Original sentence: Alexander Parkes invented Parkesine, an early form of celluloid.Parkesine was manufactured in London and showcased at the Earl's Court Exhibition.The unfortunate irony of this passage is that one of Great Britain's most significant inventors hailed from Birmingham.The word was also used extensively to mean a cheap and shoddy imitation, in particular when referring to mass-produced goods (see discussion below)
Edited sentence: It was also skilled Brummagem tradesmen that mass produced the steel knib and made available cheap pens which enabled the development of education and literacy throughout the world.Many argue that the poor of the world were given literacy in an affordable fashion by Brummagem pen manufacturers, see: Jewellery Quarter.One can only assume that snobbery towards the British industrial provincial towns of the 18th and 20th century was fueled by a naive sophomoric insecure display of behaviour towards the rapidly expanding industrial world by those who could afford an education far away from the smog filled streets of Industrial Britain.The unfortunate irony of this passage is that possibly one of the most significant inventors of Great Britain hailed from Birmingham, Alexander Parkes who invented the very first celluloids which were eventually combined with electroplating to give birth to film (Parkes' Parkesine, a precursor to Plastic was showcased at the Earl's Court Exhibition).Whilst to some the word used to mean a cheap and shoddy imitation, in particular when referring to mass-produced goods (see discussion below) this can be argued that it can also refer to high quality goods such as gold and jewellery or gun manufacture, see: Gun Quarter & Jewellery Quarter