History of Rainwear

We are trying to establish a history of rainwear here, beginning at any rate with the waterproof rainwear which was made possible by the development of rubber technology in the early 19th Century. There are already article-length accounts, which are an excellent starting point. The idea is to build on these by going back to primary sources wherever possible.

The sources I know about (a bit) are mostly about the UK so I suppose that side will be developed first. I have caught enough glimpses of developments in the States, and of still others in France and Germany and the Soviet Union as was, to know that there are quite different paths which would be very interesting indeed to be able to pursue. I very much hope lots of people will want to chip in with what they know, or that one or two people will want to help a lot!

The rubber-proofed raincoat was one of the very earliest applications of the emerging early 19th Century rubber technology, so that the early history of rubber-proofed rainwear is the early history of the rubber industry itself with the great firms of Macintosh, Moulton and the North British centre stage in Britain, joined on the world stage by Goodyear in the United States. Later the focus shifts to the high street, where the absolutely most interesting products of a now highly diversifying rubber industry are laid before an appreciative consumer, who is also being offered, towards the end of this period, the alternative of rainwear in plastic. Essentially it is with developments on that side that the story comes up to date, and it is there surely that the future lies...

[A bit more detail... ]

Rainwear Firms

This tries to list businesses that have played a part in making or selling rainwear, with comments about their significance, role etc - wherever possible. The more significant firms will have a page of their own (a lot of these not mounted yet!). The list is a hugely mixed one, with entries for the mighty Charles Macintosh and Co on the one hand, as well as for Judy Ltd, once of Euston Road, Morecambe on the other. The idea is that at least it collects the data upon which, one day I hope, a interpretative narrative might be constructed.

Map - Rainwear Firms in Lancashire 1898

Rainwear Firms in the Past

Searchable data base (incomplete!)

Rainwear firms town by town

When one trawls through Trade Directories - a fascinating business - the facts have the format of what rainwear-related businesses exist at a given date in a particular town. This listing gathers these facts! It's completely unsystematic and incomplete at the moment but you have to start somewhere. We need the facts on more towns, and we need the fact-gathering (esp from the Directories) on the towns listed to be completed and systematised ...

We are also trying to collect pics of historical interest here - eg pics of rainwear shops, factories etc. (UK so far ...)

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