THE DEPARTMENT STORE
Grace Brothers Department Store
became possibly the most famous store in the world for a while thanks to
the BBC-Television Series, Are You Being Served?
Are You being Served Theme Music
-oOo-
OTHER DEPARTMENT STORES CONTINUED
-oOo-
10. BURBERRY(S) OF LONDON
THE BURBERRY MOTTO IS PRORSUM …….
A LATIN WORD meaning FORWARDS
-oOo-
THE BEGINNINGS
Thomas Burberry
Thomas Burberry (1835-1926) was apprenticed to a Draper at an establishment close to where he was born in Brockham Green. In 1856, when he was 21 years of age, he opened an outfitter’s business, T. Burberry & Sons, in Basingstoke.
Thomas Burberry’s Store in Basingstoke
Mr. Burberry focussed his efforts on the development of clothing for the outdoors. By 1870, his business was well established, and in 1879, he had invented his brand of Gabardine.
-oOo-
GABARDINE
Gabardine is a smooth, durable twill-woven cloth, typically of worsted or cotton. The word was used to describe a long, loose gown or cloak with wide sleeves, worn by men from the later Middle Ages (i.e. from the 5th to the 15th Century) until the 16th Century.
A Jewish Man wearing a Gabardine during Ottoman times in 1779
Thomas Burberry learned of an Egyptian cotton woven fabric that was waterproof and used throughout the Middle East in the making of outer garments. This finding inspired him in his development of a waterproofed breathable worsted wool and cotton Twill fabric in 1879, which he called Gabardine, thereby reviving an old name for coat or clock.
Gabardine is a lightweight fabric and more comfortable than rubberised fabrics of the time. It is also odor free, hard wearing and waterproofed. In 1879, Thomas Burberry registered the term Gabardine as a trademark and patented it in 1888. The fabric was used by a number of explorers and during the Boer Wars (1880-1881 & 1899-1902).
The name of Burberry is well-known today throughout the world since garments made of Gabardine resist hot and cold winds, rains and the coldest of climates.
Twill Fabrics have a Weave with a Surface of Diagonal Parallel Ridges
Note that the Top Left Weave is a Fibre Glass Twill
-oOo-
DEVERTISSEMENT
I remember when I was about 12- or 13-years old, I used to run errands for a delightful old couple. They were very well-educated and spoke correctly without slang. They had a large house with a wonderful garden that their children helped maintain. The couple must have been well into their eighties at this time and both had pure white hair. They were very generous to me and always paid me well for what I did for them. I enjoyed visiting them and listening to their stories. The old man was not supposed to smoke his pipe, but since he enjoyed it so much, I could hardly refuse him when he secretly gave me money to go the Tobacconist in the High Street to collect his favourite blend. He had been in the Army for many years and always dressed in a Tweed coat and Calvary Twill trousers, which, despite my age, I found to be very smart.
The old man died when I was about 20-years old. By then I had long since stopped bringing him tobacco, but I did continue to visit them regularly, as they liked to know what I was up to, as he put it. Soon after he died, his daughter who had returned home to take care of her parents, asked me to come to the house. Apparently. the old man had left instructions that I should be given a Calvary Twill suit that I had long ago admired and which still had a lot of usage left in it.
I took the suit to a tailor for some minor alterations who remarked that perhaps I was a little too young for such a suit. I ignored him although I knew that he was right. I kept the suit for years, but only wore it a few times. When I last put it on, I realised that I had grown and that sadly it no longer fitted as it should. I remember promising myself that once I got older, I would buy a Tweed coat and a pair of Calvary Twill trousers and wear them on suitable occasions. And when eventually I decided that I was ready to lecture, this became my mode of attire!
-oOo-
FROM T. BURBERRY & SON
TO BURBERRYS
The Equestrian Knight logo accompanied by the Latin word Prorsum is adopted ~1901
Burberry was the original name of the company.
However, when customers began referring to the store as BURBERRYS,
the company decided to change its name to
BURBERRYS of LONDON
-oOo-
The First London Store in The Haymarket
Thomas Burberry opened a store at 30 The Haymarket in London in 1891. Here, he produced a garment known as the Walking Burberry, which was a coat with a Fly-Front Fastening and Raglan Sleeves.
Examples of Fly-Front Fastening Coats (Top Row) & Raglan Sleeves (Bottom Row) which were developed for
Lord Raglan (1755-1855) to allow him greater freedom when using his sword
-oOo-
Mr. Burberry also began producing garments to be used for specific purposes: for example, in 1897, he designed a garment for Major F.G. Jackson (1860-1938) which he wore during his expedition to the Arctic Circle to map part of Franz Josef Land. Burberry fabric was also used for the Major’s tents.
Major F.G. Jackson wearing his Burberry Garment
The value of Gabardine was clearly shown following the expedition of Roald Amundsen (1872-1928) to the Antarctic between 1910 and 1912, when on the 14th December, 1911, Amundsen et al became the first to reach the South Pole. Amundsen credited the successful outcome of the expedition to careful preparation together with good equipment and appropriate clothing. The tents and outdoor clothing used on the expedition had been made from Gabardine, which Mr. Burberry exploited in his advertising.
Amundsen et al at the South Pole, 1911
From
-oOo-
Other Specialised Garments made with Gabardine by Burberry
Top Left: Claude Grahame-White (1879-1959) in 1910 who flew from London to Manchester in less than 24 hours
Top Right: Sir Ernest Shakleton (1874-1922) in 1915 dressed an Anorake made of Gabardine
Bottom Left: A motor-Bicycle Jacket from 1918 and made of Gabardine Fabric
Bottom Right: Bert Hinkler (1892-1933) dressed in outfit made of Gabardine during
the first solo flight from England to Australia in 1928
-oOo-
Thomas Burberry registered a number of trademarks during his working life:
- In 1902, he established Gabardine as a trademark; he had patented the fabric in 1888;
- In 1904, he registered his logo, and in 1924, the trademark’s Check Fabric.
Cashmere Scarf with the Celebrated Burberry Check
- In 1909, The Burberry was registered as a trademark for the company’s coats, and in 1910, Mounted Police Officers were to wear the Burberry coats made with Gabardine.
-oOo-
Other significant events associated with Burberry’s that took place during the early years of the 20th Century include:
- The opening of Thomas Burberry’s first store in Paris in 1909 at 8 Boulevard Malesherbes;
Burberry’s at 8 Boulevard Malesherbes
- The movement of his Company into new and larger London premises at 18-22, The Haymarket. This building remained the Flagship Store and Administrative Offices until 2008;
The Flagship Store & Administrative Offices at 18-22, The Haymarket
- in 1919, George V (1865-1936) officially appointed Burberry a Royal Warrant as Tailors.
-oOo-
Burberry became a publicly quoted company for the first time in 1920 and was an independent family-controlled-company until 1955, when it was re-incorporated and was taken over by the U.K. Retail Group, Great Universal Stores (GUS).
——-oooOOOOOOOooo——-
——-oooOOOOOOOooo——-
Readers can TWEET their LIKES & DISLIKES to me at
or
make comments on theWebsite’s FACEBOOK PAGE
or
consider leaving a Comment `below.
——oooOOOooo——
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I would like to thank .
——oooOOOooo——
Click here to GO to OTHER DEPARTMENT STORES – 10
BURBERRYS OF LONDON: THE TRENCH COAT
——oooOOOooo——
——oooOOOooo——
——oooOOOooo——
Click here to return to OTHER DEPARTMENT STORES – 9
THE KENSINGTON DEPARTMENT STORES – INTRODUCTION
——oooOOOooo——
Click here to return to OTHER DEPARTMENT STORES – 8
ARDING & HOBBS DEPARTMENT STORE
——oooOOOooo——
——oooOOOooo——
——oooOOOooo——
Click here to return to OTHER DEPARTMENT STORES – 5
SPOKES DEPARTMENT STORE
——oooOOOooo——
Click here to return to OTHER DEPARTMENT STORES OF MY YOUTH –
4 – GARDINER’S DEPARTMENT STORE
——oooOOOooo——
——oooOOOooo——
Click here to return to OTHER DEPARTMENT STORES OF MY YOUTH –
2 – GAMAGES
——oooOOOooo——
Click here to return to OTHER DEPARTMENT STORES OF MY YOUTH –
1 – WICKHAMS
——oooOOOooo——
Click here to return to SHOPPING WITH MY MOTHER;
——oooOOOooo——
Click here to return to SHOPPING WITH MY FATHER;
——oooOOOooo——
Click here to return to THE DEPARTMENT STORE HOME PAGE
——oooOOOooo——
Click here to return to the TABLE OF CONTENTS
——oooOOOooo——
On 24 February 2017, whilst visiting London on another matter, I decided to look in at Burberry, Regent Street, taking with me a CD of the two tracks I let you have for your brilliant webpage. I’d boxed it up complete with a brief biography and photos of the 78 disc labels. The manager made me very welcome, offering coffee and readily accepted the small gift asking about its origins together with details of the 78 labels – catalogue/matrix numbers. He’s quite young and I don’t suppose he’d clapped eyes on a 78 before. The organ itself is locked up in a small room below the main staircase and they didn’t have a key. Apparently someone comes once a year out of hours to check the instrument over but in four years he’d never met this person or heard it played. I could make out the Wurlitzer through the dark glass panes of the locked door. I had a look around the shop which is beautifully and tastefully maintained, thanked the chap on the door who went out of his way to help and proceeded to the main purpose of my pilgrimage!
Chris Medland