‘Who can say that there is no romance in manufacture?’
Black Country ‘Japanning’ firms made luggage and storage trunks that were in demand the world over
HERE are a couple of accounts of old Black Country trunk-makers – or japanners as they were known, with reference to the glossy exteriors their trunks were given, in the manner of Japanese varnished goods.
The first is S.W. Bullas of Corngreaves, Cradley Heath, described circa 1900 in ‘The Black Country and its Industries’ as follows ...
“In the manufacturing of trunks the firm of Messrs. S. W. Bullas and Sons is generally regarded as being the leaders of this particular branch of manufacture, and this record has been achieved in only a very few years.
“The firm was established in 1879 by Mr S.W. Bullas. The commencement was modest, but every year saw an addition in the increase of the trade which necessitated the enlargement of the premises, and to-day the premises have grown to such size that several of the manufacturing concerns – nor any means small ones – could be comfortably installed in this firm’s varnishing room.
“A visit to the works is calculated to impress one with the importance of this firm among our leading manufacturers. The manufacture of trunks and similar articles has here been developed to such an extent that, excepting the raw material, the firm does not go outside their works for any other single thing.
“The sheet iron is delivered in railway waggons which run on the firm’s own railway siding, right up to the large warehouses where the iron is unloaded, checked, and passed on to the trunk-making shops.
“From here the trunks pass to one of the three large painting shops. Here we find another evidence of the firm’s completeness, for all the paint used in giving to the trunks their bright colour are ground in the firm’s own mills, and the varnish, of which an enormous quantity is required here annually, is prepared also on the premises.
“The varnish stores contain a great number of tanks, holding from 3,000 to 4,000 gallons.
“The trunks are then ‘nested’ and put into the crates, and are now ready to be forwarded to the export merchants, who send them to every point of the globe.
“It would obviously be impossible for us to describe the variety of trunks made, but it is safe to say that there is no firm which could supply either a greater variety or a better quality than the endless sizes and patterns made at Messrs. S. W. Bullas and Sons.
“The same may be said about the steel deed boxes, dust-proof and air-tight officers’ boxes, which are made specially for military men; cash boxes, toilet cans, and pails, coal vases, railway milk cans, chimney cowls, and every kind of japanned and galvanized bath; they are all made from the very best material, are of very sound workmanship, and sold at prices which compete with those of any other manufacturer.
“A large catalogue issued by the firm gives a detailed description of the articles mentioned, and will be found to contain much valuable information for merchants and shippers.” There then follows an outline of rival japanning firm, The Alliance Japanning Company, based at the Excelsior Trunk Works in Lye ... “It has been sard that, size for size, the Lye has greater variety of important industries, and supplies more markets of the world than any other place in the country, and that this saying is true there can be no doubt. “One of the firms which enable the district to make this proud boast is the Alliance Japanning Company, owners of the Excelsior Trunk Works, High Street, Lye. “The variety of their goods seem endless, and their products go to every corner of the globe. “Who can say that there is no romance in manufacture? The tiny gaudily-coloured box in which the Indian holds his few belongings, the quaintlidded trunk, made exclusively for the Indian market, to be store-house for the coolie’s equipment, the bath into which he pours the water for his bath, the cabin trunk the mem-sahib has brought her Parisian gown and hats – all have come from far-away Lye, and have probably been made at the Excelsior Trunk Works.
“In the face of the severe competition encountered by the British manufacturer almost in every market no article can be produced without calling into play the highest qualities commercially and industrially.
“New markets must continually be opened, new designs must be added to meet an ever-changing taste, and the minds of those directing the industry must be continually at work inventing improvements which may tend to facilitate production, and thus strengthen the position of the industry against competition.
“It is, therefore, perhaps, not a surprise to find to what perfection the manufacture of such ordinary articles of commerce as a trunk and tin boxes has been brought. Most of the machines are the firm’s own make, having their own improvements, and so wonderful is the organisation of work and the efficiency of the mechanics, that it takes less than five minutes at these works to manufacture a trunk throughout, with locks and handles fixed and everything done excepting, of course, the painting.
“The processes of manufacture, however, which a trunk has to undergo before it is ready for the merchant, are more than one would imagine. After having been cut out of the steel sheets which are supplied in great quantities from South Wales, according to the pattern which it is intended to manufacture, the body of the trunk passes through the bending machine – a very ingenious machine invented by the firm – and both body and sides through the folding machine which makes the edge by which they are fastened together.”
The variety of their goods is endless, and their products go to every corner of the globe