The English Sewing Cotton Company Scrapbook

  Woman's Weekly magazine was well known for home-making patterns. Knitting patterns were its forte, but there was always an item of clothing to be sewn too. This 1965 issue leads with a dress to make yourself - using one of their own Fleetway patterns. That they had their own pattern department shows that home dressmaking was not yet out of fashion.  Here's the 1 1/2 page spread inside. Note that they had a partnership with Bentalls to supply the fabric as modelled. It makes it easy and therefore possibly lucrative for both parties.  But then look back to near the beginning of the magazine: Here we have an advert for a bargain buy dress from Etam. According to their website they had just begun selling ready to wear clothes in 1963. It looks to be a simple design, one that a competent dressmaker could probably have a good go at herself. But here they are, taking the bother out of it for not much more cost. Here we have the early evidence of the reason for the ESCC's strug...

 I have been combing the British Newspaper Archive, looking for the earliest mention of Dewhurst's Sylko cotton thread.  Evidently,  Ardern's Star Sylko nametag preceeded Dewhurst's thread as there are mentions of this earlier on. The Manchester Courier, 9th July 1908, directly refers to "Dewhurst's "Sylko" machine twist" in a report on the Franco-British Exhibition (British Textiles Section). On 13th August 1908, The Tailor and Cutter are also reporting on this exhibition at White City, where Messrs Dewhurst's Sylko machine twist is noticed as being something useful to the Tailor. The wording of both of these articles made me believe that 1908 must have seen the launch of Sylko, as they refer to it as something hitherto unknown. However, I have now found a new reference.  Kentish Express and Ashford News, 26 May 1906 - an advert for Stickells of New Street, Ashford refers to over 90 shades of a silk substitute called "Sylko" "whic...

  This clipping from The Staffordshire Sentinal dates from 12 December 1928. Under the illustration at bottom left there is a reference to the colour shade Hunter's Green, declaring it to be a new shade.  The Sylko reel Hunters Green is numbered D324. I have seen advertising state that by 1932 there were 300 Sylko shades, so this numbering places it a little after the year of the clipping above. The British Colour Council, with their purpose of helping textile and dye companies to keep up with new colour trends didn't launch until 1931. Dewhurst's late adoption of Hunters Green perhaps demonstrates why the BCC was needed. https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/SewSylko

The British Colour Council continued to operate in the post war period, recommending uniformed colour trends of the coming year in fashion and home furnishings. As I outlined in my blog post about the set up and early years of the council, they particularly came into their own around royal events - or at least the colours introduced to mark these occasions received more prominent press coverage at the time. This trend returned after the WW2 hiatus and into the 1960s, with press reports dropping Sylko enthusiasts a few clues to the years that some of the shades were introduced.  In January 1953, a Leicester newspaper reported on the British Colour Council’s 2 day show in the city. Mention is made of shades introduced to mark Queen Elizabeth's coronation including Elizabethan Red, Princess Grey, Spun Gold and Beau Blue. I haven't seen these colours on a Sylko reel but then the article closes with the following line: "A joyous colour to my mind is Fiesta Pink, as different fr...

 I recently took advantage of a free weekend on one of the genealogy websites to investigate a few families in Skipton.  The first port of call had to be The Dewhurst family, resident at Aireville Hall.  In 1901, the head of the household was 81 year old John Bonny Dewhurst,  grandson of the company founder Thomas Dewhurst and son of the John Dewhurst whom the company was named after. He is listed as being a retired cotton spinner. Also resident at Aireville that cenus night was 49 year old Algernon Dewhurst.  He was the heir to the company and was the first Chairman of the ESCC on its formation in 1897. His occupation is given as Sewing Cotton Manufacturer.  Two of his siblings are also resident  - Frances (45) and Harold (39). Both are listed as being unmarried. Harold is in the family business as a cashier. In the 1911 census, 59 year old Algernon is now the head of the household and is now marked as being retired from the cotton spinning business. ...

When the English Sewing Cotton Company began publishing their internal newsletter in January 1966, it counted 21,000 employees. In this first newsletter the company made a statement: "From Monday 3rd January 1966...ESCC will become a holding company and parent company of the following:  1) Textile company to be known as English Sewing Limited 1 which will cover all textile operations   2) UK non-textile companies which will contine to be known under the present titles - Thermo Plastics Ltd, Yates Duxbury Ltd and Lithopak Ltd. 2 3) The overseas companies which will continue to operate under their present names." Notes: 1 - Therefore all Sylko reels labelled English Sewing Ltd date from 1966 onwards 2 - Lithopak was the Hazel Grove manufacturer of ESCC packaging, therefore making the Sylko boxes The locations of the textile company operations were given as follows: Spinning - Portwood, Bolton, Pendlebury,  Lisnaskea, Stanhill Thread - Neilston, Skipton, Belper, Dulwic...