More Pictures from the Archive - Tylers Shoes 4 May 1939

Here are some more pictures from the Leicester and Leicestershire Photographic Society archive, to add to my earlier postings from the 1930's, which seemed to be of interest.:

 

LINK --- Poignant Images from Around the Start of World War 2

 

LINK --- Agfacolor Slides - 1930's Leicester Scenes

 

Tylers were a major boot and shoe company, based in Leicester, with shops in Britain, Ireland and the Channel Islands. Click on the link to see the pictures:

 

LINK --- Tylers Shoes

 

These glass plate negatives were taken on 4 May 1939. I think this was a warehouse rather than a factory, as none of the pictures show the actual manufacturing process. Instead this place seems to have been concerned with distribution, marketing, printing, design and administration. The picture of the store is clearly from Ireland, whilst that of the motorcycle is believed to be from Jersey. They came to us because one of our long time members, seen in the picture of the general office, worked at Tylers. We aren't sure exactly which one she was, sadly.

Of course the other industry that Leicester was famous for (among photographers) was the production of Reid cameras. I don't suppose you have any pictures of their factory, do you John?

 

The above pictures give a good impression of a bygone era, but they're a bit static - "Right everyone. Stop what you're doing and look at the camera"

 

I'd like to have seen some more detail of the craft and production side of shoemaking.

 

I shot some pictures of one of the last (sorry about the pun) independent cobblers in Chatham, Kent, more than half-a-lifetime ago. I'll see if I can find the negs and scan them.

At least we get to see their faces. If they kept working we might not. Or else they might line up in front of the building and we wouldn't have seen what each one did.

"Right everyone. Stop what you're doing and look at the camera"

 

I would guess the staff were told in advance about the photographers visit, so that hairdo's etc could be arranged. Yes the pictures are heavily posed, even to the extent that some staff at their work stations have their hands on the typewriter keyboards (Imperial, made in Leicester) while looking at the camera. It's interesting that all are wearing white or brown coats, except from the people in the drawing office.

 

The image quality is impressive, the photographer was certainly able. It appears to me that the scenes are artificially lit, perhaps by a large "potato masher" flash, although the shadows are soft and the lighting looks natural.

 

I'd like to have seen some more detail of the craft and production side of shoemaking.

 

Well, the shoes don't seem to have been actually made in this place, there are no scenes of the manufacturing process. In the picture of the shop it says "Irish Made Boots". Perhaps they had a factory there.

 

Reid & Sigrist had two factories, one in Braunstone, one at Desford airfield. I'm not which one made the cameras. We don't have pictures of them. They mainly specialised in aircraft instrumentation, until after the war, they diversified into cameras, like M.P.P. They even designed and built aircraft.

 

One of our members, now sadly no longer with us, was a great collector of Reid cameras (amongst many others) and had a lot of knowledge about their history. Knowledge now probably lost. The lenses were also made in Leicester, at the Taylor Taylor and Hobson factory in Highfields which I can just remember.

Love the 'express delivery' motorcycle!

 

Wonderful photos, I love old factory and workplace images, there's so much information, things that were once taken for granted but are now noteworthy.

 

Television and reporters came to my factory yesterday, but we didn't down tools or pose, they just snapped a few shots of the Big Boss announcing his latest project, while we got on with things in the background (and tried desperately not to make any expensive sounding mistakes). We'll probably just be out of focus blurs anyway, I doubt anyone will be looking at those photos a century from now. If they do, they'll learn that management fashion in 2021 ran to purple suits with red shoes...

It appears to me that the scenes are artificially lit, perhaps by a large "potato masher" flash, although the shadows are soft and the lighting looks natural.

The pictures of the drawing office and reprographics room obviously had some help from an artificial source. The balance between interior and exterior exposure, plus the specular hotspot are a giveaway.

 

No electronic flash in those days. A big aluminium dish with a PF60 or 100 in it would have been the most likely option. Or even a 1Kw tungsten bulb in a 3' diameter Kennet reflector or something similar.

If they do, they'll learn that management fashion in 2021 ran to purple suits with red shoes...

That's put a picture in my head that I wish I could erase!:eek:

Edited April 30, 2021 by rodeo_joe|1

That's put a picture in my head that I wish I could erase!:eek:

You and me both, but I actually had to witness it!