From John G
Dear Lorraine,
For a long time I was an avid reader of FORUM, especially the letters on mackintoshes. An article called "The Rustling Rubbery Rarefied World of Macs" appeared in this magazine back in 1972. This extract was most appealing:
"An auntie of mine who used to take me for walks sometimes before I was of school age. Used to have a highly polished brown mac in what I now know was rubber. It made a strange thudding sound when she put it on and buttoned and belted it. She knew I could not help watching and took as long as possible, pretending not to care, while I stood transfixed. Out in the fields she would smile in a knowing way while I reached out to feel the material, but she never stopped me."
Don't you think there is something rather special about a shiny brown rubber mackintosh for ladies wear rather than a black one? When I was a small boy, before going to school, we had a maid who owned just such another heavy brown rubber mac which she hung behind her bedroom door and I must confess I used to sneak up and fondle it. I used to see her departing on the back of her fiancé's motorbike, creating yet another fantasy for me. Much to my admiration one of the headmaster's daughters at my prep school was my own age and used to wear a brown one and I myself had a black North Briton as a small child, thus getting hooked at an early age by its gorgeous feel and smell.
I may as well also mention that my mother had a Cording's double texture white mackintosh, which I much enjoyed borrowing in my teens to go riding whether or not it was raining!
JOHN G.
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