1950s Grenfell Cloth shooting/hiking jacket

[pipvh]

Very excited about this lucky find on the 'bay:

It's a shooting jacket by Cordings of Piccadilly in Grenfell Cloth, with ventilated, gusseted underarms and chin-strap. I can't wait to see how it performs in the wet - I'll be posting my findings on the Ventile thread if anyone's interested. It's a bit massive but hopefully it can be taken in a bit here and there. It looks like a classic walking/climbing jacket - it even has a mountaineer on the label:

In fact it reminds me a little bit of the recreated George Mallory jacket.

I wonder if it had a belt originally - I'll find out soon enough. I'm guessing '50s and I doubt it's later than the early 1960s, though I'd love to hear from anyone with a better idea!

 

[BellyTank]

Congrats on that purchase.
I watched that one for a while.
It may be newer than you think-


B
T

 

[pipvh]

Thanks, BT.

It may be newer than you think-

Really? What makes you think so (I don't doubt you for a moment)?

 

[BellyTank]

The labels, for one thing- I would think they are well later than '60s.
The jacket doesn't really have a shape, or style to attach an age to
but I would place it later.

I have been wrong before, though.

But if it's quality, it's quality-


B
T

 

[Creeping Past]

If it's too big and unconvertible, I wouldn't mind testing it properly for you.

 

[H.Johnson]

Haythornthwaite used to make these for several London "huntin', shootin' an' fishin'" shops, including Purdey and (like yours) Cordings. They were usually part of a suit, with breeches. Look at the Purdey site and you will possibly see a similar jacket on sale today (with a belt).

 

[H.Johnson]

Permission requested from the originator to open up this thread to a general discussion of (vintage) Grenfell clothing. Both Hal and I are long-term Grenfell wearers and have been exchanging PMs. There may be wider interest.

 

[pipvh]

I was hoping you'd join us, Mr Johnson! Could you hazard a date, by any chance (the Cordings label looks old-ish. 1970s ones were white, I think, without 'Basingstoke' and 'Newbury' in the legend)?

Yes, I saw the Purdey jacket - looks virtually identical. I'm very much hoping this fits or can be made to fit, as that'll save me a lot of mucking about with dyeing safari jackets or similiar Quixotic pursuits my loved ones won't understand...

 

[pipvh]

I almost nipped in to Purdeys the other day, in fact, to look at that very jacket, but I bottled out at the last moment: couldn't stand the thought of the assistants' steely and supercilious looks as I pawed a jacket I wasn't - ever - going to buy!

 

[pipvh]

Permission requested from the originator to open up this thread to a general discussion of (vintage) Grenfell clothing. Both Hal and I are long-term Grenfell wearers and have been exchanging PMs. There may be wider interest.

Permission granted, with pleasure.

 

[Hal]

Could you hazard a date, by any chance (the Cordings label looks old-ish. 1970s ones were white, I think, without 'Basingstoke' and 'Newbury' in the legend)?

May I leap in here? I cannot comment on the Cordings label, but my two jackets (one bought in 1966 or 1967 and one, I think, dating from the 1980s) have labels looking like the Grenfell label on your jacket but specifically stating "made from Grenfell cloth".

 

[H.Johnson]

Hal,

Yes, thanks. This point is crucial. Not all Grenfell garments are in Grenfell cloth.

 

[pipvh]

Not all Grenfell garments are in Grenfell cloth.

Hmm, that would be annoying. However, given the nature of this particular garment, I'm hoping that it IS in fact the famous cloth. But I might need some pointers from our experts as to how I verify that.

 

[dr greg]

Please Do

Permission requested from the originator to open up this thread to a general discussion of (vintage) Grenfell clothing. Both Hal and I are long-term Grenfell wearers and have been exchanging PMs. There may be wider interest.

I'd be interested to learn more...I see they have Trenches going for about 600 GBP these days...are they the original cloth?

 

[H.Johnson]

This jacket, unless it is much later than it appears to be, is almost certainly made of Grenfell cloth woven at Lodge Mill near Burnley. You'll know it when you feel it. It is very smooth (slick) and crisp. The fine-ness of the twill is amazing. Under magnification you can see the twill, but this is hardly perceptible to the naked eye. The woven cloth is slightly reflective so that in a natural colour it has a slight blue cast in some lights. This probably won't be apparent in this case, due to the colour.

The tightness of the weave is, in fact, its only weakness (OK, I'm biased) in that it wears at the edges of hems and sleeves. That's another pointer.

Recently I've been trying to do some comparisons between Ventile(R) and its similar fabrics and Grenfell cloth. I'm not happy with the validity of the results yet, but Grenfell cloth is putting in an impressive performance.

Hmm, that would be annoying. However, given the nature of this particular garment, I'm hoping that it IS in fact the famous cloth. But I might need some pointers from our experts as to how I verify that.

 

[H.Johnson]

The answer to this has to be, 'No', to which I hope we can soon add, 'Not yet...'.

I can't be any more specific at the moment, but there are legal issues that need to be resolved before we can expect a return to 'the good old days'.

I'd be interested to learn more...I see they have Trenches going for about 600 GBP these days...are they the original cloth?

 

[H.Johnson]

For me, the great thing about a jacket like this is not how old it is, but the range of dates from which it could come. I have Burberry adverts from the early 1920s that show this style. The 'Mallory jacket' that Ms. Anderson reconstructed from 1923 had almost exactly the same features. You can go into Purdey's in 2010 and buy a very similar jacket (albeit in Ventile(R) rather than Burberry or Grenfell twill and with a slightly different collar). This example could be from the 1950s or the 1980s (but not after 1990). Personally, I wouldn't worry about the exact date. This style of fishing jacket has remained unchanged for almost 90 years, possibly because it doesn't need to. For me, that is very much what this forum is about and I think we should celebrate it.

 

[pipvh]

This style of fishing jacket has remained unchanged for almost 90 years, possibly because it doesn't need to. For me, that is very much what this forum is about and I think we should celebrate it.

I couldn't agree more.

 

[H.Johnson]

I have found the article in the British Medical Journal by Wilfred Grenfell on the design of cold weather clothing for medical use in Labrador and North Newfoundland. This article may be said to have started the whole Grenfell legend, leading to his meeting with Walter Haythornthwaite.

It contains what is basically a specification for Artic and sub-Arctic anoraks, mittens and trousers, with drawings.

For those who have volumes of the BMJ going back to the early 1900s, the reference is:
Grenfell W.T (1916) NOTES ON CLOTHING AGAINST COLD, British Medical Journal, January. Vol. 1. Pp 86 - 87.

For those who don't, it is available on line. But that's cheating...

 

[Creeping Past]

For those who don't, it is available on line. But that's cheating...

Thanks for the ref. Of course, it's much less tempting to 'cheat' when you've access to archived journals. My local library doesn't 'do' books, let alone journals: like many in Britain today it's an open plan space designed to prevent people from thinking and reading.