Metadata
WORK ID: YFA 4596 (Master Record)
Title | Year | Date |
CAN WE HELP YOU? | c.1958 | 1955-01-01 |
Details
Original Format: 16mm Colour: Colour Sound: Mute Duration: 7 mins 4 secs Credits: Photography by C.H.Wood (Bradford) Ltd. Subject: Working Life Industry |
Summary This film is from the C.H. Wood collection and contains footage of the factory where the carpets are produced for Birstall Carpets. There are shots of the final products and the steps that go into getting the raw wool to that stage. |
Description
This film is from the C.H. Wood collection and contains footage of the factory where the carpets are produced for Birstall Carpets. There are shots of the final products and the steps that go into getting the raw wool to that stage.
Title-Birstall Carpet Co., Ltd present
Title-`Can we help you?'
A man walks across a shop display of carpets and over to a stand advertising `Superloop' and `Supercut' carpets. He lifts up the selection of sample pieces to show the variety of...
This film is from the C.H. Wood collection and contains footage of the factory where the carpets are produced for Birstall Carpets. There are shots of the final products and the steps that go into getting the raw wool to that stage.
Title-Birstall Carpet Co., Ltd present
Title-`Can we help you?'
A man walks across a shop display of carpets and over to a stand advertising `Superloop' and `Supercut' carpets. He lifts up the selection of sample pieces to show the variety of colours available. There is a shot of a pencil point picking up the loops in the carpet and then the man pressing his thumb down to show how thick and springy the carpet is.
The scene cuts to a factory where coloured wool is going through the carding machine, then into a spinning section where the fibres are rolled around to keep them flat. Then the fibres are fed through another few sections of machinery, and the shot cuts to threads being wound onto spindles. There are more shots of different coloured thread on spindles.
Following this are shots of a weaving machine and lengths of carpet coming out onto rollers. A man examines the carpet and cuts off any straggly threads. Two men roll a large roll of carpet down a ramp and towards the camera.
The next section is about the `Supercut' carpets and again shows the variety of colours and designs on the on the sample pieces. There is a brief shot of a man dropping two small pieces of red carpet into two glasses. The after shot shows how much of the dye came out of one of the pieces.
A woman sits at an industrial sewing machine and sews a seam along the edges of a carpet. In the next shot a man wraps the long roll of carpet with cardboard and paper.
There are more carpet testers and then shots of a wool dyeing machine in a factory. Following this are shots of two women working at a large mechanical loom. They move around some of the yarns and then remove a piece of the machinery in order to remove the finished piece of carpet. There is a close-up shot of the machine weaving the tiny piece of wool into a carpet. The final shots are of two women brushing the carpet as it comes out of the machine and then ends with the carpet man walking away from the shop display.
Title-The End.
Photography by C.H.Wood (Bradford) Ltd.
Context
The new luxury of the fitted carpet in 1950s Britain is brought wonderfully to light in luscious Kodachrome colour in this film of a Batley carpet manufacturer in operation.
Ever wondered how carpets are made? Well look no further, it’s all revealed in this film of Birstall Mill Carpets of Bingley as tufted carpets are produced with various textures and coloured patterns typical of the 1950s. It is little surprise that the fitted carpet became such a common feature of the post-war...
The new luxury of the fitted carpet in 1950s Britain is brought wonderfully to light in luscious Kodachrome colour in this film of a Batley carpet manufacturer in operation.
Ever wondered how carpets are made? Well look no further, it’s all revealed in this film of Birstall Mill Carpets of Bingley as tufted carpets are produced with various textures and coloured patterns typical of the 1950s. It is little surprise that the fitted carpet became such a common feature of the post-war period as these carpets bring a cosiness into the home. This promotional film is one of very many made by the prolific Bradford filmmakers C.H. Wood, who are better known for their films of various motor sports. It wasn’t until the 1940s though that the development of tufted carpets in USA, using candlewick weaving techniques, brought prices down to an affordable level compared to woven carpets. Britons have a softness for carpets, but with more awareness that the volatile organic compounds that artificial fibres emit can lead to allergic reactions, there is a trend is now back towards organic materials. The manufacturers featured in the film, Birstall Mill Carpets, are still in operation in Batley. This film is available to be licensed for non-commercial creative reuse. For more information please contact yfa@yorksj.ac.uk |