1 00:00:01,280 --> 00:00:04,320 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff You Missed in History Class, a production 2 00:00:04,400 --> 00:00:13,480 Speaker 1: of I Heart Radio. Hello, and welcome to the podcast. 3 00:00:13,480 --> 00:00:18,079 Speaker 1: I'm Holly Fry and I'm Tracy V. Wilson. So, Tracy, 4 00:00:18,160 --> 00:00:21,040 Speaker 1: I'm sure you have heard of a jacket being called 5 00:00:21,040 --> 00:00:24,919 Speaker 1: a Macintosh, and these days lots of jackets are called 6 00:00:24,960 --> 00:00:29,080 Speaker 1: that became kind of a generic. Always correctly, it really 7 00:00:29,120 --> 00:00:31,560 Speaker 1: means a raincoat, and if you want to get granular, 8 00:00:31,640 --> 00:00:35,199 Speaker 1: it means a specific kind and brand of raincoat. And 9 00:00:35,240 --> 00:00:37,320 Speaker 1: that's because it's actually named for the man who is 10 00:00:37,440 --> 00:00:41,320 Speaker 1: usually credited with inventing the modern raincoat, and that was 11 00:00:41,400 --> 00:00:45,720 Speaker 1: Scottish chemist Charles Macintosh. But as with just about any invention, 12 00:00:45,800 --> 00:00:47,640 Speaker 1: it is not as though he came up with the 13 00:00:47,680 --> 00:00:51,040 Speaker 1: idea out of thin air. Humans have worked on ways 14 00:00:51,080 --> 00:00:55,680 Speaker 1: to make garments water resistant almost since they started wearing them. 15 00:00:55,840 --> 00:01:00,360 Speaker 1: Whale intestines, woven grass and leaves, animal first, tightly woven 16 00:01:00,360 --> 00:01:03,959 Speaker 1: woolf fibers, and even oiled and waxed fabrics have been 17 00:01:04,040 --> 00:01:06,560 Speaker 1: used around the world by various people to try to 18 00:01:06,640 --> 00:01:10,400 Speaker 1: keep the rain and moisture at bay. But figuring out 19 00:01:10,440 --> 00:01:14,319 Speaker 1: how to manufacture clothes with rubber was a really big breakthrough. 20 00:01:14,840 --> 00:01:19,800 Speaker 1: That took actually kind of centuries. People really wanted to 21 00:01:19,800 --> 00:01:23,600 Speaker 1: figure out the rubber puzzle. I really love looking at 22 00:01:23,800 --> 00:01:28,600 Speaker 1: pictures of the various kinds of rainwear that different cultures 23 00:01:28,640 --> 00:01:31,080 Speaker 1: have developed around the world. Some of them are just 24 00:01:31,200 --> 00:01:34,560 Speaker 1: so fascinating to me. Uh. In terms of what we're 25 00:01:34,560 --> 00:01:38,600 Speaker 1: talking about today, there are accounts that indicate that indigenous 26 00:01:38,640 --> 00:01:43,160 Speaker 1: peoples in the America's used the natural rubber from trees 27 00:01:43,319 --> 00:01:46,560 Speaker 1: in a lot of different ways, and we're applying rubber 28 00:01:46,600 --> 00:01:52,120 Speaker 1: to their clothing as a waterproofing tool well before Europeans 29 00:01:52,320 --> 00:01:57,920 Speaker 1: arrived in the Americas. Then Europeans, particularly Spanish and Portuguese explorers, 30 00:01:57,960 --> 00:02:02,240 Speaker 1: adopted this same practice, it was not something that they 31 00:02:02,280 --> 00:02:06,200 Speaker 1: brought back home with them to Europe. Though, rubber did 32 00:02:06,240 --> 00:02:09,040 Speaker 1: not really become something that Europeans paid a lot of 33 00:02:09,040 --> 00:02:13,280 Speaker 1: attention to until the mid eighteenth century, when French botanist 34 00:02:13,400 --> 00:02:17,600 Speaker 1: friends with fred No Deda Gattoier started writing about it 35 00:02:17,680 --> 00:02:22,160 Speaker 1: after spending time studying the plants in French Guiana for 36 00:02:22,160 --> 00:02:25,920 Speaker 1: a note actually wrote about the possibility of combining rubber 37 00:02:25,960 --> 00:02:30,320 Speaker 1: with textiles to create waterproof clothing as early as seventeen 38 00:02:30,360 --> 00:02:34,000 Speaker 1: forty nine. But though for No and other Europeans who 39 00:02:34,000 --> 00:02:37,520 Speaker 1: had visited the Americas had seen this application and had 40 00:02:37,560 --> 00:02:40,520 Speaker 1: even used it themselves. You would think, of course they 41 00:02:40,520 --> 00:02:42,200 Speaker 1: would want to bring that back to Europe, but the 42 00:02:42,240 --> 00:02:46,560 Speaker 1: problem was transport. Although the scientific community of Europe was 43 00:02:46,680 --> 00:02:50,080 Speaker 1: really eager to experiment with cow shook as it was 44 00:02:50,160 --> 00:02:53,120 Speaker 1: known in for No's writing and often for a long time, 45 00:02:53,680 --> 00:02:58,160 Speaker 1: it couldn't really be stabilized for transport, and so reportedly 46 00:02:58,320 --> 00:03:01,160 Speaker 1: that raw material would coagulate eight on the voyage across 47 00:03:01,160 --> 00:03:04,760 Speaker 1: the Atlantic. For No thought that rubber could be combined 48 00:03:04,800 --> 00:03:08,200 Speaker 1: with turpentine as a solvent, but that actually caused it 49 00:03:08,280 --> 00:03:11,320 Speaker 1: to break down, and it introduced oxygen into the mix, 50 00:03:11,360 --> 00:03:15,360 Speaker 1: and it just further degraded it. So enter a repeat 51 00:03:15,480 --> 00:03:19,120 Speaker 1: character from the podcast, that is Jacques de Valcantin of 52 00:03:19,240 --> 00:03:23,919 Speaker 1: the pooping robot duck Automata fame. He was really fascinated 53 00:03:23,960 --> 00:03:27,160 Speaker 1: with rubber, and he's often credited with creating the first 54 00:03:27,360 --> 00:03:31,320 Speaker 1: rubber tube, which he used in that duck. He was 55 00:03:31,360 --> 00:03:34,200 Speaker 1: one of the more prominent scientists of the seventeen hundreds 56 00:03:34,200 --> 00:03:37,280 Speaker 1: who was talking to colleagues about the potential of using 57 00:03:37,400 --> 00:03:42,000 Speaker 1: rubber in a variety of applications that certainly increased its 58 00:03:42,040 --> 00:03:47,080 Speaker 1: profile as a subject of interest. He also communicated the 59 00:03:47,120 --> 00:03:50,160 Speaker 1: importance of this line of scientific research in the early 60 00:03:50,240 --> 00:03:54,360 Speaker 1: seventeen sixties. He did that when talking to Are Leonard 61 00:03:54,480 --> 00:03:57,440 Speaker 1: Jean Baptiste Berta, who at the time was King Louis 62 00:03:57,520 --> 00:04:01,360 Speaker 1: the fifteenth of France's finance minister. Are. Yeah, he was like, 63 00:04:01,440 --> 00:04:04,760 Speaker 1: we should really put some money behind this research, shouldn't we. 64 00:04:04,880 --> 00:04:08,680 Speaker 1: It's very cool, um. But it took several more years 65 00:04:08,720 --> 00:04:11,560 Speaker 1: for the next link in the chain, meaning another scientist, 66 00:04:11,640 --> 00:04:14,640 Speaker 1: to propose another solvent that would make rubber into a 67 00:04:14,760 --> 00:04:17,080 Speaker 1: substance that could be used for a wide range of 68 00:04:17,120 --> 00:04:21,279 Speaker 1: practical applications. That was the work of French chemist Pierre 69 00:04:21,320 --> 00:04:26,280 Speaker 1: Joseph Macaire. Despite being very busy in the seventeen sixties 70 00:04:26,279 --> 00:04:30,760 Speaker 1: writing the historically significant Dictionary of Chemistry, he also wanted 71 00:04:30,800 --> 00:04:34,000 Speaker 1: to crack the problem of a solvent for rubber, and 72 00:04:34,120 --> 00:04:37,880 Speaker 1: he proposed ether as another solvent option, and presented his 73 00:04:37,920 --> 00:04:41,560 Speaker 1: work to the Academy Deciance in seventeen sixty eight, but 74 00:04:41,680 --> 00:04:44,800 Speaker 1: ether was far too expensive to really ever do anything 75 00:04:44,800 --> 00:04:49,160 Speaker 1: at a large scale. In seventeen seventy nine, an Italian 76 00:04:49,200 --> 00:04:54,240 Speaker 1: botanist and chemist named Giovanni Valentino Mattia Fabroni of Florence 77 00:04:54,600 --> 00:04:58,839 Speaker 1: picked up this effort. As a young scientist, Fabroni had 78 00:04:58,880 --> 00:05:02,760 Speaker 1: traveled to Paris and London at the behest of Tuscany nobility, 79 00:05:02,800 --> 00:05:07,000 Speaker 1: and had collected instruments for a new laboratory. That laboratory 80 00:05:07,080 --> 00:05:11,159 Speaker 1: evolved into the Science Museum of Florence. During these trips, 81 00:05:11,240 --> 00:05:15,280 Speaker 1: Fabbroni of course met other scientists, and it's believed that 82 00:05:15,279 --> 00:05:18,479 Speaker 1: that's when he became interested in rubber. It was a 83 00:05:18,520 --> 00:05:22,120 Speaker 1: few years after that initial supply run that Fabroni was 84 00:05:22,200 --> 00:05:28,240 Speaker 1: back in London and through experimentation he identified petroleum distillate 85 00:05:28,400 --> 00:05:32,719 Speaker 1: or naptha as a solvent for rubber. Fabroni did see 86 00:05:32,800 --> 00:05:36,359 Speaker 1: some textile applications for this and prepared some samples of 87 00:05:36,480 --> 00:05:41,000 Speaker 1: fabrics that were coated with rubber. He published his findings 88 00:05:41,000 --> 00:05:44,160 Speaker 1: in France and Italy in the seventeen nineties, with the 89 00:05:44,200 --> 00:05:47,320 Speaker 1: most detailed write ups about it appearing in Italy in 90 00:05:47,400 --> 00:05:49,880 Speaker 1: seventeen ninety six. So here it is this is the 91 00:05:49,920 --> 00:05:55,000 Speaker 1: first rain waar no actually not petroleum distill It was 92 00:05:55,240 --> 00:05:58,800 Speaker 1: difficult to produce in large quantities. The next step was 93 00:05:58,880 --> 00:06:04,160 Speaker 1: scientists figuring out how to actually make these discoveries viable 94 00:06:04,240 --> 00:06:08,080 Speaker 1: for more than just these little one off samples. Yeah, 95 00:06:08,120 --> 00:06:10,760 Speaker 1: and these were like not as though he was even 96 00:06:10,800 --> 00:06:13,200 Speaker 1: making clothes with the samples. It was like, here is 97 00:06:13,240 --> 00:06:18,479 Speaker 1: your sample of a an eight by eight inch, Yes, 98 00:06:18,520 --> 00:06:22,159 Speaker 1: it's a swatch. At that point, other scientists continued to 99 00:06:22,200 --> 00:06:26,159 Speaker 1: work on how to make rubber work practically. But before garments, 100 00:06:26,240 --> 00:06:29,280 Speaker 1: there was another use for rubber coated fabric, and that 101 00:06:29,360 --> 00:06:32,839 Speaker 1: was balloons. But here's the thing, we actually don't know 102 00:06:33,040 --> 00:06:36,880 Speaker 1: a whole lot about this use. It does brush up 103 00:06:36,880 --> 00:06:40,760 Speaker 1: against two previous episodes, though, And what we have is 104 00:06:40,839 --> 00:06:44,080 Speaker 1: correspondence between Faujeue de Saint Fonde, one of the people 105 00:06:44,080 --> 00:06:48,160 Speaker 1: who wrote about the Mongolfier brothers and their early ballooning efforts, 106 00:06:48,240 --> 00:06:52,640 Speaker 1: and another pair of brothers, the Robets. That correspondence is 107 00:06:52,720 --> 00:06:55,799 Speaker 1: kind of on the bickery side. It seems that each 108 00:06:55,839 --> 00:06:58,960 Speaker 1: side of the communication believed that they had had the 109 00:06:59,000 --> 00:07:03,120 Speaker 1: idea to try waterproofing balloon fabric first. And there are 110 00:07:03,120 --> 00:07:07,240 Speaker 1: also some references years later to something called Blanchard's solution, 111 00:07:07,800 --> 00:07:11,920 Speaker 1: again referencing Sophie Blanchard. Uh that would suggest that that 112 00:07:12,000 --> 00:07:15,000 Speaker 1: was a rubber and turpentine solution that she used on 113 00:07:15,040 --> 00:07:19,080 Speaker 1: her balloon, but there aren't really any specifics about where 114 00:07:19,080 --> 00:07:23,360 Speaker 1: that solution came from, if it had been used successfully, etcetera. 115 00:07:24,040 --> 00:07:28,480 Speaker 1: Across the Atlantic Ocean, Spanish scientists working in Mexico were 116 00:07:28,560 --> 00:07:32,360 Speaker 1: also working on rubber. At the end of the eighteenth century. 117 00:07:32,560 --> 00:07:35,240 Speaker 1: Diaz de la Vega had been one of several men 118 00:07:35,280 --> 00:07:38,200 Speaker 1: who had traveled to the America's to learn more about 119 00:07:38,240 --> 00:07:43,320 Speaker 1: the plant known as Castilloa elastica, after other Europeans had 120 00:07:43,360 --> 00:07:47,520 Speaker 1: returned home excited about it. In this case, the effort 121 00:07:47,520 --> 00:07:50,680 Speaker 1: was funded by the Spanish colonial government, and de la 122 00:07:50,760 --> 00:07:54,160 Speaker 1: Vega was an employee of that government. He created not 123 00:07:54,400 --> 00:07:58,920 Speaker 1: clothing but containers. He did that by layering textiles with 124 00:07:59,040 --> 00:08:02,640 Speaker 1: natural latex and then shaping the layered result into something 125 00:08:02,720 --> 00:08:06,800 Speaker 1: that could hold mercury. We don't really have specifics on 126 00:08:06,840 --> 00:08:09,840 Speaker 1: the dimensions or the shape of those containers, but it 127 00:08:09,920 --> 00:08:12,920 Speaker 1: seems like the whole project kind of faded off. It 128 00:08:13,000 --> 00:08:15,960 Speaker 1: was not really pursued later. I would love to see 129 00:08:15,960 --> 00:08:19,640 Speaker 1: those um But then in the late seventeen hundreds, in 130 00:08:19,680 --> 00:08:23,880 Speaker 1: early eighteen hundreds, a British surgeon named James Howison, living 131 00:08:23,920 --> 00:08:27,760 Speaker 1: in Asia did start applying rubber to clothing to make 132 00:08:27,800 --> 00:08:30,800 Speaker 1: waterproof gear, and he wrote about all of this in 133 00:08:30,840 --> 00:08:34,160 Speaker 1: a paper titled Some account of the Elastic Gum Vine 134 00:08:34,200 --> 00:08:37,200 Speaker 1: of Prince Wales Island, and of Experiments made on the 135 00:08:37,200 --> 00:08:41,120 Speaker 1: milky juice which it produces, with respecting the useful purposes 136 00:08:41,160 --> 00:08:44,520 Speaker 1: to which it may be applied the Prince Wales Island 137 00:08:44,520 --> 00:08:47,520 Speaker 1: and the title is the Malaysian island of Penang. And 138 00:08:47,600 --> 00:08:51,920 Speaker 1: Howison is credited with identifying a rubber producing plant called 139 00:08:52,040 --> 00:08:56,360 Speaker 1: Ursiola elastica, and in his paper, Howison stated that older 140 00:08:56,480 --> 00:08:59,480 Speaker 1: vines of that plant produced the best couch shook and 141 00:08:59,559 --> 00:09:03,280 Speaker 1: describe it as being similar to a thick cream. He 142 00:09:03,400 --> 00:09:07,040 Speaker 1: also described making wax molds of items like gloves and 143 00:09:07,120 --> 00:09:10,240 Speaker 1: boots and then dipping them into his rubber solution to 144 00:09:10,360 --> 00:09:14,040 Speaker 1: make completely rubber items, and using a ruler to spread 145 00:09:14,040 --> 00:09:18,160 Speaker 1: liquefied rubber onto clothing, making himself an entire set of 146 00:09:18,200 --> 00:09:22,080 Speaker 1: waterproof clothes. The next person in Europe to work on 147 00:09:22,200 --> 00:09:26,240 Speaker 1: waterproofing with rubber was really young when he figured some 148 00:09:26,320 --> 00:09:30,439 Speaker 1: advances out. He was just eighteen. His name was James 149 00:09:30,440 --> 00:09:33,840 Speaker 1: Sime and he was a medical student in Scotland. His 150 00:09:34,040 --> 00:09:37,800 Speaker 1: story is interesting because it butts right up against that 151 00:09:37,920 --> 00:09:41,800 Speaker 1: of Charles McIntosh, he was credited with inventing the raincoat. 152 00:09:42,480 --> 00:09:46,200 Speaker 1: In eighteen eighteen, Sime wrote up his findings that mineral 153 00:09:46,320 --> 00:09:49,480 Speaker 1: naptha was the best thing to thin rubber into a 154 00:09:49,679 --> 00:09:53,880 Speaker 1: usable liquid form, and like those before him, he worked 155 00:09:53,960 --> 00:09:58,439 Speaker 1: on waterproofing clothes by spreading this liquid rubber on them. 156 00:09:59,040 --> 00:10:01,960 Speaker 1: Other scientists we're working with rubber and writing about the 157 00:10:02,040 --> 00:10:04,600 Speaker 1: various qualities they observed in it during all of this. 158 00:10:05,360 --> 00:10:09,880 Speaker 1: Dutch physiologist Jahn Ingenhouse wrote about rubber stickiness in seventeen 159 00:10:09,960 --> 00:10:14,120 Speaker 1: seventy nine, writing quote, this wonderful substance possesses a strong 160 00:10:14,200 --> 00:10:17,840 Speaker 1: power of attraction for itself, so that two pieces cut 161 00:10:17,840 --> 00:10:21,920 Speaker 1: with a sharp instrument will adhere strongly together if joined 162 00:10:21,920 --> 00:10:24,560 Speaker 1: before the cut and smooth edges have been touched by 163 00:10:24,600 --> 00:10:28,800 Speaker 1: the fingers. A French scientist named Grossar built on that 164 00:10:28,880 --> 00:10:32,319 Speaker 1: stickiness idea in his work developing a method of joining 165 00:10:32,360 --> 00:10:36,120 Speaker 1: rubber together for his work on rubber tubing. And building 166 00:10:36,160 --> 00:10:39,520 Speaker 1: on that was Thomas Hancock who developed a device called 167 00:10:39,559 --> 00:10:43,320 Speaker 1: a masticator in the early eighteen hundreds that processed rubber 168 00:10:43,559 --> 00:10:47,720 Speaker 1: to a desired viscosity for use in a variety of applications, 169 00:10:47,760 --> 00:10:52,240 Speaker 1: including the types of hoses that Grossar had developed. Hancock's 170 00:10:52,240 --> 00:10:56,080 Speaker 1: masticator was a cylinder with spikes that rotated and rubber 171 00:10:56,120 --> 00:10:59,000 Speaker 1: material was passed through one end and was warmed and 172 00:10:59,000 --> 00:11:01,920 Speaker 1: cut by the spikes over and over before being extruded 173 00:11:01,920 --> 00:11:04,440 Speaker 1: from the other end, as what was called by one 174 00:11:04,440 --> 00:11:10,520 Speaker 1: writer quote a united plastic compound. But unlike his predecessors 175 00:11:10,520 --> 00:11:15,160 Speaker 1: and their experiments with rubber, Hancock did not immediately published 176 00:11:15,240 --> 00:11:19,720 Speaker 1: all of his findings. He recognized the possible commercial benefit 177 00:11:19,840 --> 00:11:22,959 Speaker 1: of keeping the mast carters working secret, and he ended 178 00:11:23,000 --> 00:11:26,360 Speaker 1: up working with Charles McIntosh. So we'll be talking about 179 00:11:26,360 --> 00:11:29,560 Speaker 1: the man whose name, with a different spelling is still 180 00:11:29,960 --> 00:11:33,400 Speaker 1: associated with raincoats. In just a moment, before we get 181 00:11:33,400 --> 00:11:35,839 Speaker 1: into Charles McIntosh's story, we're going to pause for a 182 00:11:35,880 --> 00:11:48,760 Speaker 1: sponsor break. Charles McIntosh, that's spelled M A C. There's 183 00:11:48,800 --> 00:11:52,559 Speaker 1: no K in his proper name spelling. Was born in Glasgow, Scotland, 184 00:11:52,760 --> 00:12:00,120 Speaker 1: on December Perhaps almost all accounts of his life list 185 00:12:00,160 --> 00:12:03,440 Speaker 1: as his date of birth. But the dissenter in information 186 00:12:03,480 --> 00:12:06,319 Speaker 1: on this particular note is a pretty significant one. It's 187 00:12:06,360 --> 00:12:09,800 Speaker 1: the National Records of Scotland website which lists his birth 188 00:12:09,880 --> 00:12:13,040 Speaker 1: date as November twenty nine, and there is a photo 189 00:12:13,160 --> 00:12:16,840 Speaker 1: of the birth and baptism entry for Charles Macintosh. It 190 00:12:17,000 --> 00:12:19,959 Speaker 1: is easy to make out the n O V. November 191 00:12:19,960 --> 00:12:23,000 Speaker 1: on the entry, as well as the Macintosh spelled differently 192 00:12:23,040 --> 00:12:25,319 Speaker 1: than he spelled it in his lifetime uh, and the 193 00:12:25,400 --> 00:12:27,360 Speaker 1: name Charles, but the rest of the words are a 194 00:12:27,360 --> 00:12:30,040 Speaker 1: little bit tricky to make out there in handwritten script, 195 00:12:30,480 --> 00:12:33,720 Speaker 1: which you know anyone's handwriting is tricky, and sometimes that 196 00:12:34,280 --> 00:12:38,480 Speaker 1: very elegant but very fancy looking UH script that you'll 197 00:12:38,520 --> 00:12:42,000 Speaker 1: see an old documents is very hard to discern. The 198 00:12:42,080 --> 00:12:44,719 Speaker 1: December date, though, is what is given, for example, in 199 00:12:44,760 --> 00:12:47,320 Speaker 1: the biography of Macintosh that was written by his son, 200 00:12:47,720 --> 00:12:51,360 Speaker 1: so that date is what the immediate family used. Charles's 201 00:12:51,480 --> 00:12:56,080 Speaker 1: parents were George McIntosh and Mary Moore McIntosh. George had 202 00:12:56,120 --> 00:12:59,920 Speaker 1: a factory where d was produced, and his intention was 203 00:13:00,120 --> 00:13:02,760 Speaker 1: that his son would one day take over this business. 204 00:13:03,360 --> 00:13:06,839 Speaker 1: As a boy, Charles attended grammar school and was recognized 205 00:13:06,840 --> 00:13:10,640 Speaker 1: early on for an aptitude in Latin language, in particular. 206 00:13:11,440 --> 00:13:16,079 Speaker 1: After grammar school, he attended Catterick Bridge School in Yorkshire. 207 00:13:16,760 --> 00:13:19,760 Speaker 1: After studying in England for several years. Charles went back 208 00:13:19,800 --> 00:13:22,760 Speaker 1: to Scotland and started working at the counting house of 209 00:13:22,800 --> 00:13:26,720 Speaker 1: another merchant in Glasgow that was a Mr. Glass Bird, 210 00:13:27,480 --> 00:13:31,160 Speaker 1: and the goal was this position would further develop Charles's 211 00:13:31,280 --> 00:13:34,400 Speaker 1: knowledge of business, and in his biography this reads sort 212 00:13:34,400 --> 00:13:38,400 Speaker 1: of like an apprenticeship, but sometimes it's characterized more as 213 00:13:38,480 --> 00:13:41,640 Speaker 1: McIntosh just getting a job as a clerk. Yeah, it 214 00:13:41,640 --> 00:13:44,920 Speaker 1: seems like there was a more clear career goal. I 215 00:13:44,960 --> 00:13:47,320 Speaker 1: read a few that were like, after being tired of 216 00:13:47,320 --> 00:13:49,600 Speaker 1: being a clerk, he became an inventor, and I'm like, 217 00:13:49,679 --> 00:13:54,679 Speaker 1: that's not really right. But regardless of how that position began, 218 00:13:54,760 --> 00:13:57,280 Speaker 1: the glass Words and the macintosh Is were friendly and 219 00:13:57,320 --> 00:14:02,160 Speaker 1: eventually both fathers and sons o foreman total all became 220 00:14:02,200 --> 00:14:06,560 Speaker 1: business partners. And by this point McIntosh was already very 221 00:14:06,640 --> 00:14:10,960 Speaker 1: interested in the latest advancements in chemistry. He exchanged letters 222 00:14:10,960 --> 00:14:14,600 Speaker 1: with a lot of scientists about new discoveries and theories 223 00:14:14,640 --> 00:14:17,200 Speaker 1: on the matter. He was also a member of the 224 00:14:17,240 --> 00:14:22,160 Speaker 1: Commercial Society of Glasgow, which existed from seven to eighteen 225 00:14:22,160 --> 00:14:25,920 Speaker 1: o three. This group was formed so that merchants and 226 00:14:26,000 --> 00:14:29,720 Speaker 1: businessmen in the area could discuss and debate social and 227 00:14:29,760 --> 00:14:33,840 Speaker 1: political issues that impacted the economy. During this time, Charles 228 00:14:33,880 --> 00:14:37,640 Speaker 1: McIntosh wrote essays on various happenings of the day, including 229 00:14:37,680 --> 00:14:42,000 Speaker 1: the late eighteenth century friction between Britain and Ireland. This 230 00:14:42,400 --> 00:14:47,480 Speaker 1: has a decidedly pro British slant. He also wrote essays 231 00:14:47,520 --> 00:14:51,680 Speaker 1: for the Society about European trade, agriculture, the iron trade, 232 00:14:51,760 --> 00:14:56,280 Speaker 1: and the manufacturer of textiles, specifically wool. In his essay 233 00:14:56,360 --> 00:14:59,920 Speaker 1: on wool, he wrote quote, this essay commences with expres 234 00:15:00,000 --> 00:15:04,000 Speaker 1: sctions of regret that the woolen manufacturer should not have 235 00:15:04,080 --> 00:15:07,440 Speaker 1: been introduced on a scale of any extent in Scotland, 236 00:15:07,520 --> 00:15:11,640 Speaker 1: seeing that the country is in many respects well calculated 237 00:15:11,680 --> 00:15:14,840 Speaker 1: for it. And these essays were written when McIntosh was 238 00:15:14,840 --> 00:15:16,840 Speaker 1: still very young. They were all written before he was 239 00:15:16,880 --> 00:15:20,080 Speaker 1: even twenty one, and during that time he was also 240 00:15:20,200 --> 00:15:24,280 Speaker 1: busy working on starting his own business enterprise. He started 241 00:15:24,280 --> 00:15:27,320 Speaker 1: a company in partnership with his father and another investor 242 00:15:27,400 --> 00:15:31,200 Speaker 1: named William Cooper, to manufacture ammonium chloride, which at the 243 00:15:31,240 --> 00:15:35,760 Speaker 1: time was called sal ammoniac. This was not a glamorous enterprise. 244 00:15:36,200 --> 00:15:40,400 Speaker 1: McIntosh's primary sources that he used for extraction of ammonium 245 00:15:40,480 --> 00:15:44,120 Speaker 1: chloride were soot and urine, and it was difficult to 246 00:15:44,200 --> 00:15:47,120 Speaker 1: process in the late seventeen hundreds, but then it could 247 00:15:47,160 --> 00:15:50,920 Speaker 1: be sold to metal smith's and pharmacies. This business only 248 00:15:51,000 --> 00:15:54,000 Speaker 1: lasted about six years, but during it Charles was often 249 00:15:54,040 --> 00:15:58,240 Speaker 1: corresponding with experts in production to refine his process and 250 00:15:58,480 --> 00:16:01,480 Speaker 1: to use the resources he had available through this venture 251 00:16:01,840 --> 00:16:05,200 Speaker 1: to perform some additional experiments of his own and expand 252 00:16:05,280 --> 00:16:09,600 Speaker 1: the company's offerings. Not long after the company formed, Charles 253 00:16:09,600 --> 00:16:14,160 Speaker 1: started traveling around Europe to make sales. Deals involves having 254 00:16:14,200 --> 00:16:16,600 Speaker 1: a lot of pluck for a man in his early twenties, 255 00:16:16,600 --> 00:16:18,920 Speaker 1: but to be clear, he had a lot of help 256 00:16:19,000 --> 00:16:22,680 Speaker 1: from his father and his father's business associates, all of 257 00:16:22,720 --> 00:16:27,080 Speaker 1: whom made introductions for him and encouraged their various contacts 258 00:16:27,120 --> 00:16:31,800 Speaker 1: to consider doing business with him. When McIntosh returned to Scotland, 259 00:16:31,960 --> 00:16:35,440 Speaker 1: he brought back some knowledge as well, including of new 260 00:16:35,520 --> 00:16:40,400 Speaker 1: innovations in chemistry. According to an early nineteenth century Scotland 261 00:16:40,480 --> 00:16:44,480 Speaker 1: statistics report, it was Charles McIntosh who introduced the production 262 00:16:44,600 --> 00:16:48,360 Speaker 1: of ascetate of lead and ascetate of alumina into Britain. 263 00:16:49,080 --> 00:16:51,600 Speaker 1: McIntosh wrote about this in a letter to a business 264 00:16:51,600 --> 00:16:55,960 Speaker 1: associate several years later in eighteen hundred quote, when in Holland, 265 00:16:56,040 --> 00:16:58,280 Speaker 1: I was admitted to see a sugar of lead work, 266 00:16:58,520 --> 00:17:00,640 Speaker 1: and was struck with the circumstance ants of both the 267 00:17:00,720 --> 00:17:04,040 Speaker 1: lead and coal, and frequently the malt used in making 268 00:17:04,040 --> 00:17:07,960 Speaker 1: the vinegar employed in it being imported into Holland from Britain, 269 00:17:08,400 --> 00:17:11,280 Speaker 1: and that the manufactured article, when sent back to US, 270 00:17:11,320 --> 00:17:14,600 Speaker 1: should become loaded upon its arrival with a duty of 271 00:17:14,720 --> 00:17:18,720 Speaker 1: threepence per pound. On my return to Glasgow, I attempted 272 00:17:18,760 --> 00:17:21,280 Speaker 1: to make sugar of lead and was successful in making 273 00:17:21,280 --> 00:17:24,600 Speaker 1: as salt equal in quality to the Dutch. I established 274 00:17:24,600 --> 00:17:28,080 Speaker 1: a manufactory of it in the year seventy six, which 275 00:17:28,119 --> 00:17:31,760 Speaker 1: as you know, has been going on pretty successfully ever since. 276 00:17:32,520 --> 00:17:36,520 Speaker 1: So he had realized that he could circumvent that process 277 00:17:36,600 --> 00:17:39,760 Speaker 1: of exporting raw material that was used in making lead 278 00:17:39,800 --> 00:17:43,399 Speaker 1: and then importing the ascetate and paying an import tax 279 00:17:43,480 --> 00:17:47,080 Speaker 1: for it. This would have been something of significant interest 280 00:17:47,200 --> 00:17:50,880 Speaker 1: to Macintosh because lead acetate, as it is more commonly 281 00:17:50,920 --> 00:17:53,919 Speaker 1: known today, is a die fixative that's used in the 282 00:17:53,960 --> 00:17:57,720 Speaker 1: textile industry, so it would have really benefited the family 283 00:17:57,800 --> 00:18:01,280 Speaker 1: business to produce it right there in Glasgow instead of 284 00:18:01,359 --> 00:18:04,879 Speaker 1: dealing with all these imports and exports. This actually led 285 00:18:05,000 --> 00:18:08,959 Speaker 1: to Britain's supplanting the Netherlands as the main exporter in 286 00:18:09,040 --> 00:18:14,120 Speaker 1: Europe of lead acetate. McIntosh had not patented his process though, 287 00:18:14,160 --> 00:18:17,840 Speaker 1: so a lot of other manufacturers jumped into production as well. 288 00:18:18,720 --> 00:18:23,280 Speaker 1: McIntosh got married to Mary Fisher in se They most 289 00:18:23,359 --> 00:18:27,000 Speaker 1: likely met through one of McIntosh's business contacts. It seems 290 00:18:27,040 --> 00:18:29,680 Speaker 1: like all of his life was kind of set up 291 00:18:29,720 --> 00:18:33,080 Speaker 1: through his and his father's business contracts because her father 292 00:18:33,320 --> 00:18:37,560 Speaker 1: was also a Glasgow merchant. McIntosh was involved in a 293 00:18:37,680 --> 00:18:41,880 Speaker 1: lot of businesses in his early years. He made advancements 294 00:18:41,920 --> 00:18:45,920 Speaker 1: in die production, particularly with the color known as Prussian Blue. 295 00:18:46,680 --> 00:18:50,520 Speaker 1: He also opened Scotland's first album works. One of the 296 00:18:50,560 --> 00:18:53,800 Speaker 1: advertisements that ran for one of his products read quote 297 00:18:53,920 --> 00:18:58,320 Speaker 1: Charles McIntosh and Companies refined malt vinegar for the use 298 00:18:58,400 --> 00:19:01,760 Speaker 1: of families and for pickling at cetera. Vinegar of the 299 00:19:01,840 --> 00:19:05,920 Speaker 1: most superior quality for the above purposes. Larranted and perfectly 300 00:19:06,040 --> 00:19:09,960 Speaker 1: pure vegetable acid in which the most delicate tests can 301 00:19:10,000 --> 00:19:13,879 Speaker 1: detect no adulteration of any kind, and which will never 302 00:19:13,960 --> 00:19:19,960 Speaker 1: spoil from keeping nor deposit any slimy gelatinous substance. This 303 00:19:20,080 --> 00:19:23,399 Speaker 1: vinegar will be found equal in strength and flavor to 304 00:19:23,480 --> 00:19:27,800 Speaker 1: the strongest French white wine vinegar, over which it possesses 305 00:19:27,920 --> 00:19:32,880 Speaker 1: many advantages. I can't imagine a modern ad for any 306 00:19:32,960 --> 00:19:37,640 Speaker 1: kind of food products invoking slimy, gelatinous substances. That's why 307 00:19:37,680 --> 00:19:41,719 Speaker 1: that cracked me up. So if you read most versions 308 00:19:41,800 --> 00:19:46,920 Speaker 1: of the raincoat creation story, they state that in McIntosh 309 00:19:47,080 --> 00:19:50,679 Speaker 1: was kind of working on a sustainability project. He wanted 310 00:19:50,720 --> 00:19:53,159 Speaker 1: to find uses for the cold tar naptha that was 311 00:19:53,280 --> 00:19:57,840 Speaker 1: produced in gas works. So naptha is an oily liquid 312 00:19:57,840 --> 00:20:01,400 Speaker 1: that's produced when natural gas condons eights and coal tar 313 00:20:01,680 --> 00:20:05,720 Speaker 1: used in production distills into the desired gas and that condensation. 314 00:20:06,440 --> 00:20:08,000 Speaker 1: This often reads as though it was kind of a 315 00:20:08,080 --> 00:20:10,480 Speaker 1: Eureka moment where he goes, oh, I could use this. 316 00:20:11,400 --> 00:20:14,240 Speaker 1: But as we've discussed, a lot of scientists were working 317 00:20:14,280 --> 00:20:16,399 Speaker 1: to get to a way to work with rubber, and 318 00:20:16,520 --> 00:20:19,680 Speaker 1: naptha had already been arrived at as a really viable 319 00:20:19,720 --> 00:20:24,760 Speaker 1: option in that quest. McIntosh was interested in chemistry and 320 00:20:24,800 --> 00:20:28,359 Speaker 1: would have absolutely had to read about the work of 321 00:20:28,480 --> 00:20:31,840 Speaker 1: his predecessors. This was such a popular topic that it 322 00:20:31,880 --> 00:20:35,040 Speaker 1: would have been really hard to avoid reading about it, 323 00:20:35,200 --> 00:20:38,080 Speaker 1: and several years before he got to his part in 324 00:20:38,119 --> 00:20:42,080 Speaker 1: the rubber story. In eighteen nineteen, McIntosh made an agreement 325 00:20:42,080 --> 00:20:45,840 Speaker 1: with the Glasgow Gas Works to buy the waste products 326 00:20:45,880 --> 00:20:49,760 Speaker 1: that were left after using coal to make gas. Those 327 00:20:49,760 --> 00:20:53,800 Speaker 1: products where tar and ammonaica liquor. Some of these waste 328 00:20:53,800 --> 00:20:57,800 Speaker 1: products were used in the various die processes that McIntosh 329 00:20:57,920 --> 00:21:00,399 Speaker 1: worked on, but he also put them to use in 330 00:21:00,560 --> 00:21:05,840 Speaker 1: other textile experiments, including with rubber. So the actual invention 331 00:21:06,200 --> 00:21:08,080 Speaker 1: and I feel like we should air quote that, since 332 00:21:08,640 --> 00:21:12,080 Speaker 1: he's kind of acting on many other ideas that people 333 00:21:12,119 --> 00:21:15,560 Speaker 1: have had, is described as follows in an account written 334 00:21:15,600 --> 00:21:18,160 Speaker 1: by Thomas Hancock. He's the one that invented that mast 335 00:21:18,240 --> 00:21:21,960 Speaker 1: cator machine. Quote. After the separation of the ammonia in 336 00:21:21,960 --> 00:21:25,000 Speaker 1: the conversion of tar into pitch to suit the purposes 337 00:21:25,040 --> 00:21:29,600 Speaker 1: of consumers, the essential oil termed naptha is produced, and 338 00:21:29,640 --> 00:21:32,560 Speaker 1: the thought occurred to him of its being possible to 339 00:21:32,640 --> 00:21:36,120 Speaker 1: render this also useful from its powers as a solvent 340 00:21:36,200 --> 00:21:40,000 Speaker 1: of couch shook or India rubber. By exposure to the 341 00:21:40,040 --> 00:21:43,199 Speaker 1: action of the volatile oil termed naptha obtained from the 342 00:21:43,240 --> 00:21:47,080 Speaker 1: coal tar. He converted this substance into a water proof varnish, 343 00:21:47,440 --> 00:21:50,800 Speaker 1: the thickness and consistency of which he could vary according 344 00:21:50,840 --> 00:21:54,160 Speaker 1: to the quantity of naptha which he employed in the process. 345 00:21:54,960 --> 00:21:59,920 Speaker 1: So McIntosh realized or maybe confirmed for himself, that naptha 346 00:22:00,040 --> 00:22:04,439 Speaker 1: could break down India rubber into a dissolved form. India 347 00:22:04,520 --> 00:22:08,040 Speaker 1: rubber is the naturally occurring rubber that can be extracted 348 00:22:08,080 --> 00:22:13,159 Speaker 1: from various tropical plants. Incidentally, it went from being called kawchuk, 349 00:22:13,240 --> 00:22:16,119 Speaker 1: which was a term taken from indigenous languages in the 350 00:22:16,160 --> 00:22:21,400 Speaker 1: America's to being called India rubber when English speaking scientists 351 00:22:21,440 --> 00:22:24,960 Speaker 1: realized it could be used to rub out unwanted writing 352 00:22:25,040 --> 00:22:28,800 Speaker 1: or drawing marks from a pencil. The India is a 353 00:22:28,840 --> 00:22:35,359 Speaker 1: reference to the West Indies, not the Indian subcontinent. Yes, 354 00:22:35,440 --> 00:22:38,200 Speaker 1: in that way that many European names for things don't 355 00:22:38,240 --> 00:22:41,840 Speaker 1: actually make sense of them. Uh, just though we would 356 00:22:41,840 --> 00:22:45,400 Speaker 1: make clear on that. So, once macintosh had a fluid 357 00:22:45,520 --> 00:22:48,959 Speaker 1: stable rubber to work with, he started experimenting with it 358 00:22:49,040 --> 00:22:52,720 Speaker 1: on fabric and eventually he spread some onto a piece 359 00:22:52,800 --> 00:22:55,960 Speaker 1: of wool. And then he did a thing that other 360 00:22:55,960 --> 00:22:58,600 Speaker 1: people had not. He layered another piece of wool on 361 00:22:58,720 --> 00:23:02,200 Speaker 1: top of that sort of gluing them together and creating 362 00:23:02,280 --> 00:23:06,919 Speaker 1: a waterproof fabric. Once McIntosh had his fabric tested and 363 00:23:06,960 --> 00:23:10,280 Speaker 1: a method developed for large scale production, he went right 364 00:23:10,320 --> 00:23:13,960 Speaker 1: into manufacture. He received a patent for his method of 365 00:23:13,960 --> 00:23:19,000 Speaker 1: waterproofing fabric on June seventy three. It was the fourth 366 00:23:19,040 --> 00:23:22,640 Speaker 1: British patent for an invention that utilized rubber, and by 367 00:23:22,640 --> 00:23:26,200 Speaker 1: the following year he was in full production of Macintosh Fabric. 368 00:23:26,560 --> 00:23:29,200 Speaker 1: He had added that extra K into the name as 369 00:23:29,240 --> 00:23:32,800 Speaker 1: part of his trademark for this. I was never able 370 00:23:32,880 --> 00:23:36,439 Speaker 1: to ferret out exactly why, but I suspect it was 371 00:23:37,119 --> 00:23:40,640 Speaker 1: to keep this separate from his other companies that had 372 00:23:40,680 --> 00:23:44,320 Speaker 1: the Macintosh name attached. We'll talk about some of the 373 00:23:44,400 --> 00:23:48,400 Speaker 1: problems with the early raincoats made from this material right 374 00:23:48,440 --> 00:23:50,560 Speaker 1: after we hear from some of the sponsors that keep 375 00:23:50,600 --> 00:24:03,320 Speaker 1: stuffy miss in history class going. So, this invention of 376 00:24:03,359 --> 00:24:07,720 Speaker 1: waterproof fabric was a really huge moment in clothing technology. 377 00:24:07,960 --> 00:24:10,760 Speaker 1: The first synthetic fabrics, so the things that are so 378 00:24:10,800 --> 00:24:13,600 Speaker 1: crucial to our rain gear today, for example, would not 379 00:24:13,680 --> 00:24:17,040 Speaker 1: be invented for more than a century. People had wanted 380 00:24:17,040 --> 00:24:20,199 Speaker 1: waterproof clothing for a long time and This was a 381 00:24:20,240 --> 00:24:23,600 Speaker 1: big step forward, but it was not perfect. There were 382 00:24:23,600 --> 00:24:26,040 Speaker 1: a lot of issues right out of the gate. For one, 383 00:24:26,240 --> 00:24:31,240 Speaker 1: that fabric was hot, blazingly hot. Two layers of wool 384 00:24:31,359 --> 00:24:33,959 Speaker 1: plus a rubber layer that did not breathe in between 385 00:24:34,000 --> 00:24:37,200 Speaker 1: them meant that garments made with McIntosh is fabric could 386 00:24:37,240 --> 00:24:40,600 Speaker 1: really only be worn comfortably in the coldest weather. But 387 00:24:40,680 --> 00:24:45,399 Speaker 1: it doesn't only rain when it's called. Additionally, sometimes the 388 00:24:45,480 --> 00:24:49,640 Speaker 1: rubber eyed adhesive that McIntosh had created would become viscous 389 00:24:49,680 --> 00:24:52,680 Speaker 1: in warm weather, and the fabric would become sticky as 390 00:24:52,720 --> 00:24:56,040 Speaker 1: it kind of oozed out through the weave. For another, 391 00:24:56,280 --> 00:24:59,919 Speaker 1: that combination of wool and rubber had some other longevity issues. 392 00:25:00,680 --> 00:25:04,160 Speaker 1: Wool contains oil. Even after it's been washed, it retains 393 00:25:04,200 --> 00:25:06,560 Speaker 1: some of the oils that it naturally has as a 394 00:25:06,600 --> 00:25:10,000 Speaker 1: product that grows out of an animal, and oil can 395 00:25:10,040 --> 00:25:13,040 Speaker 1: break down a lot of sticky substances. This is our 396 00:25:13,160 --> 00:25:16,360 Speaker 1: hot tip moment. UH. If you're ever having trouble removing 397 00:25:16,359 --> 00:25:18,840 Speaker 1: a bandage that's adhered to your skin, just break out 398 00:25:18,920 --> 00:25:21,439 Speaker 1: a little lotion or baby oil. It works better than 399 00:25:21,480 --> 00:25:23,720 Speaker 1: soap and water and better than any harsher things you 400 00:25:23,760 --> 00:25:26,439 Speaker 1: might use. And that is the action that was in 401 00:25:26,520 --> 00:25:30,320 Speaker 1: play here. So in this case, the woolves oil started 402 00:25:30,320 --> 00:25:33,000 Speaker 1: to break down the rubber coating that Macintosh had created, 403 00:25:33,400 --> 00:25:36,600 Speaker 1: so the garment's waterproof layer became less and less reliable 404 00:25:36,680 --> 00:25:40,679 Speaker 1: over time. And then here's the thing. Just sowing the 405 00:25:40,720 --> 00:25:44,359 Speaker 1: garment together meant that every stitch made a tiny hole 406 00:25:44,440 --> 00:25:47,720 Speaker 1: in the rubber layer. That doesn't sound too bad, but 407 00:25:47,800 --> 00:25:51,119 Speaker 1: then when you consider that each seam essentially was a 408 00:25:51,160 --> 00:25:54,680 Speaker 1: line of tiny perforations, and that water could soak through 409 00:25:54,720 --> 00:25:58,600 Speaker 1: all of those, you can see how it's a problem. 410 00:25:58,760 --> 00:26:02,360 Speaker 1: Those are all issue with this garment's functionality, but there 411 00:26:02,400 --> 00:26:06,000 Speaker 1: was also an issue of just general wearability in the 412 00:26:06,000 --> 00:26:09,960 Speaker 1: early raincoats. They were very stiff, so moving around in 413 00:26:10,040 --> 00:26:14,359 Speaker 1: them was pretty cumbersome. They couldn't really be tailored, so 414 00:26:14,520 --> 00:26:17,320 Speaker 1: the fit was sort of like wearing a tent. And 415 00:26:17,480 --> 00:26:21,480 Speaker 1: while it probably wasn't a huge concern for most people 416 00:26:21,480 --> 00:26:23,560 Speaker 1: who were just happy to have a garment that would 417 00:26:23,640 --> 00:26:27,960 Speaker 1: keep them mostly dry, they were not esthetically very great. 418 00:26:28,520 --> 00:26:31,159 Speaker 1: The only color they came in was a drab green, 419 00:26:31,520 --> 00:26:34,000 Speaker 1: and top things off, they smelled pretty bad, and this 420 00:26:35,200 --> 00:26:38,080 Speaker 1: was such an issue. They smelled so bad that they 421 00:26:38,080 --> 00:26:42,720 Speaker 1: were banned on public transportation. In some cities you cannot 422 00:26:42,840 --> 00:26:48,120 Speaker 1: get on the trolley if you're wearing a raincoat, which 423 00:26:48,119 --> 00:26:50,959 Speaker 1: I guess means you have to walk. So a number 424 00:26:51,040 --> 00:26:54,400 Speaker 1: of the flaws of these early garments made with macintosh fabric, 425 00:26:54,520 --> 00:26:58,800 Speaker 1: like the stitching lines creating a perforation, came about because 426 00:26:58,880 --> 00:27:01,639 Speaker 1: McIntosh was making fabric, and then he was selling that 427 00:27:01,720 --> 00:27:05,720 Speaker 1: fabric to garment makers. But Taylor's didn't really know how 428 00:27:05,720 --> 00:27:08,160 Speaker 1: to work with it. How could they No one had 429 00:27:08,240 --> 00:27:12,640 Speaker 1: ever sewn rubberized fabrics before, and McIntosh had told them 430 00:27:12,640 --> 00:27:15,360 Speaker 1: that they need to glue the seams rather than just stitching. 431 00:27:16,040 --> 00:27:19,240 Speaker 1: But garment makers were kind of wary of taking sewing 432 00:27:19,280 --> 00:27:23,160 Speaker 1: advice from a chemist who did not know how to sew. Uh. 433 00:27:23,200 --> 00:27:26,800 Speaker 1: So after a bit of frustration over this problem, McIntosh 434 00:27:26,840 --> 00:27:30,480 Speaker 1: just started production on garments in his own factory. This 435 00:27:30,560 --> 00:27:34,040 Speaker 1: is a really significant moment in clothing history for a 436 00:27:34,119 --> 00:27:37,879 Speaker 1: reason other than waterproofing. Charles McIntosh was one of the 437 00:27:37,920 --> 00:27:43,280 Speaker 1: first garment manufacturers to create clothing in mass production. Most 438 00:27:43,320 --> 00:27:46,280 Speaker 1: clothing in the eighteen twenties was still bespoke. You didn't 439 00:27:46,440 --> 00:27:49,560 Speaker 1: go into a shop and buy ready made dresses, their 440 00:27:49,640 --> 00:27:53,400 Speaker 1: suits off the rack. The idea of a clothing factory 441 00:27:53,640 --> 00:27:57,639 Speaker 1: was not really something that existed. The creation of an 442 00:27:57,680 --> 00:28:01,680 Speaker 1: assembly line is usually credited to Ransom Olds or Henry 443 00:28:01,720 --> 00:28:05,480 Speaker 1: Ford in the early nineteen hundreds, but McIntosh was eighty 444 00:28:05,560 --> 00:28:08,840 Speaker 1: or ninety years ahead of them. With a garment assembly line, 445 00:28:09,400 --> 00:28:12,080 Speaker 1: workers would be assigned to a particular part of the 446 00:28:12,160 --> 00:28:14,720 Speaker 1: garment and then the pieces would move on to the 447 00:28:14,760 --> 00:28:18,800 Speaker 1: next station and another part of the factory. Completely different 448 00:28:18,880 --> 00:28:21,040 Speaker 1: from the idea of going to a tailor and having 449 00:28:21,080 --> 00:28:23,520 Speaker 1: a garment made and they do the whole thing, yeah, 450 00:28:23,640 --> 00:28:27,680 Speaker 1: or making your own garment at home. Yeah. The ready 451 00:28:27,760 --> 00:28:30,919 Speaker 1: availability of the macintosh raincoat once all of this was 452 00:28:31,000 --> 00:28:33,440 Speaker 1: up and running, actually heard its reputation a little for 453 00:28:33,480 --> 00:28:36,800 Speaker 1: a while. In a world where clothes were usually custom 454 00:28:36,840 --> 00:28:39,840 Speaker 1: made for the wearer, the idea that a businessman and 455 00:28:39,880 --> 00:28:42,240 Speaker 1: a member of his household staff would wear the same 456 00:28:42,320 --> 00:28:45,600 Speaker 1: rain gear kind of made it seem less special. But 457 00:28:45,840 --> 00:28:48,920 Speaker 1: some of the hallmarks of the early Macintosh coats, including 458 00:28:48,960 --> 00:28:53,000 Speaker 1: a tartan lining to reference its inventors Scottish heritage, have 459 00:28:53,200 --> 00:28:57,120 Speaker 1: persisted and today they're seen as marks of quality. Initially, 460 00:28:57,160 --> 00:29:01,959 Speaker 1: the target market for McIntosh's rain consisted of sportsmen and 461 00:29:02,040 --> 00:29:06,960 Speaker 1: domestic workers like coachman and footman. This sounds pretty specific, 462 00:29:07,000 --> 00:29:10,400 Speaker 1: but it covered the basis for a lot of social strata. 463 00:29:10,520 --> 00:29:13,240 Speaker 1: While somebody who worked as a member of a household 464 00:29:13,320 --> 00:29:17,040 Speaker 1: staff would benefit from having a waterproof coat for performing 465 00:29:17,120 --> 00:29:20,720 Speaker 1: duties that took them outside or walking to and from work, 466 00:29:21,360 --> 00:29:23,840 Speaker 1: wealthy people would of course want to have one in 467 00:29:23,880 --> 00:29:27,240 Speaker 1: case they wanted to go yachting or hunting, and for 468 00:29:27,280 --> 00:29:30,440 Speaker 1: the most part this gear was really geared towards men 469 00:29:30,720 --> 00:29:36,120 Speaker 1: until women's Macintoshes were introduced. Macintosh worked on improvements to 470 00:29:36,160 --> 00:29:39,480 Speaker 1: the design of the raincoat on an ongoing basis to 471 00:29:39,520 --> 00:29:42,560 Speaker 1: try to address the various issues and to expand the 472 00:29:42,600 --> 00:29:47,840 Speaker 1: company's offerings continuously. His Glasgow factory setup was initially very 473 00:29:47,920 --> 00:29:51,320 Speaker 1: labor intensive. The rubber solution had to be hand brushed 474 00:29:51,400 --> 00:29:54,160 Speaker 1: onto the wool and then once applied, it was smoothed 475 00:29:54,160 --> 00:29:56,600 Speaker 1: out again by hand with a spatula to make the 476 00:29:56,600 --> 00:29:59,640 Speaker 1: application even, and this was done to both sides of 477 00:29:59,680 --> 00:30:02,200 Speaker 1: the wool fabric, and then those two rubber eyed pieces 478 00:30:02,200 --> 00:30:05,040 Speaker 1: of fabric would pass through a roller that pressed them 479 00:30:05,080 --> 00:30:09,240 Speaker 1: together and that resulting fabric was then tested by hand 480 00:30:09,240 --> 00:30:12,720 Speaker 1: by applying water and seeing if any passed through. In 481 00:30:12,800 --> 00:30:18,080 Speaker 1: eight he started collaborating with Thomas Hancock, and McIntosh soon 482 00:30:18,120 --> 00:30:22,239 Speaker 1: realized that Hancock's masticator could really speed up production and 483 00:30:22,320 --> 00:30:25,160 Speaker 1: save money because it made it a lot easier to 484 00:30:25,280 --> 00:30:30,200 Speaker 1: dissolve rubber using less solvent. In eighteen thirty, a factory 485 00:30:30,200 --> 00:30:33,600 Speaker 1: in Manchester was established to make McIntosh rain wear, and 486 00:30:33,640 --> 00:30:37,720 Speaker 1: Hancock's masticators were part of that production line. There were 487 00:30:37,760 --> 00:30:41,200 Speaker 1: other updates to the process in the Manchester factory, including 488 00:30:41,240 --> 00:30:44,560 Speaker 1: spreading the waterproofing rubber onto fabric with a mechanized roller 489 00:30:44,640 --> 00:30:48,800 Speaker 1: machine that was steam powered. That was eventually replaced by 490 00:30:48,800 --> 00:30:51,760 Speaker 1: a mechanism that rolled the fabric over a canister that 491 00:30:51,840 --> 00:30:55,520 Speaker 1: contained the waterproofing, so that as the fabric passed over it, 492 00:30:55,800 --> 00:30:58,360 Speaker 1: the rubber was applied, and then it passed through another 493 00:30:58,400 --> 00:31:02,800 Speaker 1: machine that smoothed it out. That partnership with Hancock also 494 00:31:02,880 --> 00:31:05,760 Speaker 1: led to a court battle, although it was not between 495 00:31:05,760 --> 00:31:09,560 Speaker 1: the two inventors involved in the business deal. Hancock had 496 00:31:09,600 --> 00:31:12,840 Speaker 1: continued to keep the workings of his mast cat secret 497 00:31:12,960 --> 00:31:15,760 Speaker 1: so that it would retain its market value, but one 498 00:31:15,800 --> 00:31:19,640 Speaker 1: of his employees blabbed about it, and also blabbed the 499 00:31:19,680 --> 00:31:24,280 Speaker 1: process that was being used to make macintoshes. That led 500 00:31:24,320 --> 00:31:29,960 Speaker 1: to other manufacturers using McIntosh's process. Specifically, a company called 501 00:31:29,960 --> 00:31:33,200 Speaker 1: Everington and Son was a silk dealer which was headed 502 00:31:33,200 --> 00:31:37,200 Speaker 1: by a man named Win Ellis. Both McIntosh and Hancock 503 00:31:37,320 --> 00:31:40,240 Speaker 1: were eager to protect their patents and their markets, so 504 00:31:40,280 --> 00:31:45,280 Speaker 1: they sued, and in February six Macintosh versus Everington and 505 00:31:45,320 --> 00:31:48,520 Speaker 1: Ellis was tried in the Court of Commons. As part 506 00:31:48,600 --> 00:31:51,800 Speaker 1: of the defense's case, it was revealed that at least 507 00:31:51,920 --> 00:31:55,360 Speaker 1: two years before McIntosh had gotten the patent for his 508 00:31:55,880 --> 00:32:00,920 Speaker 1: fabric rubber fabric sandwiching technique, balloonist char Alls Green had 509 00:32:00,960 --> 00:32:04,320 Speaker 1: done the same thing with balloon silk. But in Green's case, 510 00:32:04,480 --> 00:32:07,360 Speaker 1: he wasn't publishing that technique. It was kept secret to 511 00:32:07,360 --> 00:32:11,360 Speaker 1: give him an edge in this rapidly expanding field of ballooning. 512 00:32:12,400 --> 00:32:15,560 Speaker 1: That secrecy meant that it had not been something that 513 00:32:15,680 --> 00:32:19,080 Speaker 1: McIntosh would have known, and he did hold a patent, 514 00:32:19,240 --> 00:32:22,080 Speaker 1: so even if Green had shared this with the firm 515 00:32:22,120 --> 00:32:25,320 Speaker 1: of Everington and Son, there was no legal ownership of 516 00:32:25,360 --> 00:32:28,720 Speaker 1: the process on their part. One of the points made 517 00:32:28,720 --> 00:32:31,959 Speaker 1: by Thomas Hancock during the trial was the fact that 518 00:32:32,120 --> 00:32:35,400 Speaker 1: his employee sharing what he knew was a secret, meant 519 00:32:35,400 --> 00:32:38,840 Speaker 1: that the work he and Charles McIntosh did together was 520 00:32:39,000 --> 00:32:44,480 Speaker 1: original in nature. Yeah, like, if everybody knew about this already, 521 00:32:44,560 --> 00:32:49,440 Speaker 1: why did my employee have to secretly blabb it? During 522 00:32:49,480 --> 00:32:52,960 Speaker 1: the lawsuit, the Attorney General pointed out how very synonymous 523 00:32:53,040 --> 00:32:56,320 Speaker 1: McIntosh had become at that point with the manufacturer of 524 00:32:56,400 --> 00:32:59,800 Speaker 1: raincoats and made the comment quote, this patent has become 525 00:32:59,840 --> 00:33:02,640 Speaker 1: almost as well known as Watt and Bolton's patent for 526 00:33:02,720 --> 00:33:06,480 Speaker 1: making steam engines or arc rights for making spinning machines. 527 00:33:07,520 --> 00:33:10,760 Speaker 1: Many witnesses were called to testify that yes, while there 528 00:33:10,760 --> 00:33:14,000 Speaker 1: were other people who had worked on waterproofing fabric with rubber, 529 00:33:14,600 --> 00:33:17,520 Speaker 1: McIntosh had been the only one to progress those efforts 530 00:33:17,520 --> 00:33:20,920 Speaker 1: to a point where a manufactured good was put into production, 531 00:33:21,240 --> 00:33:23,840 Speaker 1: and that that was only possible because of the innovation 532 00:33:23,960 --> 00:33:28,680 Speaker 1: he had achieved in sandwiching those layers. According to newspaper accounts, 533 00:33:28,720 --> 00:33:31,680 Speaker 1: as the judge was beginning his summation of the evidence 534 00:33:31,720 --> 00:33:34,640 Speaker 1: to the jury, the jury stopped him and gave the 535 00:33:34,760 --> 00:33:37,520 Speaker 1: verdict for the plaintiff after spending just a few minutes 536 00:33:37,560 --> 00:33:41,920 Speaker 1: conferring there in the courtroom. McIntosh had to go to 537 00:33:42,040 --> 00:33:45,360 Speaker 1: the court of Chancellery next for an injunction against Everington 538 00:33:45,440 --> 00:33:48,440 Speaker 1: and Son, which he did. He also petitioned for an 539 00:33:48,480 --> 00:33:51,400 Speaker 1: extension of his patent, which was set to expire on 540 00:33:51,520 --> 00:33:55,000 Speaker 1: June sev eighteen thirty seven, which was just a year later. 541 00:33:55,880 --> 00:33:59,040 Speaker 1: McIntosh did not get that extension, so all of that 542 00:33:59,080 --> 00:34:02,280 Speaker 1: battle was rely just for the benefit of a year 543 00:34:02,440 --> 00:34:06,640 Speaker 1: of patent protection. There's an interesting note here about Hancock 544 00:34:06,720 --> 00:34:10,040 Speaker 1: and his ongoing secrecy and protection of his patent and 545 00:34:10,200 --> 00:34:14,200 Speaker 1: Macintosh is although the entire trial was reported in a 546 00:34:14,239 --> 00:34:18,960 Speaker 1: periodical called Mechanics Magazine, none of the secret workings of 547 00:34:18,960 --> 00:34:22,880 Speaker 1: the masticator or the production of Macintosh's raincoats were revealed, 548 00:34:23,360 --> 00:34:26,839 Speaker 1: even though they were discussed at length in testimony, And 549 00:34:26,880 --> 00:34:30,080 Speaker 1: that is because Hancock had close contacts at the magazine 550 00:34:30,320 --> 00:34:32,120 Speaker 1: and he had been very clear with them that he 551 00:34:32,160 --> 00:34:35,520 Speaker 1: would really rather not see any of their production specifics 552 00:34:35,880 --> 00:34:39,040 Speaker 1: spilled in print when they were fighting so hard against 553 00:34:39,040 --> 00:34:42,319 Speaker 1: the theft of them to begin with. Just a few 554 00:34:42,400 --> 00:34:46,760 Speaker 1: years after the lawsuit, a new technology emerged that totally 555 00:34:46,840 --> 00:34:52,160 Speaker 1: changed the raincoat industry. Vulcanized rubber was introduced in eighteen 556 00:34:52,200 --> 00:34:55,759 Speaker 1: thirty nine. This was the work of Charles Goodyear. Goodyear 557 00:34:55,920 --> 00:34:59,439 Speaker 1: wanted to improve on the qualities of India rubber, which 558 00:34:59,560 --> 00:35:01,840 Speaker 1: melted in the heat and then would stiffen up to 559 00:35:01,880 --> 00:35:05,440 Speaker 1: the point that it cracked in the cold. According to legend, 560 00:35:05,480 --> 00:35:09,080 Speaker 1: it was an accident that Goodyear added sulfur to rubber 561 00:35:09,160 --> 00:35:12,720 Speaker 1: and a heating vessel, but the result was vulcanized rubber 562 00:35:12,760 --> 00:35:16,040 Speaker 1: that was a lot more resilient temperature changes than its 563 00:35:16,080 --> 00:35:20,680 Speaker 1: predecessor had been. This became the standard for rainwear use. 564 00:35:21,080 --> 00:35:24,200 Speaker 1: You can find lots of old pictures of storefronts of 565 00:35:24,239 --> 00:35:29,120 Speaker 1: good Year raincoat stores. Yes, I will tell a slight 566 00:35:29,239 --> 00:35:33,480 Speaker 1: story about that in our behind the scenes. Charles McIntosh 567 00:35:33,480 --> 00:35:35,480 Speaker 1: did not get a lot of time to marvel at 568 00:35:35,480 --> 00:35:40,120 Speaker 1: the advances of vulcanized rubber. He died on July three 569 00:35:40,120 --> 00:35:44,600 Speaker 1: from influenza. He had made quite a healthy fortune for himself. 570 00:35:44,960 --> 00:35:47,799 Speaker 1: In a sensus taken two years before his death, his 571 00:35:47,920 --> 00:35:51,760 Speaker 1: household showed that, in addition to the family, a butler 572 00:35:51,840 --> 00:35:54,600 Speaker 1: and six other members of how staff were living there. 573 00:35:55,440 --> 00:35:59,560 Speaker 1: McIntosh was buried in the churchyard at Glasgow Cathedral. Fourteen 574 00:35:59,680 --> 00:36:02,880 Speaker 1: ushers were on hand for the burial, and forty carriages 575 00:36:02,960 --> 00:36:07,200 Speaker 1: carried the grieving parties to the service. Although Macintosh was 576 00:36:07,280 --> 00:36:11,440 Speaker 1: the brand name of the coat made by Charles McIntosh's company, 577 00:36:11,560 --> 00:36:13,200 Speaker 1: as we mentioned at the top of the episode, you 578 00:36:13,280 --> 00:36:16,240 Speaker 1: might have seen a coat or a jacket just referred 579 00:36:16,280 --> 00:36:19,640 Speaker 1: to generically as a macintosh or a mac even if 580 00:36:19,640 --> 00:36:22,800 Speaker 1: it wasn't one that was made by the Macintosh company. 581 00:36:23,239 --> 00:36:26,640 Speaker 1: Much the same way that trademarked words like Kleenex and 582 00:36:26,760 --> 00:36:30,840 Speaker 1: coke have become more generically used for things like tissue 583 00:36:30,880 --> 00:36:34,680 Speaker 1: and soda, the macintosh has come to mean almost any 584 00:36:34,760 --> 00:36:37,920 Speaker 1: kind of raincoat, and it's sometimes even applied to garments 585 00:36:38,000 --> 00:36:42,920 Speaker 1: that aren't waterproof, and that's not something that happened just conversationally. 586 00:36:42,960 --> 00:36:46,040 Speaker 1: There are print catalogs from as early as the nineteen 587 00:36:46,120 --> 00:36:51,319 Speaker 1: twenties with British retailer herods calling all of their raincoats 588 00:36:51,800 --> 00:36:56,879 Speaker 1: macintosh is uh with that K in the spelling. Yes, 589 00:36:57,000 --> 00:36:59,960 Speaker 1: there are lots of weird arguments. You can also find 590 00:37:00,000 --> 00:37:03,120 Speaker 1: and online about people debating over whether it should always 591 00:37:03,120 --> 00:37:06,440 Speaker 1: be capitalized or not, or if it has just become 592 00:37:06,480 --> 00:37:09,680 Speaker 1: a noun on its own. There have, of course, been 593 00:37:09,760 --> 00:37:13,480 Speaker 1: many many advancements in rainwear since Charles Macintosh's death, and 594 00:37:13,560 --> 00:37:18,040 Speaker 1: textile technology continues to evolve, but the first mass produced 595 00:37:18,120 --> 00:37:21,880 Speaker 1: rainwear was manufactured because of his work, and you can 596 00:37:21,960 --> 00:37:26,560 Speaker 1: incidentally still buy a Macintosh branded raincoat today. Although the 597 00:37:26,560 --> 00:37:30,399 Speaker 1: company has also evolved over the years, the raincoats are 598 00:37:30,400 --> 00:37:33,400 Speaker 1: still made by hand with old school methods in a 599 00:37:33,480 --> 00:37:36,799 Speaker 1: factory that's now in cumber Old Scotland. To work at 600 00:37:36,840 --> 00:37:40,080 Speaker 1: Macintosh as a coatmaker, you have to apprentice for three years, 601 00:37:40,600 --> 00:37:45,200 Speaker 1: learning their specific techniques for production. They regularly partner with 602 00:37:45,280 --> 00:37:48,399 Speaker 1: high end designers now to produce their rainwear lines because 603 00:37:48,440 --> 00:37:51,600 Speaker 1: the name is so synonymous with quality, and those early 604 00:37:51,719 --> 00:37:54,960 Speaker 1: issues with being so affordable that they were considered perhaps 605 00:37:55,120 --> 00:37:58,840 Speaker 1: cheap is no longer in play. A wool Macintosh raincoat 606 00:37:58,880 --> 00:38:02,280 Speaker 1: today will set you back close to a thousand euros. 607 00:38:03,200 --> 00:38:06,520 Speaker 1: They're beautiful, I see why. They're beautifully tailored. Um, but 608 00:38:06,640 --> 00:38:13,239 Speaker 1: definitely not something for uh the everyman anymore. Uh. That 609 00:38:13,480 --> 00:38:16,160 Speaker 1: is the story of the Macintosh. Anyone who knows me 610 00:38:16,239 --> 00:38:18,040 Speaker 1: might be able to guess where I got the idea 611 00:38:18,080 --> 00:38:22,960 Speaker 1: for this episode, which I will reveal on Friday. Do 612 00:38:23,000 --> 00:38:24,920 Speaker 1: you have some listener mail before we get to that. 613 00:38:25,239 --> 00:38:28,360 Speaker 1: I do. I have a listener mail from our listener, 614 00:38:28,440 --> 00:38:32,239 Speaker 1: Meredith where we talked about another invention, and that was 615 00:38:32,280 --> 00:38:35,680 Speaker 1: from our last eponymous food episodes. Um and I want 616 00:38:35,719 --> 00:38:38,160 Speaker 1: to make sure I let Meredith know her mom was 617 00:38:38,200 --> 00:38:42,600 Speaker 1: not incorrect, So Meredith rights, just listen to the latest 618 00:38:42,600 --> 00:38:45,480 Speaker 1: Eponymous foods episode. I love those, and I have to 619 00:38:45,480 --> 00:38:48,800 Speaker 1: share my own misapprehension of the name of Salisbury steak. 620 00:38:49,320 --> 00:38:51,480 Speaker 1: I heard when I was a kid in the nineteen eighties, 621 00:38:51,560 --> 00:38:53,960 Speaker 1: probably from my mom, that it was a World War 622 00:38:54,000 --> 00:38:57,839 Speaker 1: Two era freedom fries sort of situation that Hamburger fell 623 00:38:57,880 --> 00:39:00,000 Speaker 1: out of fashion as a name for ground beef patties 624 00:39:00,040 --> 00:39:03,920 Speaker 1: because of its association with Hamburg Germany. I have believed 625 00:39:03,920 --> 00:39:07,399 Speaker 1: that until you Twoe blew my mind this morning. Thanks 626 00:39:07,400 --> 00:39:09,400 Speaker 1: for the great work you do. You're always super informative 627 00:39:09,440 --> 00:39:11,880 Speaker 1: and fun to listen to you. Wishing you both happy 628 00:39:11,920 --> 00:39:15,240 Speaker 1: Holidays with a picture of my toothless geriatric rescue poodle 629 00:39:16,000 --> 00:39:18,280 Speaker 1: who has the name that I'm scared to try to pronounce. 630 00:39:18,880 --> 00:39:20,480 Speaker 1: One of them is very long and I would mess 631 00:39:20,480 --> 00:39:24,560 Speaker 1: it up in the other is Chumley adorable? Adorable. I 632 00:39:24,600 --> 00:39:26,960 Speaker 1: have a soft spot for poodles. So here's the thing. 633 00:39:27,000 --> 00:39:28,799 Speaker 1: You're not your mom if she was the one who 634 00:39:28,840 --> 00:39:32,040 Speaker 1: told you that was not entirely wrong. It was invented 635 00:39:32,040 --> 00:39:35,720 Speaker 1: well before World War Two, but there was a surge 636 00:39:35,719 --> 00:39:41,280 Speaker 1: in popularity of Salisbury steak over hamburgers during that time 637 00:39:41,360 --> 00:39:44,840 Speaker 1: because of sort of that very reason. Uh so, not 638 00:39:45,239 --> 00:39:47,520 Speaker 1: entirely incorrect, although that is not where the name came from. 639 00:39:47,640 --> 00:39:51,920 Speaker 1: I just want to make sure, make sure. Uh yeah. Also, 640 00:39:52,239 --> 00:39:53,799 Speaker 1: can't I tell you how many times I have made 641 00:39:53,800 --> 00:39:56,600 Speaker 1: Salisbury steaks since we did that episode. I had to 642 00:39:56,680 --> 00:39:59,040 Speaker 1: make some for the pictures we used for the episode, 643 00:40:00,320 --> 00:40:07,360 Speaker 1: and it turns out I make really good Salsbury stays delicious. Um. 644 00:40:07,400 --> 00:40:09,080 Speaker 1: If you would like to write to us, you could 645 00:40:09,080 --> 00:40:12,240 Speaker 1: do so at History Podcast at iHeart radio dot com. 646 00:40:12,280 --> 00:40:14,360 Speaker 1: You can also find us as Missed in History on 647 00:40:14,440 --> 00:40:17,960 Speaker 1: social media, and if you haven't subscribed yet, super duper easy, 648 00:40:18,080 --> 00:40:19,680 Speaker 1: you can do that on the I heart Radio app 649 00:40:19,760 --> 00:40:27,520 Speaker 1: or wherever you listen to your favorite shows. Stuff you 650 00:40:27,560 --> 00:40:30,240 Speaker 1: Missed in History Class is a production of I Heart Radio. 651 00:40:30,600 --> 00:40:33,440 Speaker 1: For more podcasts from I Heart Radio, visit the iHeart 652 00:40:33,480 --> 00:40:36,600 Speaker 1: Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your 653 00:40:36,640 --> 00:40:37,320 Speaker 1: favorite shows.