jump to 1936-7 >>1938-9>> 1945-6>> 1946-7>> 1947-8>> 1948-9>> 1952-3>> 1954-5>> 1958-9>>Excursions >>Membership numbers
MEMBERSHIP
Over the 24-year period covered by the Journals, membership fluctuates, but was always over 200, apart from the first session after the War (1945-6), when total membership was 185, with 84 individual members. Despite this, the average attendance at meetings was 150!
Company membership rose steadily from 56 in 1936-7 to 133 in 1957-8 and this number included banks. Individual membership was 136 in 1935-6, fell to 84 (see above) and then rose to reach 259 in 1958-9. Total membership rose from 264 in 1935-6 to 391 in 1958-9. The Journal of 1936-7 reports that there were 63 vice-presidents in that year, compared to 62 the year before. Could these have been non-paying members? This sub-division is not repeated in any subsequent Journal.
GENERAL COMMENTS
Some issues never change: in 1936-7, the Hon Secretary in his notes bemoaned the fact that only 66% of members had paid their subscriptions (there are no details of the size of subscriptions in any Journal).
Prizes were awarded in:
- Woollen yarn manufacture
- Worsted yarn manufacture
- Waving and designing
- Cloth finishing.
Prizes continued to be awarded in these categories until 1958-9.
The 1945-6 Journal reported a visit made by Guy Crowther (President) to Germany, as a member of the Woollen and Worsted Manufacturers’ Panel, whose instruction was to survey ‘our’ branch of German industry in all its aspects. He referred to people on the streets looking “sallow in colour and drab in clothing; such shops as there were had little to offer. However, he was more optimistic about the prospects of the German wool textile industry.
The 1948-9 Journal reported the address by the President (Fred Haigh – also Chairman of the Wool Textile Delegation) at the annual dinner on:
- Exports
- Nationalisation
- Standards of manufacture
- Presentation and labelling
LECTURES - GENERAL
The number of lectures number of lectures per session was normally 10, but there were 8 in 1945-6, 1954-5 and only 4 in 1958-9. Films were often shown, either as part of the lecture, or as a separate event.
Attendances varied and average attendances were usually noted in the Journals. The average attendance in 1935-6 was 80; this declined to ‘only’ 50 a year later, reached 150 in 1945-6 and 166 a year later. This fell to 147 in 1947-8: the Journal editor, however, notes that the average might have been 170 but for the adverse wintry weather (this was the famous cold, snowy and long-lasting winter).
By the 1950s, despite increased membership figures, average attendances had fallen to 97 (1954-5) and 87 (1958-9). Individual events, though, could draw massive crowds. One (unspecified) lecture in 1938-9 drew over 200 people; the top attendance in 1945-6 was 226 and the highest was 315 in 1948-9 (what venue could hold such a crowd?). In addition, a fashion show in 1958-9 attracted over 1,000 people; again, where would this have been held?
LECTURES – SPECIFIC
A total of 80 lectures was noted and recorded in full in the Journals. Around ¼ of these concerned spinning and related topics. The next most popular topic was dyeing and finishing: Charles Whewell (Professor of Textile Technology at Leeds University) gave 4 lectures in this area. Raw materials weaving and management each accounted for around 10% of the topics; there were 3 lectures on research and even 3 on design and fashion. 2 lectures covered the old favourite: oils, fats and waxes. Noticeably absent from the list is any reference to testing or quality control. Wool was covered very widely and there were some lectures concerned with man-made fibres (including one on Fibrolane in 1952-3 – what hopes there were for this type of fibre), but no mention at all of cotton.
Other notable speakers were J B Speakman (1936-7; 1945-6), British Nylon Spinners (1945-6); P P Townend (1948-9); Marks and Spencer (1954-5) and I Glasman (1958-9).
Two brains trusts were held as part of the lecture series. Questions asked at the 1945-6 event included:
- Whether synthetic and wool mixes are an advantage, particularly as regards export
- Could average marketing methods be improved?
- Is a policy of controlled prices for raw material and cloth to the benefit of the industry?
- It is increasingly difficult to find workers to do the dirty jobs – should such jobs be better paid?
- Is there any future selling to an export market which is steadily increasing and developing its own manufacturing?
- Does the future of the export trade lie in increasing the sale of high quality specialities?
Plus ça change!
A 1948-9 lecture on the Peralta machine was preceded by the comment: “It is claimed that the ‘Peralta’ widens considerably the choice of raw materials and that there is no longer any necessity to carbonise wool whatever the amount of impurity”.
The same season saw a design-based lecture, the introduction from the Chair stating: “I don’t quite know what Mr Kenningham (the speaker) will cover in this lecture tonight, but from the title (‘Wool knowledge – technique and handicrafts’) I think it is going to be the type of talk we have been wanting for a long time”.
By contrast, a lecture (‘The clothes doctor’) in 1954-5 under the heading ‘Ladies’ Night’ included the highly patronising introduction from the Chair: “The ladies will perhaps forgive me if I do occasionally lapse into technical language”.
EXCURSIONS
These were not recorded in the Journal until the 1947-8 session and included, to our eyes possibly, some odd venues. That first season saw visits to the Huddersfield Corporation Sewage Department and to the Huddersfield Corporation Electricity Works. The Huddersfield Corporation Gas Works were visited the following year, together with the CID headquarters at Wakefield. It was also noted that, during that year, some members had visited the newly opened Torridon (“Wool Industries Research Station”). In 1952-3, the Holme Moss television station was visited, in a year when there were 6 excursions. This was cut to 2 in 1954-5 and 3 in 1958-9. In this latter year, the Daily Express print woks was visited in Manchester (46 attended; the attendance at the Machinery and Accessories Exhibition at Belle Vue, Manchester, was described as being disappointingly low).
It is interesting to note that several excursions took place on a Saturday.
LISTS OF LECTURES GIVEN
1936-7 (average attendance = 50)
- The present wool situation
- How new yarns and fibres have assisted the development of fancy fabrics
- Technical service with reference to [production and distribution
- The bankers’ part in the woollen industry
- Felting theory and felting practice
- Home and foreign trade in wool textiles
- The continental system of yarn manufacture
- Woollen carding
- The chemist and the mill
- General methods for the examination of textile oils.
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1938-9 (average attendance not given; 3 lectures attracted over 100, one over 200).
- Industry and science
- Textile mill lighting
- Modern developments in woollen yarn manufacture]some aspects of cloth finishing
- Redundant plant and control schemes in the textile industries
- Film: the manufacture of card clothing
- Coloured worsted spinning
- Raw materials for the woollen industry
- Some aspects of fancy wool designing
- The origin and development of the Dobcross four-colour automatic loom
1945-6 (average attendance = 150; highest = 226)
- Future of nylon
- Modern methods of carding
- Exports
- Woollen and worsted piece dyeing
- Some methods of modifying the properties of wool to commercial advantage
- Lighting
- Modern improvements in textile finishing machinery
- The cost accountant’s contribution to the science of management.
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1946-7 (average attendance = 166; highest = 250)
- Carding
- Motion study
- Fancy yarns
- Automatic wool oiling
- Man-made fibres
- Woollen yarn manufacture
- Recent developments in woollen and worsted finishing
- Winding and warping
- Electronics in the textile industry
- Textile brains trust
1947-8 (average attendance = 147)
- Scientific investigation in woollen carding
- Modern winding and warping machinery
- Aids to management
- Developments in weaving
- Oils and fats and their use in the woollen industry
- Trends of events and present day problems in the woollen manufacturing industry
- Colour in woollen and worsted fabrics
- Training in the textile trade
- Modern wool ring spinning
- Defects in finishing woollen and worsted fabrics
1948-9 (‘reduced average attendance’, but highest = 315)
- The Peralta machine in woollen carding
- Continuous filament nylon yarn in the wool industry
- American impressions
- Principles of textile research
- The protection of wool against insect pests
- Recent researches in modern carding
- Electric motors in the woollen and worsted industry
- Recent developments in modern detergents
- The Saurer loom
- Wool knowledge – technique and handicraft
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1952-3 (no attendances stated)
- Research in its relation to industry
- Carding and spinning brains trust
- Cap spinning
- Electronic control applied to the woollen spinning mule
- The future of cloth finishing
- Flight of the shuttle
- An introduction to Fibrolane
- Woollen and worsted carding
- Mechanical handling in the textile industry
- Evolution of fashions in wool
- Film show: 6 films
- Tar branding
- The Australian sheep industry (‘The Golden Fleece’)
- Clothes of the Empire (‘the great variety of clothing worn by people in the British Commonwealth’)
- Harris tweed (‘The Western Isles’)
- From silk worm to parachute
- The impact of wool on the economy of the country (‘Goddess of Merchants’)
1954-5 (average attendance = 97)
- Some new developments in winding
- Chemistry in the wool industry
- Defects arising in the processes preparatory to weaving
- Methods of automatic control in woollen carding
- What the retailer wants
- The place of design and colour in modern textiles
- The finishing of fabrics containing wool and man-made fibres
- The Clothes Doctor (‘Ladies’ Night’ – about commercial and domestic cleaning of clothes)
- Film show –sheep farms in different countries; from wool to fabric
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1958-9 (average attendance = 87)
- Further experiments in wool carding
- Colour, finish and the consumer
- New developments in the training of operatives
- Modern worsted spinning practice: a critical appraisal
EXCURSIONS
1947-8 (4)
- Huddersfield Corporation sewage department
- Montague Burton Ltd (Leeds)
- Huddersfield Corporation electricity works
- Slazengers, Horbury
1948-9 (4)
- Firths Carpets (Brighouse)
- CID (Wakefield)
- Huddersfield Corporation gas works
- City of Bradford Conditioning House
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1952-3 (6)
- Holme Moss television station
- Montague Burton (Leeds)
- T P Firth & Sons
- Hopkinsons Ltd
- Charles Walker & Co Ltd
- R L Beanland & Co
1954-5 (2)
- Mark Day Ltd (Dewsbury)
- J Brooksbank (Skipton)
1958-9 (3)
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Dr John Pearson 19 March 2010
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