It was a hardwearing, water-resistant yet breathable fabric in which the yarn itself is waterproofed before weaving.īoth companies benefitted from the invention of motor vehicles in the later years of the 19th century. He named the company Aquascutum, from the Latin words aqua (water) and scutum (shield) and his famed “Aquascutum Wrapper” soon made the brand a great success.įollowing hot on his heels was Thomas Burberry, who after years of experimentation, patented his gabardine fabric in 1886. The Mayfair tailor John Emary patented a new method for producing water-repellent fabric in 1853. The evolution of this Scottish invention, however, also owes much to two Englishmen, both of whom started experimenting with raincoat design in the mid-1800s, and whose companies are still very much in competition today. The early coats had problems with stiffness and melting in hot weather but in 1843 Thomas Hancock (the company had merged with that of Hancock in 1830) invented the process of vulcanising (the process whereby sulphur and heat are applied to natural rubber in order to improve durability, strength and resistance to heat of the finished product) which solved many of these problems. It was also used to clothe explorer John Franklin and his crew during their exploration of the Arctic in 1824. The idea of impregnating fabric with rubber to make it waterproof was not a new concept as it had been around since Aztec times when they used latex (unrefined rubber from the rubber tree) for the same purpose but this was the first time the process had been used on an industrial scale.Ĭoats produced from the new material were a technical revolution at the time and were used in many applications including riding coats in the army and police forces and on the railways. He sandwiched it between two layers of fabric, made it into coats and the “Mac” was born. While experimenting with naphtha (an oily by-product of tar) Macintosh stumbled across a method of making a material that was both waterproof and flexible. At the age of 20, Macintosh left the family business to practise chemistry full time. Macintosh’s father made his fortune manufacturing dyes and this was the early basis for Macintosh’s interest in basic chemical processes. The origin of the term, however, properly lies in the name of its Scottish inventor, Charles Macintosh, who in 1823 patented a coat made with the new waterproof fabric he had created. The term “Mac” has now come to refer to almost any 3/4 length raincoat.
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