Tools of the Trade - May

May’s Tools of the Trade takes us to Great Yarmouth, where Yarmo have been manufacturing their Fisherman’s Smock since 1898.

This classic piece of workwear has been an essential outerlayer for British fishermen for over a century, but it has also been popular with painters, sculptors, potters, craftsmen… and shopkeepers; most of us here at Labour and Wait have one. So what is it and why do we like it? Let us explain.

The fisherman’s smock is a classic example of functional, utilitarian clothing. This Folkestone fisherman is wearing the traditional pocketless version - cut from sailcloth, this garment was a strong and sturdy extra layer that kept the wearer warm and dry, protected his woollen jumper, and was comfortable and easy to work in. The short sleeves prevented the cuffs getting wet - a feature also seen on guernsey jumpers and breton shirts - while the tight fit and high neck ensured maximum protection from the elements.

The Yarmouth Stores supplied this and other items of clothing and chandlery from their harbourside warehouses on the outermost tip of the east of England. By 1914 they had opened up branches in ports all around the coast, from Brixham and Padstow in Cornwall to Grimsby, Hull and North Shields all the way up to Lerwick in Scotland. The fishing fleets moved around the coast, so a shop would be opened up for two or three months and as the herring shoals moved on the shop stock would be put aboard a drifter and transported to the next port.

By 1910 and the heyday of the herring industry Yarmo were supplying smocks to fishing communities throughout Great Britain. But it wasn’t just a uniform for fishermen to work in - the practical, utilitarian nature of the fisherman’s smock meant it was adopted by many artists and artisans.

Here Barbara Hepworth wears a smock as she sketches. In the early decades of the Twentieth Century St. Ives in Cornwall became a popular destination for artists and we can imagine the inspiration provided by the smocks being worn by the local crews - such as this rather motley bunch from along the coast in Mousehole. The cheap, tough, easy to find smocks provided the perfect protection for artists as well as sailors.

These white smocks show their sailcloth origins, and they are still made from the same material today, in particular a blue sailcloth which washes and ages beautifully, very much like good denim. The only alterations for the modern sailor or artist are longer sleeves and two patch pockets.

So what of May’s Tools of the Trade? Chalk, shears and thread, the essential tools of the tailor. But Yarmo’s process has been modernised from the days of chalking patterns by hand. Sharon Bowles, Factory Manager at Yarmo, talks us through the manufacturing operation:

“Patterns are printed via computer to a plotter machine by Barry our cutting room supervisor. We have kept the old card patterns for back-up, as you never know when you might need them.”

“Once the pattern has been drawn up on paper it is labelled with a job sheet ready for laying.”

“The required fabric is rolled out and measured to the lay plan. The quantity is checked and the fabric is laid up depending on the number of garments required.

Lorraine is now ready to cut the lay out, the knife she uses will depend on the depth of the cloth in the lay.”

This is the largest of Yarmo’s cutters, but other sizes are used depending on the size of the lay.

“Once the lay is cut it is then passed to Sue to be fitted up into bundles of work with a work ticket ready for the machinist.”

The ‘bundle up table’.

“These bundles are given out to the girls on the flat machines who stitch on the pockets, labels and collars.”

“After this, the bundle is passed to an overlocker to have the sleeves sewn in and the body sewn together.”

“They pass the work back to the flat machinist who hems the sleeves. The complete bundles finally go to the finishing machines and through to quality control. Once the garments are checked over by Debbie she labels and bags them ready to go to Lionel in the warehouse - and ready for despatch to our customers.”

“Although smocks are still popular today, they are worn more for leisure wear - although I do know of some fisherman who still wear our smocks for fishing.”

Whether for sailor or sculptor, the fisherman’s smock is very much the traditional garment that is as wearable today as it ever was. Our thanks go to Sharon and all at Yarmo for sharing this information and for supplying us with pictures.

The author wearing his smock, yesterday.

Pictures from the National Maritime Museum Archive and the Pentreath Photographic Archives. Photograph of Eli Farrow the fisherman by Walter Clutterbuck, from the Norfolk County Council Library.

New Royal Mail Prices

We try our best to keep postage charges to a minimum but unfortunately we have been affected by the recent Royal Mail price changes.

This has seen a reclassification by size rather than weight; so where previously anything up to 500g could be sent as a Royal Mail Small Packet we now have size restrictions.

This means a Royal Mail Small Parcel must now be no larger than either 450mm x 350mm x 80mm or 160mm x 160mm x 160mm.

This is obviously quite restrictive, and it means that some large, light items will incur higher postage charges. Over the course of the next few weeks we will be trying to find our best way around this change to ensure we offer the cheapest shipping possible.

However, this means using standard postage boxes, so we are not able to recycle our packaging as we have for so long. It will also unfortunately mean a price increase to cover our costs, from £3.00 to £3.25. 

Tools of the Trade - April

April’s Tools of the Trade have kindly been supplied by E Jeffries and Sons, saddlers and leatherworkers, and manufacturers of the Brady range of bags. 

The Brady company can trace its history back 140 years, and is the label of choice for many of this country’s most discerning hunters, shooters, fishers and royals. Chris Hodgkiss from Jeffries explains the tools:

“(At the top) SINGLE CREASE and (at the bottom) DOUBLE CREASE: These tools are used for veining on the edge of the leather to give it a single or double crease. These tools must be heated before use.

EDGE TOOL (in the middle): This tool is used for edging the sides of leather strap work to give a smooth, round edge.”

This finishing can be seen on the leather straps of our Khaki Fishing Bag ( above ) and our Bridle Leather Belt ( below ). Made in Walsall, England since 1928, the Fishing Bags are produced by skilled craftsmen using the best quality bonded canvas and bridle leather. Although the belts can’t trace their heritage back this far, they too are made in Walsall, hand stitched and then veined, burnished and polished by hand.

The sharp, deep crease on the leather is the perfect finishing touch for both.

Each Brady Fishing Bag contains a removable rubberised lining to ensure your freshly caught trout doesn’t get your laptop or newspaper wet. The triple layered waterproof canvas and bridle leather straps and trim are of the highest quality and mean these bags will stand up to many years of hard use.

The Folio Bag is a design we found in the Brady archives, and is made exclusively for Labour and Wait. Originally a post / despatch bag this design has found a new lease of life thanks to its unique dimensions - it is ideal for large laptops, folders, portfolios, etc. The bonded canvas is waterproof and the bridle leather ensures the longest life for this stylish and durable bag. 

We love selling products that are hand-made or hand-finished, particularly if they are made in England, so these Brady bags and belts are some of our favourite Labour and Wait items. Our thanks go to Jeffries and Sons for the loan of their tools.

Port Magazine

The good people at Port Magazine came in to interview Simon and Rachel last week. Our normally publicity-shy owners made an exception for this publication, as we are all fans of its intelligent approach and well considered aesthetic. The interview is now online here. ( By Chris Chasseaud with pictures by Liz Seabrook ).

Horn Combs

We’ve all seen lots of people walking around Shoreditch with messy hair recently… but fret no longer, as our horn combs are finally back in stock!

Available in store and online.

Tools of the Trade - March

March; and Elvet Woollen Mill take their place as our calendar pin-ups. And from them we have an oil can and a cone of red yarn, both of which are used to make our Welsh Tapestry Blankets.

Elvet Woollen Mill is one of the last remaining working woollen mills in West Wales, and has a history dating back over 120 years. For the past 30 years it has been run by Mike Tolputt and his family. And Mike is the best man to tell us about his tools:

We have sold these beautiful blankets for years at Labour and Wait. We source vintage and antique blankets from all over Wales, and we never fail to be astounded by the brightness and variety of the colours. However, as their popularity has increased, so has their price, and it becomes harder to find the spotless - and the mothless  - examples we are looking to sell. So we were very pleased to find Mike and his mill producing high quality modern versions.

At the moment we sell the blanket in the red, white and black colourway, but there are rumours of new colours being prepared just for Labour and Wait…

“The cone of red yarn is a sample of dyed yarn used to make our Welsh Tapestry Bedspreads. It is a blend of 100% pure new English Wools spun specially for us by a long established firm in Huddersfield. It is then sent onto Bradford where it is dip-dyed using well established traditional methods.”

“The natural yarns used in our Tapestries are from Wales and are, of course, the natural colour of the fleece with no dyeing involved.”

“Did you know that 7 miles of yarn is required to make 1 Double Size Bedspread, and in doing so the threads will cross over each other 5.3 million times. WOW.”

WOW indeed, Mike. It sounds like a lot of work, but at least we have something wonderful to show for it. 

Our thanks go to Mike and Alison at Elvet for showing us their mill, and for revealing the intricacies of the Welsh Tapestry Blanket.

Blacksmith

Deep in a valley in the foothills of the Austrian Alps, along the Iron Trail, in the shadow of Ore Mountain, we find the Mile of Forges - and an old Blacksmith’s Cottage. 

Inside, sat at the forge hammer, or stoking the fire - as he has done for 500 years - we find the smith himself. 

At one time 69 privileged blacksmiths worked in this area, with another 90 who survived without the Imperial Favour. Their products were exported to all parts of the Austrian Empire - to Bohemia, Moravia and Trieste, as well as further afield to Germany, Prussia, Italy, Poland, Russia… and out to the Middle East and beyond.

 

The Alpine streams provided the power, the forested hills the fuel and Ore Mountain the raw material. The valley rang to the clang of metal on metal.

Today the descendants of these ‘Black Earls’ are still in business, with their modern forges and factories still sending their ironwares out around the world. But there are still one or two smiths sat at their forges, crafting their tools by hand in the way they always have.

So deep in the valley in the Austrian Alps, along the Iron Trail, in the shadow of Ore Mountain, in the Mile of Forges, think of the Blacksmith sat at his hammer forge, in the living metal workshop, as he has for 500 years.

Tools of the Trade - February

February sees Creamore Mill take their place as the stars of our Tools of the Trade Calendar. Established in 1981 in rural Shropshire, this family-run business designs and hand-turns all of their wooden products in the former corn and wood mill which gave its name to their business. From their extensive range of functional and practical household and garden items we have selected the Wooden Door Wedge, Twine Stand and Dibber.

Sam Buckland, son of business founders John and Cathryn Buckland, kindly gave us an explanation of each of the tools pictured:

“The goggles should be self explanatory, especially so when you see the direction in which the shavings generally leave the cutting tools while turning wood.”

“The gouge is a versatile turning chisel, used for both rough turning of blanks from a square down to the finishing cut. The long handle provides good leverage to control the angle of attack. An example of use is turning the bishop twine stand bases – square blanks are band sawed into discs and then mounted on a lathe. The gouge makes the straight roughing cut at the circumference, a finishing smooth cut and the adjacent bevel profiles.”

“Our hand chisels are made in Sheffield from high speed steel; an excellent balance between edge sharpness and durability for wood turning.”

“The roll of sand paper is one of several with different grits, of graduating coarseness. While the work piece is still turning on the lathe the sand paper is used to smooth the final profile, knocking off the wood fibres from the end grain and corners. Sand paper also introduces a more uniform surface in preparation for certain finishes.”

“The bronze brush is used in general tool cleaning. The release of wood resins during working can leave a build-up of grime on the tools. The softer bronze bristles avoid damage to the cutting edges.”

With three decades of experience and a simple collections of tools, Creamore Mills are justifiably proud of their artisan approach. Our thanks go to them for allowing us to photograph their tools, and for Sam’s explanation of their use.

Riess for Labour and Wait

Allow us to introduce our new range of enamelware colours - Riess for Labour and Wait.

Since we first started selling enamelware from Riess over ten years ago, we have found it to be one of our most popular and in-demand ranges. And as enamelware has experienced its rebirth as a practical and functional material so our range of Riess goods has expanded.  

This Pink Milk Pot featured in the Telegraph Magazine in 2002 and led to Sunday morning queues along Cheshire Street and an overload of our fledgling mail-order service. 

But as we saw other shops and online retailers selling the same range of milk pots, pans and jugs, we thought we should offer something fresh and new - we pride ourselves on staying one step ahead - so two years ago we created our own range of milk pots in black, avocado and airforce, to sit alongside our ever-popular pink pot.

 

 

And now we can offer an extension of our Riess for Labour and Wait range. A milk pan, lasagne dish and two milk jugs in our custom ‘Labour and Wait’ colours - 

 

 

and we introduce a Black Bread Bin to match our Brown Bread Bin - 

 

and each with our Riess for Labour and Wait backstamp - 

So who are Riess? And why do we like them so much? In a large part it is due to their history. Riess have been producing steel goods in the same location deep in the heart of Austria since 1550 - and high quality enamel items for over 80 years. This heritage ensures the best knowledge producing the best quality goods. It also helps to shape the company’s future, as they know that with such a proud past they must also look after the brand for future generations.

These beautiful illustrations are from Riess’s 400th anniversary celebrations in 1950 - although the factory floor looks much the same today.

Many of the products we sell here have been in constant production at Riess for over 60 years; this heritage and history ensures the highest quality, especially in comparison to the cheaper, far-eastern made enamel ranges that are appearing more frequently these days.

We have been visiting the Riess factory for many years now, to work on new products and colours, and also to see their fantastic archive, from where we have taken these pictures.

Here we see a selection of the enamel chips we’ve selected as possible colours, and a couple of our Labour and Wait items; the Airforce Milk Pot and the Bread Bin, as well as the new Grey Milk Jug.

Riess’s knowledge of steelworking also means their kitchenware is of the highest quality, although here our Professional Ladle is used in a more industrial manner.

Simon and Stuart from Labour and Wait and Andres Riess outside the door of the Riess factory.

Riess are also very proud of their environmental policy, aiming to make the smallest ecological impact possible. To this end, in the 1930s they built their own hydro-electric plant, which still to this day powers their entire factory.

So if you are lucky enough to buy or receive some Riess enamel, you can know that you are in possession of a product of quality and history, all the way from the ‘Mile of Forges’ in the foothills of the alps.

For more on enamel, you can read our 3 part Enamelware Guide - Enamel Production, Enamel Qualities and Enamel Care.