Suits

[Louis the fly]

Now what kind of a statement is that, so all the guys in London, Hull, Glasgow, Newcastle etc etc etc etc etc etc never wore suits whilst on leave, have photos of my old man(a bosun) wearing suits in all parts of the world, as did I, if you went into the MN Club in Hull you would find all ranks smartly dressed. My old dad would never have disrepected my mother when they went out by not wearing a suit and he wasn't from Liverpool

Was John in the M.N. club in Hull wearing his uniform?

[Louis the fly]

Referring of course to Lord John, the winger.

[alf corbyn]

don't know who started burtons or the 50 shilling tailors but they both ended up belonging to sir Isaac of great Universal Stores.

[robpage]

Fifty Shilling Tailors was a British chain of shops selling men's clothes.Founded in Leeds in 1905 by Henry Price, the chain expanded to over 399 stores across the country.In 1958 the company was sold to UDS, which renamed it John Collier.[1] It continued to trade within the UDS empire until 1983 when UDS was sold to Hanson plc. In order to recoup the cost of the purchase Hanson sold on a number of UDS assets, including John Collier to a management buy-out team. In 1985 the company was sold on to the Burton Group, but the brand was discontinued and no longer exists today.

Sir Montague Maurice Burton (15 August 1885, Lithuania – 21 September 1952, Leeds) founded Burton, one of Great Britain's largest chains of clothes shops.Born a Lithuanian Jew (Moshe Osinsky) in Kaunas province, he came alone to England in 1900. In 1901, he was staying in Cheetham, Manchester. He started as a peddler, then set up as a general outfitter in Chesterfield in 1903 selling readymade suits bought from a wholesaler. Following his marriage to Sophie Marks in 1909 the name of the company was changed from M. Burton to Burton & Burton. They had one daughter (1910) then a son (1914). On the birth of twin boys in (1917) he gave his name as Montague Maurice Burton. However, he had not changed his name legally, which caused problems during the First World War.By 1913 he had five men's tailor shops with headquarters in Sheffield and manufacturing in Leeds. He had four hundred shops, and factories and mills, by 1929, when the company went public. His firm made a quarter of the British military uniforms during World War II and a third of demobilisation clothing.He was knighted in 1931 for "services to industrial relations" and was a Justice of the Peace for many years. He died while speaking after a dinner in Leeds. The funeral was at the Chapeltown Synagogue.He endowed chairs in industrial relations in the University of Leeds and Cardiff in 1929 and Cambridge in 1930. He also endowed chairs of international relations in Jerusalem (1929), at Oxford University (1930), the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) (1936) and The University of Edinburgh (1948).

[John Arton]

First trip to sea, up the Persian Gulf, no air conditioning. Saturday night movie night, all sweating like pigs in tees and shorts in the saloon waiting for the movie to start when in waltzes the junior engineer in his full monty tweed suit, single breasted, two button with flared trousers and matching waistcoat in checked tweed, brought from Burtons in Millom.
Everyone a bit agast as he did a full turn and twirl, like it he says. Your daft says the 2nd Eng., you must be sweating buckets in that rig. Yes says the junior, but you have to dress for Saturday night at the movies!
Cannot remember what movie was showing but by the end of it the suit looked more like a rag doll than a nicely tailored bit of dressware.
rgds
JA

[Ivan Cloherty]

#29 never took a wee I say wee bit of fish of a trawler ivan think hard now.....regards cappy

Never took any Cappy, no need, as the skippers always made sure I was given a couple of 'gud uns' for me mam, and they part owned the fish, as did the crew when they took their allowance home for the bairns because it all came from their 'share'. The wives would be waiting at the lockhead for their newspaper parcel, because their men would be jumping off at the lockhead into waiting taxi's to go to the pub, as the trawlers were dry, each trawler man had his own taxi driver, who stayed with him throughout his leave period, mostly to pour him into bed when he'd had a skinful and then make sure that he got back to his trawler on the day of sailing. Riggers came aboard at the lockhead to berth the ship and prepare it for the Bobbers to discharge. Had to show your parcel to the Cop on the gate on the way out,maximum two fish per crew member; there were over 4000 people and over a 120 trades involved in keeping Hull Fish Docks going, not everyone got free fish.

[Louis the fly]

#27, John, never found it necessary to 'inch' anything in my life, even bought a suit from Burtons when I was on £6 per month, then there was the Fifty Shilling Tailors (Burton's competitors in every town), so if I could afford a suit on those wages it wasn't necessary for anyone to 'inch' any thing from the holds. Most of the poor people I knew/know are very honest and still have their pride. Just wonder why so many think it's okay and are proud to have acquired stuff from the holds, it didn't belong to them just because they'd sailed on the ship. If you were travelling to Hong Kong or Singapore you could buy a bolt of British suit cloth for next to nothing so no need for anyone to 'inch' anything. Just my thoughts, but each to his own.

It was not really "inching" Ivan in the true sense of the word. It was a talent some had of finding things before they were lost.
Later it became a respectable occupation when bankers and M.P.'s joined in.

[Neil Morton]

Ah yes we were a dapper lot. To see a bunch of "wingers" lining up on sign on day for a Rangi or UCL ship was a sight to behold. All the latest styles in a multitude of fabrics beautifully cut in subdued shades as a rule . The London mob usually went to Maxie Cohen in Aldgate .Myself, I went to Solly Krett on Tooting Broadway. Over a five year period from 1955/ 60, just like Neville, I had half a dozen suits in the wardrobe . Solly would charge 25 guineas for his fabric or 15 quid to make up your own. The most memorable being a black barathea double breasted number with a one piece back that gave me away as a ship jumper to the cops in Auckland. Those of you have read my book will be familiar with the circumstances and there is a short version in the yarns section on this site.
I recall a cabin mate on the "Middlesex " who had a Prince of Wales check suit made up in Honkers. Delicate shades of blue and grey that had a terrible shoulder line that sort of curved upwards on either side of his head. We used to call it his Pergoda suit. Didn't stop him pulling birds though.

[William Gardner]

same infleetwood ivan ecept t the bobbers weare called lumpers in cod town

[Louis the Amigo]

Hi Shipmates, as I remember going ashore abroad jeans and shirt, in most countries ? home waters a suit with shirt and tie. in my time a few years ago, would not let you in to any dance halls without one.... or any smart pubs or hotels bars or clubs...Ref fisherman {A great Bunch of lads } always willing to trade fish/prawns for beer and smokes and anything they wanted...