Montague Burton CC41 Suit 36

[Baron Kurtz]

Here the latest bullet i need to bite down upon. This is just too big for me. It is a true size 36. Made by Montague Burton with CC41 labels in each piece. There are two very small (~1/8") mends at the bottom of the right outseam. They're quite well done and certainly would never stop me wearing it.

Measurements

Jacket
Chest: 20.25"
Waist: 18"
Shoulder: 17.25"
Back Length: 29"
Arm from shoulder: ~23.5"

Waistcoat
Chest: 19"
Length from collar to tip: 22.5"

Trousers
Waist: 32"
Outseam: 41.5"
Inseam: 29"
Cuff: 10", 1.75"

External suspender buttons, button fly. No watch pocket and offset double button waistband fastening. No extender tab at waistband.

Suspender buttons are etched Montague Burton. And a CC41 label.

From the inner top right pocket of the waistband.

And the Montague Burton label in the jacket.

As always, PM interest.

bk

 

[Baron Kurtz]

I must add that Burton was possibly the best maker of OTR demob-type suits . . . This one displays top notch workmanship throughout.

bk

 

[herringbonekid]

that would fit me to a tee if it was 2 inches longer in the leg.

(and if i could get over my DB fear).

 

[PADDY]

Why oh Why...

...are these cracking suits always too small for me?[huh] You want to know something else Mr B-K..? That suit looks good on you from the photos, really good. But you know better than anyone how well a good fitting suit feels 'on you.'
Gents, start the queue for this gem!!:eusa_clap

 

[Baron Kurtz]

Jacket and waistcoat are about 2" too big through the chest and the troos are 2" big in the waist. (i know how to take photos to make it look better.) And i've given up trying to think i like the look of 4x1 DBs on me.

bk

p.s. Paddy, you just wait for BKs goody-bag . . .

 

[herringbonekid]

hey, i've got that black and white rug !

 

[PADDY]

Goody bags..?

"Come to Mamma!!"


"Right, back to business gents, great little three-piece-number here, roll on up...!!!" :eusa_clap :eusa_clap :eusa_clap

 

[Baron Kurtz]

hey, i've got that black and white rug !

I don't remember where it came from, but probably late 1990s.

bk

 

[Alan Eardley]

I must add that Burton was possibly the best maker of OTR demob-type suits . . . This one displays top notch workmanship throughout.

bk

Possibly? Definitely! In the 1940s Burton's Hudson Road factory was the largest clothing factory in the world - it had a canteen that would seat 3000 people - and there were two sittings for dinner!

Montague promised, 'A five guinea suit for 55 shillings' . The subtlety of this sales pitch will, I fear, be lost on many people nowadays. Can anyone work out the price from the label in BK's suit?

He was still undercut by 'The Fifty Shilling Tailor', but had the undoubted edge in terms of quality. As you say, BK, working class couture at its best - a 'Full Monty' was what every working man aspired to in the 40s and 50s.

At that time there were street protests in India against cheap textile and clothing imports from Lancashire and Yorkshire putting local people out of work.

How things have changed in my lifetime. Sometimes it's not easy being old...

Alan

 

[cookie]

Possibly? Definitely! In the 1940s Burton's Hudson Road factory was the largest clothing factory in the world - it had a canteen that would seat 3000 people - and there were two sittings for dinner!

Montague promised, 'A five guinea suit for 55 shillings' . The subtlety of this sales pitch will, I fear, be lost on many people nowadays. Can anyone work out the price from the label in BK's suit?

He was still undercut by 'The Fifty Shilling Tailor', but had the undoubted edge in terms of quality. As you say, BK, working class couture at its best - a 'Full Monty' was what every working man aspired to in the 40s and 50s.

At that time there were street protests in India against cheap textile and clothing imports from Lancashire and Yorkshire putting local people out of work.

How things have changed in my lifetime. Sometimes it's not easy being old...

Alan

Alan, ironically, the protests during the early Industrial revolution oop North stopped the import of cheap clothing from India when that first cut in (eg Madras cloth etc) Plus ca change...

 

[Baron Kurtz]

Possibly? Definitely!

I was trying not to offend the Hepworths afficianados

Can anyone work out the price from the label in BK's suit?

errr, i think 195 shillings old money. But old money was out 7 years before my birth so i'm not the person to convert that value. My dad would know, though. he's been regaling me with stories of going in to Aberdeen to get his first John Collier suit made up in 1963.

bk

 

[Micawber]

Ah, proper money! Like Alan I'm old enough to remember and have used it. I distinctly remember teaching my grandparents the difference between the old and the new back when we went decimal.

So, 12d (12 old pennies) = 1 shilling ( 1/- )
20 /- = £1.

Nice suit BTW BK

 

[Baron Kurtz]

I think the biggest mistake in the changeover was the retention of the term "shilling" to describe 5 new pence. They should have stamped out all use of old money terms other than pence/penny as the basic unit. retaining Shilling just made it more confusing in the long run. (though i cannot see how a 'base ten' system can ever be confusing)

bk

 

[Alan Eardley]

Ah, proper money! Like Alan I'm old enough to remember and have used it. I distinctly remember teaching my grandparents the difference between the old and the new back when we went decimal.

So, 12d (12 old pennies) = 1 shilling ( 1/- )
20 /- = £1.

Nice suit BTW BK

And 195/ (shillings) is nine pounds fifteen shillings. Ahh, I enjoyed saying that. It sounds worth a lot, somehow. Let's add a tanner. Nine pounds fifteen and sixpence. Sounds like it's worth even more now, eh? Real money we had in them days, not like now...

As MB tended to price their suits at about a weeks wage (oops, I nearly put 'salary') for the average working man, that would put this suit around around the early 1950s, wouldn't you think, Bro? When did CC41 end - I think it was still being used in 1952?

Alan

 

[Baron Kurtz]

So, 12d (12 old pennies) = 1 shilling ( 1/- )
20 /- = £1.

Nice suit BTW BK

So this suit cost 9 pounds 15 shillings (old money)?

bk

p.s. could someone please tell me the ANSCI code for pound? Damn this American keyboard to hell!

 

[Warden]

I cannot believe it, I am too big for it.

What a shame, as it is a real find.

Harry

 

[Micawber]

And 195/ (shillings) is nine pounds fifteen shillings. Ahh, I enjoyed saying that. It sounds worth a lot, somehow. Let's add a tanner. Nine pounds fifteen and sixpence. Sounds like it's worth even more now, eh? Real money we had in them days, not like now...

As MB tended to price their suits at about a weeks wage (oops, I nearly put 'salary') for the average working man, that would put this suit around around the middle of the 1950s, wouldn't you think, Bro?

Alan

Aye, if you reckon on 8 quid a week average in the early 50's.

 

[Alan Eardley]

Got the answer...

Clothing control on men's suits ended in 1949. That would probably be the last date for this beauty. If it's earlier, that makes it one hell of an expensive suit! Mind you, that's what it looks like even today.

Alan

 

[Baron Kurtz]

And 195/ (shillings) is nine pounds fifteen shillings. Ahh, I enjoyed saying that. It sounds worth a lot, somehow. Let's add a tanner. Nine pounds fifteen and sixpence. Sounds like it's worth even more now, eh? Real money we had in them days, not like now...

As MB tended to price their suits at about a weeks wage (oops, I nearly put 'salary') for the average working man, that would put this suit around around the early 1950s, wouldn't you think, Bro? When did CC41 end - I think it was still being used in 1952?

Alan

I thought the clothing rationing had finished earlier than the end of general rationing.

(p.s. this waistcoat has only 5 buttons. Wasn't this one of the CC41 limitations? When did they start putting 6 buttons in waistcoats again? Certainly by the mid 1950s.)

bk

 

[Baron Kurtz]

Damn you Eardley, you're beating me to the punch every time today . . .

bk