Basic gear from mid-twentieth-century Britain: Dunlop, Heinke, Siebe-Gorman etc

[Sam Miller III]

David
I never understood and probably never will comprehend British currency..Pence's? Bob? Shilling?

I certainly appreciate your efforts to document the British FM S. It is certainly appreciated by a select group who eagerly await your next post-- they always brighten my day

Keep then coming !

Sam

 

[David Wilson]

Swiftfins (above) came with the following description: "Swiftfin Swim-Fins. Fixed ankle straps. Soft upper sole for snug comfortable fitting. In green rubber. Three sizes: No. R273: Size 4-6. No. R274: Size 7-9. No. R275: Size 9-11.

Green was an uncommon colour for British fins during the 1950s. Non-adjustable Swiftfins proudly bore the message "Made in Scotland" on the top of their foot pockets. This probably made them unique. They came in both child and adult sizes and with reinforced blades.

 

[David Wilson]

The product description for Marine Swim-Fins read as follows: "Marine Swim-Fins. Lightweight and adjustable. Double ribbed blades. Special soft upper sole for tight but comfortable fit. Lightness of weight eliminates fatigue to wearer. For foot sizes 6 to 10."

The main differences between the Swiftfins and the Marine fins were the latter's adjustability and limitation to adult sizing. The caption suggests that the Marine model was made of lighter weight material.

That's it for Milbro underwater gear. According to a Milbro advertisement in the July-August 1957 issue of the British Sub-Aqua Club journal Triton, Millard Brothers offered a full range of underwater swimming equipment, accessories and harpoon guns. Although subsequent publicity in Triton gave detailed information about dive masks, snorkels, combined snorkel masks and swim fins, it was unforthcoming about harpoon guns. Millard Brothers may have made harpoon guns at their Motherwell factory or rebadged and resold guns bought from other manufacturers.

If you want to read everything I've written about Milbro underwater gear in one booklet, see my "catalogue reconstruction" at Milbro.pdf. We'll move on to Shark Brand basic equipment next time.

 

[David Wilson]

David
I never understood and probably never will comprehend British currency..Pence's? Bob? Shilling?

I certainly appreciate your efforts to document the British FM S. It is certainly appreciated by a select group who eagerly await your next post-- they always brighten my day

Keep then coming !

Sam

Thanks for the encouragement, Sam. There are probably not many of us Brits left who worked with pre-decimal UK currency throughout our childhood and teenage years. Anyway, here's a brief explanation:

Pound sterling (symbol: £, signifying Latin "libra=pound)). Colloquial term: Quid. Nowadays subdivides into 100 pence. Before the 1970s, a pound subdivided into 20 shillings (abbreviated "s")
Shilling (symbol: "s", short for Latin "solidus"). Colloquial term: Bob. Twenty shillings in a pound. Shilling subdivided into 12 pence.) This coin no longer exists.
Penny (symbol: "d", short for Latin "denarius"). Plural: Pennies/Pence. 12 "old" pence in a shilling, 240 "old" pence in a pound. Today's "new" pence (abbreviation: "p") come 100 to the pound.

Still confused? See the Wikipedia article at £sd - Wikipedia.

 

[dmaziuk]

Still confused? See the Wikipedia article at £sd - Wikipedia.

Is it just me or does that look like Lsd?

 

[David Wilson]

Is it just me or does that look like Lsd?

Indeed it does. Pounds, shillings and pence are abbreviated to "£" (= libra, Latin for pound), "s" (=solidus, Latin for shilling) and "d" (=denarius, Latin for penny). There are other possible expansions of the abbreviation LSD, of course!

 

[dmaziuk]

There are other possible expansions of the abbreviation LSD, of course!

LSD: the counting system with 240 pence in a pound and an intermediate coin that is neither a multiple of 10, nor of 24. Sounds about right.

 

[David Wilson]

Pictured above is a half-page advertisement printed in the July-August and September-October 1957 issues of the British Sub-Aqua Club (BSAC) magazine Triton. It was placed by Sub‑Aqua Equipment Ltd of 81 Holland Road, Hove, Sussex, and invited “trade enquiries” about the “Shark Brand” range of swim fins, face masks, hand spears and breathing tubes. “Superfins”, which were the company’s flagship product, came with full foot coverage, open toes, side rails and central rib for reinforcement.

According to a later advertisement (above) placed by Sub-Aqua Equipment Ltd. in Triton, a diver’s torch, depth gauge, weight belts and custom-built one- and two-piece foam neoprene wet suits were added to the Shark Brand range in 1959. Meanwhile, in the November 1958 issue of Triton, Underwater Sports Ltd. of 126 Hanworth Road, Hounslow, Middlesex, announced its distributorship of the Shark Sports underwater range alongside French-made Champion sub-aqua equipment. Underwater Sports Ltd. shared the same address as Andrews & Dalton Ltd., which supplied the post-war leisure market with goods for all outdoor and indoor sports. Although Sub-Aqua Equipment Ltd. of Hove and Underwater Sports Ltd. of Hounslow mainly intended Shark Brand products to be sold by high street stockists, mail order dealers such as J. G. Fenn Ltd. retailed them as well until 1962. A bid to wind up Sub-Aqua Equipment Ltd. was tabled in July 1966.

 

[David Wilson]

Information about the individual products in the Shark Brand underwater range was extremely sparse. We'll begin with a diving mask.

Shark Brand Aquavisor Face Mask

The sole description: "Shark Brand Aquavisor Face Mask. £1 5s 0d each." That's 1 pound 5 shillings, by the way. The mask appears to be a basic model. with a clamp band and screw to secure the lens.

There were also "Breathing tubes" in the Shark Brand range, but no illustrations were available in the company's advertisements. There was simply an indication of price: "8s and 12s 6d". Eight shillings for one type, twelve shillings and six pence for the other.

We'll take a look at the Shark Brand "Superfins" next time.

 

[David Wilson]

LSD: the counting system with 240 pence in a pound and an intermediate coin that is neither a multiple of 10, nor of 24. Sounds about right.

When we changed over to a decimal currency system here in the UK in 1971, it was argued that we would lose something in the process as well as gain something in simplification. Doubts arose that children would be as good at mathematics and that the 12 times table would become redundant. I still remember my old school exercise books with the following on the back, including a sterling money table explaining other old UK currency terms such as guinea, half-crown and farthing:

I've always been curious about poles and pecks, but those were deemed obsolete even in my younger days!