Serendipity: the faculty of making happy and unexpected discoveries by accident.
Here
you will find bits and pieces related to rubber which do not fit into the
main structure of the site but which I have come across and jotted down.
All will be unexpected and hopefully some will be happy experiences.
◊ Charles Macintosh & Co. – The story of the
business.
◊ Conrad Poppenhusen – Who? you may well ask.
◊ Eva Hesse. A short biography of the
German-American artist who used latex in many
of her artworks.
◊ Gutta Percha. The rise and fall of Gutta Percha
during the 19th century
◊ Marlborough Cottage. The London Home of Thomas Hancock
and family
◊ Photo Galleries:
This link takes you to an index of high
resolution pictures of famous people
in the story of rubber
Follow this for illustrations from the turn of
the 18/19th centuries showing the
treatment of rubber in
Amazonia and its shipment to the US.
The story of natural rubber production told in words and pictures.
◊ Rubber in steam railways. This link takes you to a
review by an ex-colleague.
◊ The development of the motor tyre.
◊ Vulcanization. Did Charles
Goodyear really discover vulcanization or was it the
unknown Mr Eli of Boston?
◊ 1886. Some snippets from the 1886 edition of the India Rubber and Gutta Percha
and Electrical Trades Journal (later to become the IRJ and even later
the ERJ.
I found them interesting and more might follow!
◊ Lakelandelements sells a wide range of traditional made-to-measure raincoats
to suit every occasion, but on her website Lorraine celebrates the cult of
the traditional 'mackintosh' in
“Lorraine’s Rainwear Club” which contains a vast number
of pages relating to different aspects of this ubiquitous article. The link
“http://www.lakelandelements.com/rainwearhistory/rainwearhistoryindex.htm” takes you to rainwear
history which includes the complete e-text of Hancock’s
“Personal Narrative”. Work backwards from here through links in
the top right to “chillout room” then “club foyer”
and then to “SHOP” in the bottom left. If you love Mackintoshes
– rubber or plastic - you’ll love this site!
