View allAll Photos Tagged manufacturingindustry
The Vauxhall Ironworks, then based on Wandsworth Road in London, produced their first car in 1903 - the Vauxhall 'Light' and so in 1953 the company was happily celebrating it's Golden Jubilee of vehcile production. Vauxhall's history goes further back - the predecessor company was formed in 1857, being re-named the Vauxhall Iron Works in 1863.
They moved to a site in Luton in 1905 and, still a small volume manufacturer, were acquired by the American concern fo General Motors in 1925. Thereafter Vauxhall's fortunes changed with GM investment and dersign backing moving them towards being a 'middle of the market' volume car manufacturer. In 1930 the first 'Bedford' truck, with design heavily drawn from GM's Chevrolet range, was produced and such commercial vehicles would become increasingly important both in wartime and, as seen in the production chart, post-WW2 market.
The centrefold shows a diagrammatic representation of the output from the Luton factory depicting both car production (Velox and Wyvern and CKD versions) alongside the important Bedford light vans and trucks.
Metropolitan-Vickers were one of the major UK electrical manufacturers and were based at Trafford Park in Manchester. As the advert notes they were part of the AEI Group that for many years although it included M-V and British Thomson Houston effectively allowed both concerns to compete for business.
This fine advert, in the 1956 special issue of The Engineer, effectively looks down on to the cooling towers of a electricity generating station along with a list of equipment manufactured by M-V. At the time the UK was, under the nationalised electricity industry, in the midst of a massive construction programme of power stations to both replace outdated generating stations and building new, larger stations to cope with the increasing demands of both industrial and domestic users.
The artwork is sadly uncredited - a shame as it is of that 'heroic' period.
A remarkable document this - a spirally bound 140 pages of nuts, bolts, fixings, fasteners and special forgings that were in production at the Atlas Works of Guest, Keen & Nettlefolds (Midlands) Ltd. at Darlaston in Staffordshire. The well produced catalogue has been thoughtfully published using index tabs and colours to cover the seven sections, covering black bolts and screws, high tensile, 'Bright" bolts and screws, brass as well as Specilaities and appendices.
GKN was a sprawling conglomerate based on the 1902 merger of Nettlefolds of Birmingham with Guest, Keen & Co who were themselves the product of Guest's (associated with the Welsh Dowlais Iron Co) and Keen's Patent Nut & Bolt Co. again of Birmingham. Over the decades they acquired many other similar concerns becoming a 'verically integrated' concern in that they produced iron and steel as well as formed metal into a wide variety of products. They had a loose 'structure' at the time of this catalogue although there was to be a brief interlude when the 'producing companies' were nationalised in 1951 before being reacquired between 1954 and 1955. The concern later morphed into GKN.
Opposite a selection of machined bolts and nuts are examples of the box end labels used for the various products. These colour coded and grouped labels used to fascinate me in ironmongers shops as a child!
Henry Hope & Sons Ltd were a long established manufacturer of architectural metalware and glazing systems based in Smethwick. Their publications and advertising always met high standards of typography and publishing and this wonderful and substantial book is no exception as it was printed at The Curwen Press in London and demonstrates much of their acknowledged skill.
The catalogue - Publication No. 260, issued in December 1951 - was for drawing office use giving details of specifications, sections and other information and covers a vast number of building types and architectural styles. Needless to say, although Hope's windows were sold for 'older styles' their galvanised steel glazing systems fitted well into modern architectural styles and they produced special systems for large scale projects such as office blocks, factories and power stations.
In post-war Britain the newly nationalised electricity industry was keen to catch up with the replacement of generating stations that wartime delays and use had marked down as in urgent need to replacement as well as carrying on with the move to modern, larger generating stations able to cope with increasing demand for electricity. The British Electricity Authority (later the CEA and then CEGB) inherited schemes planned by pre-nationalisation undertakings as well as designing new stations themselves. The catalogue has a extensive section on power stations as glazing, for light and ventilation as well as for aesthetic reasons, played an increasing role in their designs. Hope's not only specialised in window frames but also the many geared opening and ventilation systems.
Brunswick Wharf, otherwise known as Blackwall power station, was situated on the north bank of the River Thames in east London and was constructed on the site of the old Brunswick Dock. It had been planned pre-WW2 by the Poplar Borough Council's municipal electricity department but work did not commence until 1947 just before the undertaking was nationalised. The first section was commissioned in 1952 and this photo shows it still under construction - a massive brick clad structure that would eventually have two fluted reinforced concrete chimneys and that was designed by architects Farmer and Dark FFRIBA. The consulting engineers were Sir John Bruce & Partners. The station was decommissioned in 1984 and demolished in 1989.
A remarkable document this - a spirally bound 140 pages of nuts, bolts, fixings, fasteners and special forgings that were in production at the Atlas Works of Guest, Keen & Nettlefolds (Midlands) Ltd. at Darlaston in Staffordshire. The well produced catalogue has been thoughtfully published using index tabs and colours to cover the seven sections, covering black bolts and screws, high tensile, 'Bright" bolts and screws, brass as well as Specilaities and appendices.
GKN was a sprawling conglomerate based on the 1902 merger of Nettlefolds of Birmingham with Guest, Keen & Co who were themselves the product of Guest's (associated with the Welsh Dowlais Iron Co) and Keen's Patent Nut & Bolt Co. again of Birmingham. Over the decades they acquired many other similar concerns becoming a 'verically integrated' concern in that they produced iron and steel as well as formed metal into a wide variety of products. They had a loose 'structure' at the time of this catalogue although there was to be a brief interlude when the 'producing companies' were nationalised in 1951 before being reacquired between 1954 and 1955. The concern later morphed into GKN.
This doubel page shows the extent of the Atlas Works in Darlaston, south Staffordshire.
A name that I was, as a child, very familiar with as we had family who worked for EE in Preston, Lancashire, and in those days it was a household name. It was for the family as they lived in an English Electric company house and so every switch and domestic appliance had that "EE" symbol on it!
English Electric Co Ltd was formed in 1919 by the amalgamation of several UK electrical manufacturers and, a little like their bigger rival GEC, they did make almost the whole range of things electrical from appliances to generating equipment. That said their real roots were in the heavy end of the business and that suffered in the various depressions of the 1920s to the extent that by the end of the decade they were in a sorry state. By 1930 a rescue package, effectively backed by US Westinghouse interests, saved the company and under new management, along with serious pruning, EE regained some stability. As this sign testifies, they provided much of the electrical equipment for railway electrifcation as this was salvaged from a London Underground sub-station on the Northern line from the 1939/40 extensions.
In later years, EE became involved in newer technologies such as aircraft construction and computers. In 1960 the aircraft division became part of the new British Aircraft Corporation, as part of government 'backed' rationalisation plans, and in 1967 computers went to the new ICL. Then in 1968, again under government pressure, EE became part of the new company formed around their old arch rivals GEC who had the previous year acquired the third of the big three, AEI.
A fascinating trade brochure issued by Tube Products Ltd., of Oldbury - one of the Black Country towns then in Worcestershire. Tube Products Ltd was formed in 1929 by Tube Investments, the large industrial holding combine, but unusually this catalogue makes no mention of the parent company. Tube Products made use of several patents surrounding electrical welding fo tubes that TI had acquired in the 1920s. The company also incorporated H. Joyce & Co.). The booklet describes the Electrically Welded steel tube as being scientifically produced from the virgin strip leading to a more precise, accurate product than by older methods.
As can be seen from this stylish catalogue a wide range of uses were promoted for the company's products - ranging from bicycle frames, furniture, industrial products and display material. Several of the pages note other TI subsidiaries such as PEL who made furniture as well as specific designers including Wells Coates who made the most of the 'modern' looks afforded by the use of tubes.
Henry Hope & Sons Ltd were a long established manufacturer of architectural metalware and glazing systems based in Smethwick. Their publications and advertising always met high standards of typography and publishing and this wonderful and substantial book is no exception as it was printed at The Curwen Press in London and demonstrates much of their acknowledged skill.
The catalogue - Publication No. 260, issued in December 1951 - was for drawing office use giving details of specifications, sections and other information and covers a vast number of building types and architectural styles. Needless to say, although Hope's windows were sold for 'older styles' their galvanised steel glazing systems fitted well into modern architectural styles and they produced special systems for large scale projects such as office blocks, factories and power stations.
In post-war Britain the newly nationalised electricity industry was keen to catch up with the replacement of generating stations that wartime delays and use had marked down as in urgent need to replacement as well as carrying on with the move to modern, larger generating stations able to cope with increasing demand for electricity. The British Electricity Authority (later the CEA and then CEGB) inherited schemes planned by pre-nationalisation undertakings as well as designing new stations themselves. The catalogue has a extensive section on power stations as glazing, for light and ventilation as well as for aesthetic reasons, played an increasing role in their designs. Hope's not only specialised in window frames but also the many geared opening and ventilation systems.
Ocker Hill power station was, for many years, a prominent landmark in the landscape around Tipton in the heart of the Black Country. The station was originally opened for the Midland Electric Corporation in 1902 and the station passed into the control of the West Midlands Joint Electricity Authority in 1927 before nationalisation. This shows a section of 1940s reconstruction that was carried out to plans by L G Mouchel & Partners. The station was decommissioned in 1977 and demolished.
Henry Hope & Sons Ltd were a long established manufacturer of architectural metalware and glazing systems based in Smethwick. Their publications and advertising always met high standards of typography and publishing and this wonderful and substantial book is no exception as it was printed at The Curwen Press in London and demonstrates much of their acknowledged skill.
The catalogue - Publication No. 260, issued in December 1951 - was for drawing office use giving details of specifications, sections and other information and covers a vast number of building types and architectural styles. Needless to say, although Hope's windows were sold for 'older styles' their galvanised steel glazing systems fitted well into modern architectural styles and they produced special systems for large scale projects such as office blocks, factories and power stations.
In post-war Britain the newly nationalised electricity industry was keen to catch up with the replacement of generating stations that wartime delays and use had marked down as in urgent need to replacement as well as carrying on with the move to modern, larger generating stations able to cope with increasing demand for electricity. The British Electricity Authority (later the CEA and then CEGB) inherited schemes planned by pre-nationalisation undertakings as well as designing new stations themselves. The catalogue has a extensive section on power stations as glazing, for light and ventilation as well as for aesthetic reasons, played an increasing role in their designs. Hope's not only specialised in window frames but also the many geared opening and ventilation systems.
Skelton Grange had been planned by Leeds City Council's municipal electricity undertaking in pre-WW2 days but construction of the coal fired "A" station did not begin until 1946 and the undertaking was nationalised in 1948 with the incomplete station passing to the British Electricity Authority. It was commissioned between 1951 and 1956 and was joinend on the site by the "B" station in 1960/62. The A station was decommissioned in 1983 followed by the B station in 1994. This photo shows the station under construction in the late 1940s to designs by the consulting engineers, Sir Alexander Gibb & Partners.
Muck and brass! A fine, if somewhat dated even by 1920s publicity standards, illustration of some goddess of chemistry overseeing the transformation of coal into bright colours via the application of knowledge and science - oh, and that mucky plant out back! Holliday's was a well known name in the world of British dyestuffs production and this is the 'second coming' of the family name. The older concern, Read Holliday, had been amongst the pioneers of the synthetic dyestuffs industry, based on coal tar by-products, and was founded by Read Holliday in 1830. The story of the UK's dyestuffs and associated industries, including chemicals and explosives that are closely allied, is fascinating and long, suffice to say that much of the industry was effectively handed over to German companies so that when WW1 broke out there were serious issues as to the supplies of essential chemicals for explosives manufacturing and even for dying service uniforms . The Government became heavily involved through the Ministry of Munitions and they took sweeping powers to take control and when 'persuation' as to things such as mergers and combinations didn't always work amongst the rather fractious British industry, they swung behind the creation of British Dyes in 1915/16 based on purchase of Read Holliday's large plant in Huddersfield. In 1919, with postwar retrenchment in sight and with a market swamped with cheap German products thanks to repairations being part-paid in products, British Dyes merged with another old company, Levensteins of Blackley in Manchester as the British Dyestuffs Corporation. It never seemed to be a happy marriage but BDC did have important reseach chemists. The final outcome, again with some serious if behind the scenes political manoevering was the 1926 creation of ICI with BDC joining a failing United Alkali Company, bouyant Nobel Industries (explosives and chemicals) and the huge concern of Brunner, Mond.
Anyhow, I drift away from the fact that in 1916 the Holliday family got quite a lot of money from the sale to form British Dyes and Lionel Brook Holliday, the grandson, took his pot of money and set up his own dyestuffs factory just along the road! Nothing to say he couldn't, although British Dyes often muttered he took satff and knowledge with him! L B Holliday's did very well and, avoiding being acquired by ICI, became a large player in the industry in their own right. They finally sold out in 1982 to Yule, Catto, now known as Synthomer. The old Read Holliday/ICI plants have gone through many changes of wonership since ICI was dismembered although I suspect Syngenta still operate out of some of the old works.
An article on skill and craftsmanship that forms part of the Contact Book issued on the subject in May 1949 and that was edited by A G Weidenfeld. The articles take a broad look at such skills as this look at the works of Tubes Ltd of Rocky Lane in Aston, Birmingham, that was part of the large Tube Investments (TI) Group shows so as to balance the image of 'craft skills'. The drawings are by artist and illustrator Anthony Gross CBE RA (1905 - 1984) and show the Tagger, Tagger's Mate, furnace man and servicing assistant, a team of four who are drawing tubes. The article considers the new time and motion studies that Tubes Ltd had embarked upon to increase productivity int he years of post-war austerity and the export drive.
Henry Hope & Sons Ltd were a long established manufacturer of architectural metalware and glazing systems based in Smethwick. Their publications and advertising always met high standards of typography and publishing and this wonderful and substantial book is no exception as it was printed at The Curwen Press in London and demonstrates much of their acknowledged skill.
The catalogue - Publication No. 260, issued in December 1951 - was for drawing office use giving details of specifications, sections and other information and covers a vast number of building types and architectural styles. Needless to say, although Hope's windows were sold for 'older styles' their galvanised steel glazing systems fitted well into modern architectural styles and they produced special systems for large scale projects such as office blocks, factories and power stations.
In post-war Britain the newly nationalised electricity industry was keen to catch up with the replacement of generating stations that wartime delays and use had marked down as in urgent need to replacement as well as carrying on with the move to modern, larger generating stations able to cope with increasing demand for electricity. The British Electricity Authority (later the CEA and then CEGB) inherited schemes planned by pre-nationalisation undertakings as well as designing new stations themselves. The catalogue has a extensive section on power stations as glazing, for light and ventilation as well as for aesthetic reasons, played an increasing role in their designs. Hope's not only specialised in window frames but also the many geared opening and ventilation systems.
The cover is finished in a Curwen pattern paper (Colourway No. 130B) and is a design by Edward Bawden. The title is a pasted slip.
A suitably modernist take for what was regarded as Britain's most 'modern' city, Coventry. Issued to help attract additional industry to the city by the Council in 1935 the leaflet makes claim to being at the centre of Industrial England and that it was truly a city of 'progress'. It is true that it was home to a raft of relatively modern industries, based around engineering, and that had sprung from late Victorian origins in trades such as bicycle manufacturing. By 1935 it was home to a substantial number of British car manufacturers as well as the ancilliary trades that supported the motor industry. There was also a notable presence in the electrical and machine tool trades.
The Council were active in promoting industrial sites within the boundaries, as well as promoting services that supported industry such as energy supplies, transport and a skilled workforce. The cover is suitable 'Things to Come' with the city of 'Three Spires' and three modes of transport. The appearence of an airplane was, sadly, to be prescient of what was to happen in five short years time when Coventry became one of so many cities subject to aerial bombardment in the Second World War. The very industries extolled here made it a strategic target for German forces and the city was so badly blitzed it gave rise to a word of sorts - to Coventrate.
In 1950 the Bowater Paper Corporation of London started to issue an occassional journal to help provide "a stimulating commentary" on paper, its production, history and contemporary use. Needless to say it was produced to a high standard, if only to show off its own products, and several well known designers and artists of the period were commissioned for cover artwork and illustrations.
One of the major articles in this issue is on wallpaper - design and production - and the type of Bowater paper produced for this specialised product. As part of the issue a fold out inset shows four specially designed wallpapers, commissioned from five then well known and popular designers.
These are a design for a hall by Sylvia Priestley MSIA; Design for a dining room by Lucienne Day MSIA ; design for a nursery by Jacqueline Groag FSIA; and a design for a bedroom by Diana Armfield and Roy Pasanno MSSIA.
A lavish colour advert that appears in the special Christmas issue of Sport and Country Magazine that went under the name of "Holly Leaves". The Rootes Group of companies was based around a family concern of motor dealers formed in 1913 and that went on during the inter-war years to acquire several car and commercial vehicle manufacturing concerns, mostly based in Coventry, Warwickshire. As the advert shows Rootes continued to be major exporters of motor vehicles across the globe.
The Hillman and Humber concerns were purchased by Rootes in 1928 and 1929 respectively, with Sunbeam following in 1934. The marques were positioned at a slightly higher premium than several other UK volume car producers on the basis that they exhibited a level of superiority in terms of design and construction as this advert suggests. The advert itself is of interest as this view of a car production line is by the well known artist Terence Cuneo who specialised in transport scenes, such as railway posters, but also undertook various commissions of 'industrial' subjects such as this.
In 1950 the Bowater Paper Corporation of London started to issue an occassional journal to help provide "a stimulating commentary" on paper, its production, history and contemporary use. Needless to say it was produced to a high standard, if only to show off its own products, and several well known designers and artists of the period were commissioned for cover artwork and illustrations.
One of the major articles in this issue is on wallpaper - design and production - and the type of Bowater paper produced for this specialised product. As part of the issue a fold out inset shows four specially designed wallpapers, commissioned from five then well known and popular designers.
These are a design for a hall by Sylvia Priestley MSIA; Design for a dining room by Lucienne Day MSIA ; design for a nursery by Jacqueline Groag FSIA; and a design for a bedroom by Diana Armfield and Roy Pasanno MSSIA.
A fascinating trade brochure issued by Tube Products Ltd., of Oldbury - one of the Black Country towns then in Worcestershire. Tube Products Ltd was formed in 1929 by Tube Investments, the large industrial holding combine, but unusually this catalogue makes no mention of the parent company. Tube Products made use of several patents surrounding electrical welding fo tubes that TI had acquired in the 1920s. The company also incorporated H. Joyce & Co.). The booklet describes the Electrically Welded steel tube as being scientifically produced from the virgin strip leading to a more precise, accurate product than by older methods.
As can be seen from this stylish catalogue a wide range of uses were promoted for the company's products - ranging from bicycle frames, furniture, industrial products and display material. Several of the pages note other TI subsidiaries such as PEL who made furniture as well as specific designers including Wells Coates who made the most of the 'modern' looks afforded by the use of tubes.
The title page has a half page flap that opens to show 'tubes ont he move' relating to the company's products as used in the then very popular bicycle industry.
In 1950 the Bowater Paper Corporation of London started to issue an occassional journal to help provide "a stimulating commentary" on paper, its production, history and contemporary use. Needless to say it was produced to a high standard, if only to show off its own products, and several well known designers and artists of the period were commissioned for cover artwork and illustrations.
One of the major articles in this issue is on wallpaper - design and production - and the type of Bowater paper produced for this specialised product. As part of the issue a fold out inset shows four specially designed wallpapers, commissioned from five then well known and popular designers.
These are a design for a hall by Sylvia Priestley MSIA; Design for a dining room by Lucienne Day MSIA ; design for a nursery by Jacqueline Groag FSIA; and a design for a bedroom by Diana Armfield and Roy Pasanno MSSIA.
The name of Guest, Keen & Nettlefolds Ltd was one of the best known in UK engineering and has an immense pedigree tracing its roots back to 1759 and the foundation of the Dowlais Iron Works in Wales. Subsequent mergers of many companies lead to an almost vertically integrated company that made iron and steel and processed it in many forms. The GKN name came from largely Birmingham concerns of Nettlefolds who, in 1902, had joined the Guest, Keen company after it had bought out Dowlais. The GKN company is still in business, albeit divested of most of its 'heavy' engineering side. The Nettlefolds brand for screws and fasteners is also still on the go, a testimony to J H Nettlefold (1823 - 1881), the man who had formed an almost complete monopoly in the UK wood screw business. The advert - as well as extolling 'buy British' - shows a lovely range of different screws, bolts and rivets, each with a very specific task. Some nice lettering tucked away in this advert as well.
In 1950 the Bowater Paper Corporation of London started to issue an occassional journal to help provide "a stimulating commentary" on paper, its production, history and contemporary use. Needless to say it was produced to a high standard, if only to show off its own products, and several well known designers and artists of the period were commissioned for cover artwork and illustrations. This cover, showing the world and Bowater's production and sales sites, is by Frederick Henri Kay Henrion (1914 - 1990) the German born, British based graphic designer who is credited with many of well known corporate identities of the mid to late Twentieth Century.
A remarkable document this - a spirally bound 140 pages of nuts, bolts, fixings, fasteners and special forgings that were in production at the Atlas Works of Guest, Keen & Nettlefolds (Midlands) Ltd. at Darlaston in Staffordshire. The well produced catalogue has been thoughtfully published using index tabs and colours to cover the seven sections, covering black - japanned bolts and screws, high tensile, 'Bright" bolts and screws, brass as well as Specilaities and appendices.
GKN was a sprawling conglomerate based on the 1902 merger of Nettlefolds of Birmingham with Guest, Keen & Co who were themselves the product of Guest's (associated with the Welsh Dowlais Iron Co) and Keen's Patent Nut & Bolt Co. again of Birmingham. Over the decades they acquired many other similar concerns becoming a 'verically integrated' concern in that they produced iron and steel as well as formed metal into a wide variety of products. They had a loose 'structure' at the time of this catalogue although there was to be a brief interlude when the 'producing companies' were nationalised in 1951 before being reacquired between 1954 and 1955. The concern later morphed into GKN.
The title page shows the globe held in place by a GKN bolt and nut - the company that spanned the world.
The 1955 City of Leicester official guide has three pages of adverts isssued by the Bentley Engineering Co Ltd., a major group of manufacturers involved in the production of specialist knitting machines, frames and accessories for the hosiery and garment industries. Leicester was at the centre of such trade, the East Midlands and cities such as Leicester and Nottingham, along with several other towns in both counties, being home to numerous specialist textile companies making such special items as socks, stockings and garments such as pullovers taht use highly ingenious knitting frames made by Bentley's and the various subsidiary companies.
Bentley's had started business in 1910 to make scientific instruments but diversified after WW1 into knitting frames and then quite rapidly acquiring similar concerns across the East Midlands and in Scotland. One name that stands out here, as leicester based company, is that of Wildt & Company Limited, of Adelaide Works on Aylestone Road in Leicester. Bentley's themselves had quite an inter-war 'Art Deco' style works in the city that has survived the collapse of the group, and closures, that occurred in c1988. One of the trademarks used for their machines was "Komet" as can be seen in several places on these adverts.
The adverts themselves are very detailed and very colour-rich, quite the statement.
The 1955 City of Leicester official guide has three pages of adverts isssued by the Bentley Engineering Co Ltd., a major group of manufacturers involved in the production of specialist knitting machines, frames and accessories for the hosiery and garment industries. Leicester was at the centre of such trade, the East Midlands and cities such as Leicester and Nottingham, along with several other towns in both counties, being home to numerous specialist textile companies making such special items as socks, stockings and garments such as pullovers taht use highly ingenious knitting frames made by Bentley's and the various subsidiary companies.
Bentley's had started business in 1910 to make scientific instruments but diversified after WW1 into knitting frames and then quite rapidly acquiring similar concerns across the East Midlands and in Scotland. One name that stands out here, as leicester based company, is that of Wildt & Company Limited, of Adelaide Works on Aylestone Road in Leicester. Bentley's themselves had quite an inter-war 'Art Deco' style works in the city that has survived the collapse of the group, and closures, that occurred in c1988. One of the trademarks used for their machines was "Komet" as can be seen in several places on these adverts.
The adverts themselves are very detailed and very colour-rich, quite the statement.
A remarkable document this - a spirally bound 140 pages of nuts, bolts, fixings, fasteners and special forgings that were in production at the Atlas Works of Guest, Keen & Nettlefolds (Midlands) Ltd. at Darlaston in Staffordshire. The well produced catalogue has been thoughtfully published using index tabs and colours to cover the seven sections, covering black bolts and screws, high tensile, 'Bright" bolts and screws, brass as well as Specilaities and appendices.
GKN was a sprawling conglomerate based on the 1902 merger of Nettlefolds of Birmingham with Guest, Keen & Co who were themselves the product of Guest's (associated with the Welsh Dowlais Iron Co) and Keen's Patent Nut & Bolt Co. again of Birmingham. Over the decades they acquired many other similar concerns becoming a 'verically integrated' concern in that they produced iron and steel as well as formed metal into a wide variety of products. They had a loose 'structure' at the time of this catalogue although there was to be a brief interlude when the 'producing companies' were nationalised in 1951 before being reacquired between 1954 and 1955. The concern later morphed into GKN.
Along side the 'section of the warehouse' the contents pages and index markers for the various product groups. Again, who ever produced the catalogue had obviously given the design and typography some consideration.
Henry Hope & Sons Ltd were a long established manufacturer of architectural metalware and glazing systems based in Smethwick. Their publications and advertising always met high standards of typography and publishing and this wonderful and substantial book is no exception as it was printed at The Curwen Press in London and demonstrates much of their acknowledged skill.
The catalogue - Publication No. 260, issued in December 1951 - was for drawing office use giving details of specifications, sections and other information and covers a vast number of building types and architectural styles. Needless to say, although Hope's windows were sold for 'older styles' their galvanised steel glazing systems fitted well into modern architectural styles and they produced special systems for large scale projects such as office blocks, factories and power stations.
In post-war Britain the newly nationalised electricity industry was keen to catch up with the replacement of generating stations that wartime delays and use had marked down as in urgent need to replacement as well as carrying on with the move to modern, larger generating stations able to cope with increasing demand for electricity. The British Electricity Authority (later the CEA and then CEGB) inherited schemes planned by pre-nationalisation undertakings as well as designing new stations themselves. The catalogue has a extensive section on power stations as glazing, for light and ventilation as well as for aesthetic reasons, played an increasing role in their designs. Hope's not only specialised in window frames but also the many geared opening and ventilation systems.
The title page with the Hope's logotype and in two colours.
In 1950 the Bowater Paper Corporation of London started to issue an occassional journal to help provide "a stimulating commentary" on paper, its production, history and contemporary use. Needless to say it was produced to a high standard, if only to show off its own products, and several well known designers and artists of the period were commissioned for cover artwork and illustrations.
One of the major articles in this issue is on wallpaper - design and production - and the type of Bowater paper produced for this specialised product. As part of the issue a fold out inset shows four specially designed wallpapers, commissioned from five then well known and popular designers.
These are a design for a hall by Sylvia Priestley MSIA; Design for a dining room by Lucienne Day MSIA ; design for a nursery by Jacqueline Groag FSIA; and a design for a bedroom by Diana Armfield and Roy Passano MSSIA.
The 1955 City of Leicester official guide has three pages of adverts isssued by the Bentley Engineering Co Ltd., a major group of manufacturers involved in the production of specialist knitting machines, frames and accessories for the hosiery and garment industries. Leicester was at the centre of such trade, the East Midlands and cities such as Leicester and Nottingham, along with several other towns in both counties, being home to numerous specialist textile companies making such special items as socks, stockings and garments such as pullovers taht use highly ingenious knitting frames made by Bentley's and the various subsidiary companies.
Bentley's had started business in 1910 to make scientific instruments but diversified after WW1 into knitting frames and then quite rapidly acquiring similar concerns across the East Midlands and in Scotland. One name that stands out here, as leicester based company, is that of Wildt & Company Limited, of Adelaide Works on Aylestone Road in Leicester. Bentley's themselves had quite an inter-war 'Art Deco' style works in the city that has survived the collapse of the group, and closures, that occurred in c1988. One of the trademarks used for their machines was "Komet" as can be seen in several places on these adverts.
The adverts themselves are very detailed and very colour-rich, quite the statement.
Henry Hope & Sons Ltd were a long established manufacturer of architectural metalware and glazing systems based in Smethwick. Their publications and advertising always met high standards of typography and publishing and this wonderful and substantial book is no exception as it was printed at The Curwen Press in London and demonstrates much of their acknowledged skill.
The catalogue - Publication No. 260, issued in December 1951 - was for drawing office use giving details of specifications, sections and other information and covers a vast number of building types and architectural styles. Needless to say, although Hope's windows were sold for 'older styles' their galvanised steel glazing systems fitted well into modern architectural styles and they produced special systems for large scale projects such as office blocks, factories and power stations.
One section deals with the company's production of bronze framed windows that were described as being "for monumental buildings and, indeed, any first-class structure". The catalogue includes various examples of their use. This page shows bronze windows manufactured by the company's predecessors and used in the Palace of Westminster to the designs of Sir Charles Barry.
A suitably modernist take for what was regarded as Britain's most 'modern' city, Coventry. Issued to help attract additional industry to the city by the Council in 1935 the leaflet makes claim to being at the centre of Industrial England and that it was truly a city of 'progress'. It is true that it was home to a raft of relatively modern industries, based around engineering, and that had sprung from late Victorian origins in trades such as bicycle manufacturing. By 1935 it was home to a substantial number of British car manufacturers as well as the ancilliary trades that supported the motor industry. There was also a notable presence in the electrical and machine tool trades.
The Council were active in promoting industrial sites within the boundaries, as well as promoting services that supported industry such as energy supplies, transport and a skilled workforce. The cover is suitable 'Things to Come' with the city of 'Three Spires' and three modes of transport. The appearence of an airplane was, sadly, to be prescient of what was to happen in five short years time when Coventry became one of so many cities subject to aerial bombardment in the Second World War. The very industries extolled here made it a strategic target for German forces and the city was so badly blitzed it gave rise to a word of sorts - to Coventrate.
These folds end with the note - 'all are prosperous' and to an extent this was seen as being 'true' in comparison with older and heavier industrial areas in the UK (such as cotton) that had not been as buffered against The Depression of the early '30s as Coventry, with newer industries, perhaps had been.
A remarkable document this - a spirally bound 140 pages of nuts, bolts, fixings, fasteners and special forgings that were in production at the Atlas Works of Guest, Keen & Nettlefolds (Midlands) Ltd. at Darlaston in Staffordshire. The well produced catalogue has been thoughtfully published using index tabs and colours to cover the seven sections, covering black - japanned bolts and screws, high tensile, 'Bright" bolts and screws, brass as well as Specilaities and appendices.
GKN was a sprawling conglomerate based on the 1902 merger of Nettlefolds of Birmingham with Guest, Keen & Co who were themselves the product of Guest's (associated with the Welsh Dowlais Iron Co) and Keen's Patent Nut & Bolt Co. again of Birmingham. Over the decades they acquired many other similar concerns becoming a 'verically integrated' concern in that they produced iron and steel as well as formed metal into a wide variety of products. They had a loose 'structure' at the time of this catalogue although there was to be a brief interlude when the 'producing companies' were nationalised in 1951 before being reacquired between 1954 and 1955. The concern later morphed into GKN.
This page shows the names and addresses of the various regional offices of GKM and its representatives. Whoever produced this gave the typefaces and typography some thought.
Associated Electrical Industries were one of the UK's largest electrical and engineering concerns for many years in the mid-20th century and they encompassed, as seen here, a wide range of allied subidiery companies. AEI, a holding company, had been formed by merger of Metropolitan-Vickers, the Manchester based electrical giant, and British Thomson-Houston based in Rugby, in 1928. These two companies, with often internally competing products and management structures, were in time to prove problematic for AEI although the final abandonment of the brands in 1959 was to prove equally troubling as the well-established brand loyalties of M-V and BT-H were not recognised in the AEI brand. AEI were to be merged into the expanded GEC, a great rival for decades, in the 1966/7 rationalisation of the UK's heavy electrical engineering business.
Anyhow this advert makes great play of the combined strength of the group and of the use of the ampersand to show who was who int he group along with vignette illustrations of the subsidiery company's products. We have both MV and BTH showing the same products followed by
- cathode ray tubes by Edison Swan Electric Co Ltd (the early producer of gas filled lamps and owner of the Ediswan trade mark), formed in 1883 to halt the tussles betwen the two 'inventors' of the light bulb. The company had factories in Ponders End, Brimsdown and Sunderland,
- a washing machine by the domestic appliance branch of Hotpoint, the American brand formed in 1911 and whose UK subsidiary had been formed in 1920,
- switchgear by Ferguson Pailin, a Manchester based company formed in 1913 and whose main works survived until 2002/3,
- control equipment by Sunvic Controls Ltd, a company formed in 1933 to make thermostats and control switches and based in Hamilton,
- refrigeration by International Refrigerators, a prewar manufacturer of BTH branded fridges and based in Llandudno Junction and whow ere taken over by AEI in the 1940s,
- more domestic appliances by Premier Electric Heaters Ltd
and then at the other end of the scale,
- industrial arc furnaces by Birlec Ltd. AEI had only recently acquired this company from Mond Nickel and it had been formed in 1927 as the Birmingham Electric Furnace Co Ltd.
This is 3M™ Dual Lock™ "velcro". Each side is identically patterned with these "mushrooms". The advantage to this over traditional hook-and-loop fasteners is that the strong stalks provide much better hanging support for large posters. The caps interlock over each other, sticking the two pieces together. Each shroom is approximately 1.5mm tall. The red you see is from the 3M logo on the adhesive backing.
As the "undisputed king of Velcro photography", I feel obliged to periodically post some of these zoomified adhesive systems.
I took this photo with an Olympus E330 mounted to a Nikon SMZ1500 stereomicroscope using a combination of diascopic and episcopic illumination.
A suitably modernist take for what was regarded as Britain's most 'modern' city, Coventry. Issued to help attract additional industry to the city by the Council in 1935 the leaflet makes claim to being at the centre of Industrial England and that it was truly a city of 'progress'. It is true that it was home to a raft of relatively modern industries, based around engineering, and that had sprung from late Victorian origins in trades such as bicycle manufacturing. By 1935 it was home to a substantial number of British car manufacturers as well as the ancilliary trades that supported the motor industry. There was also a notable presence in the electrical and machine tool trades.
The Council were active in promoting industrial sites within the boundaries, as well as promoting services that supported industry such as energy supplies, transport and a skilled workforce. The cover is suitable 'Things to Come' with the city of 'Three Spires' and three modes of transport. The appearence of an airplane was, sadly, to be prescient of what was to happen in five short years time when Coventry became one of so many cities subject to aerial bombardment in the Second World War. The very industries extolled here made it a strategic target for German forces and the city was so badly blitzed it gave rise to a word of sorts - to Coventrate.
The inner folds open out to this photomontage of scenes of industry and assembly including car production, electrical works, rayon production (Courtaulds) and aircraft manufacturing. It was "The City of Progress".