For he's still a brolly good fellow

For part two of my umbrella-themed post we pick up from where we left off in part one with a further fictional proponent of umbrella self-defence, something of a 21st century John Steed in many respects and another welcome practitioner of Bartitsu-inspired moves in film.

This is the character of Harry Hart (Codename: Galahad) from the Kingsman series of films.  A slightly more updated take on the gentleman spy genre it nevertheless successfully (in my view) mixes the traditional and modern elements and nowhere is that better illustrated than in the Kingsmen's (and Harry Hart's in particular) dapper style, tailor's shop base of operations and - yes, you've guessed it - wielding of a tightly-furled umbrella.  Although quite adept at belabouring gobby villains and megalomaniacs' henchmen with his trusty gamp Galahad's example also has a few more novel tricks up its shaft compared to Steed's hidden rapier, including an electric-shock chain built into the ferrule, the ability to fire both live or rubber bullets and - the pièce de résistance - a bullet-proof canopy. 



While the cartoon violence and strong language of the Kingsman films may not appeal to everyone's taste I think it is more than offset by the style and panache displayed in both films (although I do prefer the first one over The Golden Circle) and the successfull homage to the '60s spy films and TV series (including The Avengers) that director Matthew Vaughn has gone on record as having been his intention.  Fellow fans of the films - and especially of the well-dressed "gentleman spy" æsthetic and "manners maketh man" ethos - will be pleased to know that a third and final sequel featuring Colin Firth's and Taron Egerton's characters is in the works.  Even more exciting, though, is the forthcoming prequel The King's Man, set around the First World War and showing the origins of the Kingsman Secret Service.  Originally due for release back in February, covid-19 put the kybosh on that and it is now scheduled to be in cinemas early next year (provided things improve, of course).  You'll remember when I apologised for raking up the 1998 Avengers film in my previous post by saying that if you still liked the idea of Ralph Fiennes in three-piece suit, bowler hat and topped off with an umbrella then to hold that thought?  Well here he is again, nearly 25 years later (and looking quite at home in a variety of dashing ensembles) taking over the Colin Firth role as one of the founding Kingsmen in what is a very exciting-looking trailer (complete with a couple of umbrella action sequences).  Personally this is one I can hardly wait for and if it makes it to the cinema (it's already been postponed twice, so I'm not holding my breath) I'll be going, coronavirus or not.



Quite obviously an electrocuting, bullet-proof ballistic brolly would be even more frowned upon by the authorities than a swordstick one (even if it would be equally desirable); of course in this day and age of tie -in movie merchandise it is possible to get an "official" Kingsman umbrella from the likes of Mr Porter and even Briggs themselves, although for the price one would expect them to have all of the aforementioned functionality (sadly they don't).  Stick to your standard gamp and keep practising your Bartitsu, is all I can suggest.

Major Digby Tatham-Warter (left) and his umbrella-based exploits immortalised
(as Major Harry Carlyle) in A Bridge Too Far.

One extraordinary chap who clearly thought he had a bullet-proof umbrella was the distinguished Second World War British Army officer Major Digby Tatham-Warter, whose wartime service saw him first taking part in the Western Desert campaign before volunteering for the Parachute Regiment, a decision that would lead him to take part in one of the most famous engagements of the war - Operation Market Garden, or the Battle of Arnhem.  Clearly a top fellow and splendidly eccentric, Tatham-Warter would brandish a hunting bugle during the battle and trained his troops to recognise its various calls (as had been common military practice during the Napoleonic Wars) since he was - rightly as it turned out - worried about the unreliability of the battalion's field radios.  More pertinently to this article, however, he also carried an umbrella with him as he frequently had difficulty remembering the various passwords he was supposed to use and reasoned that any Allied unit would recognise that "only a bloody fool of an Englishman" would bring a brolly into an active war zone.  In the event it did also turn out to have a practical military application - during one engagement Tatham-Warter was able to take out a German armoured car with his parapluie by the simple expedient of shoving it through the vehicle's viewing slit and incapacitating the driver!

As the Battle of Arnhem raged on, Tatham-Warter could continually be seen moving nonchalantly among his men - sometimes in the face of fierce mortar and sniper fire - while still holding his trusty umbrella.  At one point he led his men in a bayonet charge across Arnhem Bridge against advancing German infantry - brolly in one hand, pistol in the other and wearing a bowler hat that he had contrived to obtain from somewhere.  Steed in battle, more or less!   Still later, he observed the company chaplain trapped by enemy mortar fire while trying to get to some injured soldiers.  Managing to make it to the chaplain's position, Tatham-Warter uttered the immortal line "Don't worry, I've got an umbrella" and proceeded to successfully escort the chaplain back across the street under the protection of its canopy.  Upon returning to the front line while holding the still open gamp, the remark from fellow officer Lieutenant Pat Barnett that "that thing won't do you much good" drew from Tatham-Warter the equally brilliant response - "Oh my goodness Pat, but what if it rains?".



Tatham-Warter's exploits served as the inspiration for the fictional character of Major Harry Carlyle in A Bridge Too Far, Richard Attenborough's famous 1977 retelling of the Battle of Arnhem.  In the film Carlyle dies but, perhaps [un]surprisingly, Tatham-Warter survived to be taken prisoner.  He promptly escaped (naturally!) and for a time worked with the Dutch Resistance before eventually returning to England.  He is certainly fully deserving of - and will one day get - a blog post in his own right but for now we can simply marvel at his brolly-based shenanigans in the face of incredible odds.

Another great bumbershoot-brandishing military eccentric who will also one day get the full Eclectic Ephemera treatment is Lieutenant-Colonel Alfred Daniel Wintle MC (left), whose service covered both world wars (and the period in between - which, to give you some idea of the man, he described as "intensely boring") with some quite amazing - and amusing - incidents occurring throughout his life.  A staunch believer in "England and the English way of life" Wintle felt that the umbrella was one of the cornerstones of an English gentleman, a conviction that was established at the tender age of seven when an aunt bought him his first brolly - as he relates in his autobiography The Last Englishman:

"my Aunt Carrie... gave me my first umbrella, purchased at the Army and Navy Stores.  This was to be, for many years, the apple of my eye.  It made me feel I was well on my way to becoming a complete English gentleman.

I could hardly bear to be parted from my umbrella.  I would go off at odd intervals of the day to admire it in the hall-stand and I used to take it to bed with me every night for years.  The feel of the leather handle beside me as I fell asleep gave me the comforting sensation that I was already one of the... breed of Englishmen"

If you can find a copy, GET IT - it is one of the best
autobiographies I have ever read but sadly also one
of the rarest, only published once in 1968.

Although Wintle never went so far as to take an umbrella into battle his firm attachment and strong opinion never left him.  He would go on to say:

"The Englishman... always takes his umbrella with him, anyway, for the good and simple reason that no gentleman ever leaves the house without it."

Mind you, he was also resolute on another point - "no true gentleman ever unfurls his umbrella".  To Wintle, the brolly was a status symbol - the mark of a real English gent - and if it meant getting thoroughly soaked to prove it then so be it.  So convinced was he of this theory that, in later years, before tightly furling it up he would insert a note into the canopy of his gamp that read "This umbrella was stolen from Colonel A. D. Wintle" presumably on the basis that any un-English malefactor who dared to pinch his brolly would be instantly undone upon opening it and so promptly nabbed by the constabulary.

While I wouldn't go so far as to never unfurl my umbrella (and therefore, sadly, in the eyes of Colonel Wintle am not a true Englishman) I would at least extol his instruction to take one with you wherever you go, the weather in this country being so unpredictable (especially at this time of year) and the forecasts generally useless (I find looking out of the window of a morn far more instructive).  Nor would I recommend it as your sole form of armament should you ever find yourself facing off against a hostile tank, although as Major Tatham-Warter proved it couldn't hurt.  If you can take anything away from these posts, be inspired by these chaps both fictional and - however unbelievably - genuine and carry your umbrella with pride whatever the weather.

Finally, to finish on a still lighter note - at the end of the previous post I described Steed's actions with the brolly as "umbrella jousting".  I knew I had heard the term somewhere before and it afterwards came back to me.  It is of course the sport invented by those sterling coves over at The Chap magazine as part of their annual Chap Olympiad and the perfect way to end this post.  Surely it will only be a matter of time before the International Olympic Committee see sense and include umbrella jousting in future Games.  Could we see well-dressed participants with tightly-furled brollies and reinforced newspapers charging each other on bicycles in time for Tokyo, perhaps?  The Japanese would love it!  I leave you with footage of last year's event and let you make up your own mind...

Sanitiser maker's links back to Victorian cough cure

source - BBC News

Sanitiser maker's links back to Victorian cough cure

Perhaps unsurprisingly there has been very little in the way of interesting vintage-inspired news to come directly out of the coronavirus crisis so this article about an historic company making hand sanitiser for the NHS is a rare and welcome example.  There are many facets of this story that make it worthy of inclusion here, not least the historical interest surrounding the Victorian "cough cure" that started the company in question on the road to where it finds itself today, taking inspiration from its founder and helping to provide much-needed equipment for those dealing with Covid-19 in hospitals up and down the country.

source - Flickr

As with so many all-purpose medicines that began to appear in the 19th century, Brown's Cough Bottle included among its ingredients several classic Victorian standbys such as laudanum (opium + alcohol), cannabis and chloroform.  The result, as was to expected, was a rather addictive drug as the accompanying article explains.  The classic style of advertisement from the time (above) using its alternative and more accurate name of Chlorodyne, shows just what wide-ranging a treatment it was marketed as - able to treat anything from a simple cough right up to gout and rheumatism (probably would have shined the furniture up a treat, too).

source

Nevertheless it was obviously doing something right (beyond getting the user hooked on opioids!) as despite changes to the content causing an initial downturn in its popularity the medicine still lives on today - albeit under the control of a different company - as J. Collis Browne's Mixture for coughs and stomach complaints (and with a slightly less addictive 1mg of morphine).

BCB International, which can still trace its origins back to Collis Browne and his cough medicine (BCB originally standing for Brown's Cough Bottle), now owes more to his other major interest - yachting and open air pastimes - by manufacturing adventure equipment and emergency supplies, with the cough mixture now produced by a separate but still family-owned branch of the business.

source - BBC News

Now BCB has stepped up to the crease during the pandemic and used its facilities and experience in producing emergency equipment to swiftly start production of hand sanitiser and PPE for use in hospitals and by key workers.  In a fine tribute to the man who started it all for them 172 years ago - and who I'm sure would be proud and astounded were he around today - they have branded the hand gel Dr Browne's Hand Sanitiser.  All in all then a splendid piece of good news for these trying times, with a vintage twist; I take my hat off to BCB International for taking inspiration from their past in helping to produce equipment that will help ensure many people's future.

To finish on a somewhat humorous note the name J. Collis Browne was not unknown to me before this news item appeared on my radar, although from a rather different source quite unrelated to its actual origin.  Without doubt one of the more bizarre CDs in my music collection, Collis Browne's Jamboree contains an eccentric selection of songs and performances by the creator of The Chap magazine Mr Gustav Temple and some of his chums.  Produced back in 2003, when The Chap movement was but a mere 4 years old, it was originally only available to order through the magazine but I was able to pick up a used copy online a few years ago.  It truly is an eclectic mix of ukelele covers (Champagne Charlie and The Kinks' Dedicated Follower of Fashion among others) and weird recitals such as Collis Browne's Recipe, above.  Quite where Mr Temple and his cohorts got their inspiration for this frankly weird record from I don't know but clearly they must have come across the name J. Collis Browne somewhere along the way (I sometimes wonder if they found a stash of Dr Browne's original mixture, necked the lot and came up with the CD in an opium-fuelled stupor one afternoon...).  The result is this strangely appealing disc, which is a valued part of my chappist musical collection and my first introduction to the name of Collis Browne.

The spirit of Christmas present(s)

Well, I don't know about you but Christmas 2014 went past in something of a blur for me, albeit a very enjoyable blur at that.  Now here we are already but three days away from 2015.  I blame the weekend, personally...  Actually I feel the real reason in my case was a combination of putting up the Christmas tree a week late on the 20th due to a head cold the previous weekend and working up until the afternoon of Christmas Eve.

Anyway I ended up having a lovely Christmas Day at my sister's (she does read this, so hello Sis! if you are - thanks again for the dinner and pressies!) where I was able to play Monopoly with people who actually wanted to for the first time in years (discovering my 19-year-old niece has usurped me as the family Monopoly Champion), enjoy a delicious roast beef dinner and listen to my brother-in-law's Hoagy Carmichael collection.  Bliss!



But of course, you'll want to see what presents I received!  Let's have a look, shall we?

My parents have been in Pittsburgh, PA visiting my aunt & uncle since the beginning of the month and aren't back until after the New Year, so as an early Christmas present mater bought me this spiffing wool jacket when we were browsing in the local TK Maxx (some impressive bargains to be had in that store if one's willing to sort through a lot of stuff) a few months ago.  It's been worn often in that time (including on Christmas Day itself) and is fast becoming a staple of m'wardrobe.

source

However one thing that has long been missing from the same is an overcoat of similar [earth] colours for days when I'm in a country mood and wearing greens and browns (currently I have a number of blue/black coats only - plus the heavyweight 1940s Kaufmann's full-length wool jobby from m'aunt, which is too good for day-to-day wear).  It looked like being a long and ultimately fruitless search for an inexpensive brown or green ¾- or full-length coat that wouldn't risk making one look like Arthur Daley/Inspector Clouseau/a flasher, until an old favourite online emporium - Samuel Windsor - came to the rescue with their Country Coats sale.  Now the splendid-looking Bedale Tweed coat is winging its way to me as I type.

Just prior to Christmas I'd also order some new woollen ties from the same source, with a view to further augmenting my autumn/winter wardrobe.  I already have a few secondhand [skinny] woollen ties, which have stood me in good stead over the years, but I fancied some more [wider] ones including one or two in blue - an underrepresented colour in my tie collection's palette.  SW were able to oblige with four in very pleasant colourways - including a Navy and, interestingly, "Air Force" blue.

The fourth tie - not pictured here because I'm currently wearing it - is called Corn, 
a nice green-gold that will go well with both greens and browns.

As I may have mentioned my new office has a very relaxed dress code; fortunately that includes a relaxed attitude to me flouting it (showing them the way, more like!).  I initially took the opportunity to break out my cravats but as winter began to bite I started missing my ties.  I've always felt that woollen and knitted ties are more informal, so now I'm glad to have a few more from which to choose during these colder months.

My first work Secret Santa was a jolly affair and proof that they've "got me pegged", as my manager put it, as I received this nice little lapel pin in the form of Morgan Motor Cars' crest.  Quite an early example, too, dating from the 1940s so I'm told (the "secret" part of Secret Santa falling by the wayside somewhat when we all had to guess "who got who" at the end of the proceedings!).

Finally, my sister came up trumps again with a copy of Cooking For Chaps, the new cookbook for chaps and "the man about town" by editor of The Chap magazine Gustav Temple and professional cook Clare Gabbett-Mulhallen, plus an apron and tea-towel set featuring a splendid quote from Roderick Field - "Tea is the finest solution to nearly every catastrophe and conundrum that the day may bring"!  Quite right too! 

That's it from me for now; I'm looking forward to seeing what other vintage bloggers were given by Father Christmas, and to the forthcoming new year.  Plus I hope to have a few more posts up before 2014 draws to a close, which - along with all those for 2015 - I can't wait to start writing.

Chaps, choo-choos and Charlestons

With the Twelfth Day of Christmas nearly upon us and the New Year now 4 days old this will be my last Christmas post as I take the opportunity to showcase some of my more vintage-y presents.  I expect you want to see what I got, so here we go:

Christmases have been fairly lean for us the last few years and tend to be celebrated quietly but so long as the family is together at some point that's all that truly matters.  My sisters have both come up trumps again this year, though, with a calendar from each of them - one scenic, one Steampunk!  I shall have to alternate between them, I think(!).



Another sororal present, the silent 1928 film The Wrecker has featured on this blog before and now (finally) makes it into my DVD collection.  I've watched it already and it's a cracking bit of 1920s fun & action.  The villain can be spotted from a mile off, the plot is both quaint yet serious, there are many long smouldering looks to camera and just in case there was any doubt about the hero's bona fides he turns out to be an ex-Lancashire cricket captain and therefore beyond reproach.  Plus, of course, plenty of trains (including that crash!) and buses too.  The feature, as previously mentioned, has been lovingly restored and given a new accompaniment by noted silent film music writer/composer Neil Brand.  He's even done the same for the abridged 14-minute home movie version (above) and there are plenty of other extras on the DVD to do with the film as well as other staged locomotive crashes and the old railway line on which parts of The Wrecker were filmed.

source

Am I A Chap? was given to my by nan and a jolly interesting and amusing little tome it is, just as I had hoped.  A welcome addition to my bookshelf, where it will join other books from the same stable - The Chap Manifesto and The Best of The Chap.

I've occasionally considered submitting myself to the critical eye of The Chap magazine's editor Mr Gustav Temple in the Am I Chap? feature but always fear what would surely be his withering opprobrium at my effort.  It's the tweed within rather than without that really counts as the Chaps also say and I am in agreement with that.  Still, maybe one day...

source

There were also other gifts not featured in the lead photograph for certain reasons.  Some are still en route from the supplier.  Others have no physical form.  I refer to the noted South American river and online retailer, who offer a splendid service whereby you can download music direct to your iPod.  As much as I enjoy having a CD in my hand (and a couple of new acquisitions included both) there's definitely something to be said for the space-saving qualities of direct mp3 downloads.  They also tend to be cheaper and in the case of music from the 1920s and '30s Amazon are to be commended for offering it in that format and thereby giving a new lease of life to these old songs.

I was thus able to obtain four new albums this way - Mr B The Gentleman Rhymer's latest, Can't Stop, Shan't Stop; Caro Emerald's new The Shocking Miss Emerald and two splendid compilations - Hits of 1930 and Vintage Charleston.  There's nothing like starting the New Year with some new music and these tunes will certainly keep me entertained for a long while.



I'm sure you all received some perfectly wonderful gifts too and I look forward to hearing about them as well.  In the meantime I'm off to do a bit of Charlestoning.  Toodle-pip!

'Just Like A Chap' by Mr B the Gentleman Rhymer

What could be better than the musical videogramme for Mr B the Gentleman Rhymer's new single Just Like A Chap as the subject of my 400th post?  One of his best ditties to date, too, I'd say!

Hurrah for Mr B and Chap-Hop; for splendidly-dressed inspirational chaps and chapettes everywhere!  Go forth with this song ringing in your ears and never mind the naysayers - be Just Like A Chap[ette]!

Save Savile Row From Abercrombie & Fitch!

Save Savile Row From Abercrombie & Fitch

I don't normally use this blog as a platform for campaigns but this is a worthy exception that deserves to be spread far and wide and which is of interest to me and, I hope, at least some of my readers.

Some of you may already know about, or have read, the ongoing controversy surrounding the Burlington Arcade in Mayfair (scene of a dozen period film and TV shoots - chances are you've seen it on screen at one time or another, even if you haven't walked through it) which was recently bought by a conglomerate of American and European investment/hedge fund companies.  Some long-standing shops in the arcade have allegedly been forced out, with the very real threat of brands unsuited to the historic and refined nature of the arcade moving in, along with a proposed "redesign" which may or may not be appropriate.

Burlington Arcade

What has happened since November I can't say (I can only hope a suitable compromise has been reached, at best) but now a new threat has appeared on the horizon for another long-standing, traditional area of Westminster - Savile Row.

One of the last shopping streets anywhere in the country to contain purely tailors and justly famous the world over as the home of bespoke gentlemen's clothing, Savile Row's 200-year sartorial history is one of the [many] jewels in London's crown.  Names like Gieves & Hawkes, Huntsman and Henry Poole are synonymous with the Row and with top-quality men's tailoring.  Famous and historic gentlemen from Britain and abroad including Fred Astaire, Winston Churchill, Noël Coward and His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales have all bought their clothes there.

The threat takes the form of American clothiers Abercrombie & Fitch, who already have their flagship store around the corner in Burlington Gardens.  They have put forward an application to open an Abercrombie Kids - yes, that's right, a children's clothes shop - in No. 3 Savile Row.

3 Savile Row

There is no place for Abercrombie & Fitch, or any of its offshoots but particularly a youth branch, in Savile Row.  It simply does not suit the area.  Savile Row is legendary for being the provider of top-notch bespoke menswear, refined over two centuries and admired throughout the world.  It's more than just a street full of tailors, it is - like the Burlington Arcade - an historic artery of the City.  It attracts tourists, it attracts well-heeled patrons whose families may have used the same tailor for generations and it is a source of aspiration for chaps like me.  All that could be lost if this application is approved.

From what little I know of Abercrombie & Fitch (having never been in one of their shops and, quite frankly, never likely to) I can think of fewer clothes stores less suited to the hallowed Row.  The thought of hoodies, t-shirts and jeans being sold alongside the best tweed, wool and cotton suits in the country turns my stomach even more than A&F's penchant for pumping their sickly cologne and overly loud pop music into their stores and so out into the street.

Established Savile Row tailors are naturally concerned about the effect this will have on the Row - and they should know!  One has even gone so far as to fear for the safety aspect of the street should an Abercrombie Kids set up shop at Number 3.  They have rightly made a formal complaint to Westminster Council and I urge you to do the same through the medium of this petition, set up by Mr Gustav Temple of The Chap magazine.

It has always been a source of pleasure and pride to see Savile Row spoken of with such admiration by so many of the vintage and sartorial blogs of which I am a follower and I hope you will join me now in opposing this application.