Memoirs of a Masonian Page4

Cherry Blossom Shoe Polish

Dan & Charles Mason, pioneers of the shoe polish industry in Chiswick

The Memoirs of a Masonian P4

My last instalment had brought us to the end of 1908. The extension of the Polish Department, which is now used for the mixing and filling of Nugget Polish, was finished in 1909, and it was in that year also that Cherry Blossom Brown was introduced.

The new building considerably improved the ventilation in the mixing department, as, prior to the extension, I was, very often, literally intoxicated with fumes from the turpentine. One might say it was a cheap way of becoming intoxicated, but take my advice : Don't try it!

Fiberite packing cases, I recall, were first used about this time, and with disastrous results. They were used on No 1 size Black and Brown and a very large quantity was returned, as the tins stuck together. This was caused through the packages being perfectly airtight instead of allowing a certain amount of air to pass through, hence the use of holes in all Polish Fiberite packages today.

1909 also saw the laying out of the Recreation ground, the building of a club house at Hogarth Lane, and the beginning of my Men's Club work.

The ground and pavilion were finally opened in the July. It was celebrated (on a Saturday afternoon) with a Sports Meeting and a Tea, followed by a Concert which took place in the Pavilion in the evening. I have vivid recollections of these celebrations. It was a fine sunny afternoon. Mr Charles Mason's engagement was announced, and I remember that whilst I was attempting to take a photograph of the happy pair some wit threw a strawberry which stuck on my new straw hat.

Our Football Section was started under the name of Chiswick Imperial. The Sports Ground not being large enough for a football match although we used to have a kick about there amongst ourselves our first ground was at Acton. We played our first game for the Chiswick Charity Cup on a Boxing Day, our opponents being a team from the George IV and we lost by nine clear goals! Football for Season 1909-10 found us using a ground at Grove Park. We had the use of a portion where the Grove Park Cricket Club played this was where the Chiswick Central School in Staveley Road now stands. This and the following season we played all friendly games, but entered a League in 1911-12.

On the social side the club room was used by both men and girls. The girls used the large hall and the men the billiard room. As there was only one billiard table at that time, there was a fair amount of room for reading and playing card games. The room adjoining now used as the refreshment bar was not built until about 1912. Men were only allowed in the hall on the occasion of dances, concerts and dancing lessons, and girls were never allowed in the billiard room. The music at the dances was supplied by a mechanical instrument called an Orchestrolian. This instrument was very effective and useful, the tunes being obtained from rolls driven by a small electric motor. We also had a Dramatic Section under the direction of a professional coach.

1910 was notable chiefly for our exhibit at the Japan-British Exhibition at the White City. This time we had our exhibit in one of the machinery halls and curiously enough our next door neighbours were Messrs Berry, as at the Franco-British Exhibition. We worked to almost the same ideas except that the Polish was delivered in 2-10 cwt metal barrels instead of 1 cwt drums.

Exhibitions were very popular in those days and ran for weeks and even months at a time, and were a very valuable form of advertisement.

In the following year at the Crystal Palace we had a model of the Houses of Parliament with a miniature Big Ben complete in every detail.

The problem of getting the polish to the exhibition was simplified by the purchase of a motor lorry. It was a 2 and a half ton Lacre lorry and our first motor conveyance. I do not remember an occasion when it failed on its journey to and from Crystal Palace. The same drums were used as at the Japanese Exhibition.

Some of my readers will doubtless recall that the entire Exhibition was hired by the Company for one day, all visitors being admitted free upon production of a lid from a tin of "Cherry Blossom". An account of this and a photograph of the building was given in an earlier number of FORWARD.

Mr Mason also hired the Daily Mail Fair of Fashions under the same conditions. The Railway Company was warned of the possibility of a large number of people availing themselves of this opportunity of visiting the Exhibition free, but they only laughed at the idea until the day arrived, when their stations were congested. A record attendance for this exhibition was set up, and I well remember taking part with other employees in a fancy dress parade which was arranged for the evening.

A cricket club was formed in 1911 and I was its first secretary, with Mr Dan Mason skipper and Mr J Noble vice-captain. We played on Homefields, and this remained our cricket headquarters until the opening of our present sports ground in 1926.

A memorable feature of the Works grounds at this time was Mr Dan Mason's collection of birds, and we also had several animals, including two monkeys, "Annie and Harry", and a mongoose. The aviaries, both indoor and outdoor, were built where the dispensary now stands. Mr Hole can tell a good story about "Harry" they formed a deep attachment for one another. When "The Cedars" in Burlington Lane was purchased about 1911, part of these grounds where the Laboratory and Men's Canteen now stand were used for housing Mr Dan Mason's feathered collection, and with space at his disposal he added to their number considerably till there was a splendid collection of birds, mostly of foreign species, housed indoors and outdoors. "The Cedars" itself was used as Stores, and the ground floor rooms used for carton making, machines being installed for this purpose.

The first Chiswick Hospital was opened in this year. Mr Dan Mason purchased "Amalinda", which backed on to the factory in Burlington Lane and was at that time a Home for Motherless Children. This was transferred to Grove Park where it remained until it was evacuated in the recent World War. " Amalinda" was equipped and endowed by Mr Mason for the use of Chiswick residents and, unfortunately, I was one of the first patients an unenviable distinction. I had the misfortune to drop a tin of aniline dye into a pot of boiling wax with the result that I got badly splashed and my face was severely scalded.

About this time we commenced to fill a special tin for South Africa, to which country we were already exporting large quantities of Saddle Soap. The Boot Polish was given a tin specially printed, with a patent opener. The functioning of this opener is of interest. A piece of tape was threaded through a slit in the bead of the body and fixed before filling. When topped, both ends of the tape protruded from the tin, and to open one pulled the tape and the lid came off. That seemed to make an effective opening, but it was found that the tape rotted and the practice was soon discontinued. About this time, also, we started a special tin for export to Germany, but very soon the manufacture was transferred there.

The Memoirs of a Masonian P4 Continued P5 >>

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