Granger 30
- This article is a Biography
- Chapter 30 - Belts and earrings
This started me on a new line of work, which also led to another. Plastics were now coming into use in many forms. In the old days we had rubber, ebonite and Xylonite, a form of white celluloid, which could be obtained in sheet or rod form. This I had used for making earring studs, plugs for the nose and tapering spears, while out of the sheet I cut and turned rings and cut shapes of various designs, because this material could be easily dyed any colour by immersing it in alcoholic solution of dyes, which it absorbed. The longer the immersion the deeper the colour. Ebonite produced a black stud or circle. Now we had new forms, such as the sponge-like form used for bust forms, and bath room mate, but the war brought in Plexiglass or Perspex, which was soon to be had in rod or sheet form, this in various transparent colours such as yellow, orange, red, groom blue, mauve and clear, also translucent sheets in pastel shades of yellow, pink, green and white, even black. Also there was another type of plastic, maybe older, made from cascein, also in rods or opaque coloured sheeting, red, gold, blue, black. It was often used for making knitting needles, of the kind which absorbed gradually moisture, to swell up and become rubbery, and so useful for enlarging holes.
When I had my workshop in Cambridge, I always had a very simple type of treadle lathe, with hand tools, on which I had made earrings for Mary and for Ethel. But when I got my own house I began to transfer my tools here and add to them, including a large bench. These went in the back room, and if the war had not come along I should have built a workshop at the bottom of the garden. I obtained a second hand 3½ inch Drummond lathe, with screw cutting and surfacing feeds, also treadle driven, which, after overhauling, was a great advance on the old one. It cost £10. It was a useful tool for making many items. However it did not satisfy me, so I sold it for £10 and bought a new 4½ inch Britannia, screw cutting, surfacing and sliding lathe, with extra long bed. It was originally treadle driven, but was very heavy, hard work, to treadle it, but with the addition of 1/2 H.P. electric motor drive I did away with the sweating labour and it was very useful for making almost anything. Wood was in short supply, so I had a quantity of plastic sheets and rods of both kinds to work with. I also purchased lots more of different colours and thickness. In addition I got in touch with various wholesale jewellers supplies, where I could get out chatons, brilliants, and other stones of many kinds and sizes, mounts for them, with silver wires and butterfly nuts, so that with this equipment I was able to make all the studs and pendants in dozens of patterns to put in Ethel's ears and nose, just I wished.
Often I would think of some new design for a pair of earrings, fret them out, or turn them out on the lathe, and then jewel them to my own ideas. Often I would walk round, teaching, and filing out the intricate holes as I did so. Every one of Ethel's larger earrings was unique. I also had supplies of rolled gold wire and solid silver wire and rod from ½ inch rod down to about 40 gauge.
One of the last jobs I had begun for Mary was a lovely pattern of Spanish type comb. I got as far as cutting it out. It was like a peacock's tail, from white Xylonite and partly filed out. It was left like this for many years until Ethel had put her hair up, when I thought it could be finished for her. So I finished the filing and drilled all round with tiny countersunk holes in the back and a few at the front too. Then with heat, I moulded and pressed it into a curved shape, dyed it brown, to look like tortoiseshell finally cementing over a hundred coloured small stones into the holes. When finished it was a beautiful work of art, suitable to wear with a high, dressed hair styles for evening wear. I suppose it was unique too.
Now I could show off her waist I made other belts, of leather, some to pull in with a big brass buckle, which I made with a roller, to make it easier to pull in. They were made In black patent, black calf, white and even coloured. Some were just plain parallel belts about 2½ inches wide, but others I curved to wider shape at the front, with the buckle at the back and most of them were studded with brass or nickel plated studs in various patterns. I made dozens of belts, but some were made with plastic buckles, fixed on with a screwed plate and drilled so that they could be laced together and so pulled in very tightly, shaped in narrow at the sides but wider at the back and at the buckle ends, so the narrow part came at her sides. Some were cut on the curve, so they just rested on her hips and enclosed her lower ribs. I even made belts out of metal, on one case using two gilded brass bracelets, riveted together so they could be forced in until the tongue of the buckle snicked into the furthest hole into which I could squeeze it. Later I made one out of copper, hinged at the back and eyeletted so that it could be laced up at the front.
It was some years later that I saw some attractive looking belts made of polished aluminium in a window in Wardour Street, which were in place of the elastic waspie belts. They had. four large gilded knobs each side of the opening and over these laces were put to pull them together. I thought them very attractive but much too big for Ethel. So I went in to enquire what was the smallest size and was told 24 inches. I said, "That is far too big, I want something about 16 inches." At which she goggled, saying, "How could any woman wear it so? We think 21 inches is pretty small for most women, yet you want to take 5 inches out." I looked at one and said, "I could easily fix it, and I will. I will just clip 5 inches out at the centre back where the spring is and put in a bit of spring in between and rivet the two halves up again." She said, "I don't believe you will find any woman small enough to wear it if you do." I said, "You don't know my wife do you? But when I have done it I will bring her in and convince you and you can see for yourself." And I did just that later.
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