof 48, a selling rate of virtually 90%. None of the major alternatives had any Robert Welch designs listed, and Specialistauctions had just the one Old Hall tea set listed. Ebid and Tazbar both drew a total blank. Ebay may have its faults, but for collectors who know exactly what they are looking for it appears to still be the default choice; in spite of changes to the searching methods you are still able to find  what you want.

I wou;ld like to see them do well, butIf the alternatives wish to take on the mantle of ebay for the type of auction which it made its name on, then they have got some serious thinking to do.