Kia Ora Lorraine,

Congratulations on your fantastic website, I visit it regularly. It is encouraging to read the experiences of others that are similar to mine.

My first memories of rubberised rainwear go back to when I was very young in the early 1950's, my parents had a matching pair of fawn coloured raincoats - probably relics of the war era. There were a few in the local school cloakroom, but being a rural school oilskins tended to be order of the day.

Later in the mid-fifties both my brother and sister had rubberised coats as part of their secondary school uniforms, I remember my sister's as a brown single texture "Bramac" with a hood.

Unfortunately I never had the pleasure of owning one of these coats as my mother didn't believe that they were robust enough, and I must admit that they didn't seem to last very long. (This is possibly due to the effects on rubber of the very strong ultraviolet sunlight we have in this part of the world.)

I probably became aware of the "magic" of these coats in my teens - they seemed to be synonymous with teenage girls! Most girls schools had coats matching their school uniform colours, and being a young lad from the country boarding in the city, girls were a major part of my life. I even joined the drama club to meet them, and remember the way the red rubber coats of the convent girls were slung casually over the seats in the assembly hall while rehearsals were on.

A trip to Britain in the early 1970's was the last time I came across these coats, it is encouraging to know they are still available, however the exchange rate makes them some what less affordable than one would like!

Keep up the good work,
Arohanui (best wishes),
KiwiMac

Dear KiwiMac

No e-mail address, so I can only thank you for your interesting letter like this! If the site is 'fantastic' (thank you for saying so!) it's only because you and others send me such lovely things...

Best wishes

Lorraine

 

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