Here is another stunning item from Drummond CHS Librarian Annie Scanlon’s collection of swimwear and beach paraphernalia. Like the cap featured in Issue 178, it dates from the 1960s.
‘I have very little from before this era as the rubber disintegrates,’ says Annie. ‘It’s horrible to discover every time I unpack them another one has to “go”. They turn sticky like chewing gum at first, then dry and brittle, and then they crumble.
‘When I buy one I always photograph it first and then pack it in silicone release paper to try to stop disintegration. I have done a fair bit of research into this. Museums hate them because they are too difficult to conserve – hence the excitement when Hat Works [the Stockport-based headwear museum] found me and my collection. Unless you know the specific chemical make-up of that particular rubber recipe it's very difficult. I've just lost a 1930s one that I particularly liked. I now use it as an example in my talks.
’The yellow cap shown here is Dutch and was bought in an Amsterdam market many years ago. It's rushed nylon and is beginning to split. The green cap [Issue 178] is American and was bought from a Sears catalogue.’
Annie Scanlon will talk about her collection on 20 January. See EVENTS.