SOUND ARCHIVE

Living Linen Interview LL2_R00/07

Sound Recording : Magnetic Tape, Reel

Stewart, Elizabeth (Mrs) (Primary maker)
Stewart, Elizabeth (Mrs) (interviewee)

02/02/2000
02/02/2000

Sound Recording on Reel: Hand painter and demonstrator, Old Bleach. Library Transcript: Transcript. Summary: The Old Bleach linen Company was the single largest employer in Randalstown. The Webb's of Old Bleach built numerous homes for their workers and established several social and athletic clubs. Mrs Stewart's father was the fireman in Old Bleach and her mother was a weaver. Beth, herself, went directly into the firm after leaving school at the age of 14. Although she initially attended for an interview for office staff she was offered a job hand painting. Hand painting required no particular artistic talents. The pattern was woven into the cloth at the looms. After a six-month training period on smaller linen pieces, Mrs Stewart progressed on to larger items such as tablecloths. At one stage there were approximately 100 women working as hand painters in a large, naturally lit, room under the supervision of a forewoman. The women mostly worked in groups of six, each having one colour to apply. The laboriousness of the process was reflected in the exclusivity and expense of hand painted damasks produced by Old Bleach. Old Bleach produced a range of designs. Mrs Stewart recalls working on pheasants, wild ducks and a variety of floral designs. After painting the cloth was steamed to make the paint (or dye) colour and wash fast. Mrs Stewart also made several trips to English retail stores and exhibitions where she demonstrated the hand painting process to the buying public. Demonstrations were also held in Northern Ireland. These trips were undertaken at the request of the retail stores. Mrs Stewart worked in Harrods, The Army and Navy stores and Marshall and Snelgroves amongst others. She invariably travelled alone, by boat and train, and stayed in hotels The department store paid for her meals and accommodation. Her materials and blank cloth were sent on ahead by post. When working in a department store, Mrs Stewart was expected to answer questions about the hand-painting process and the linen itself. She had been prepared for this before leaving Old Bleach and was expected to deliver a report on her return. While these demonstration sessions generated a good deal of customer interest and, according to the stores themselves, boosted sales, Mrs Stewart was not paid any commission. These trips could entail a lengthy absence from home. Most trips took in several stores and towns. On one occasion Beth was in Harrods for a month! Most demonstrations were requested around Christmas time in an effort to boost gift sales, although London, in a possible attempt to capitalise upon the tourist trade, was usually visited in the summer. As the cloth required specialist finishing techniques, none of her work could be sold there and then. It was carefully packaged and returned to Randalstown for steaming. This was particularly slow work as Beth was applying all of the colours herself, effectively doing the work of six women. Beth stopped working as a demonstrator after marriage, but continued to work in old Bleach as a hand painter, for a further four years, until her first child was born. Beth left old Bleach in 1968, by which time the hand-painting department employed about 40 women, but returned in 1980, to work in the packaging department. Old Bleach also had a reputation for the attractive presentation of boxed linen sets, complete with marbled paper and ribbons. Beth was mostly employed folding and packaging oven-gloves and towels for Marks & Spencer, carefully folding the linens to display the pattern through the transparent box top.

HOYFM.R2000.34

National Museums NI