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Demob Suit
A demob suit was a suit of civilian clothes given to a man on his demobilisation from the British armed forces at the end of the Second World War. Although the suits were of good quality, the need to clothe millions of demobilising servicemen led to supply problems that caused some men to receive suits that were not of the correct size. As a result, the demob suit became a common subject in British comedy in the post-war years. Etymology The word "demob", short for ''demobilisation'', came into use in the 1930s. Soldiers had received a set of civilian clothes on demobilisation at the end of the First World War, however, the phrase "demob suit" only came into common use at the end of the Second World War. Background Beginning on 18 June 1945, millions of men were demobilised from the British armed services on a phased basis according to age and length of service. A set of civilian clothes was essential in order to help them integrate into civilian life and because they normally ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Demobilisation Of The British Army D26322
Demobilization or demobilisation (see American and British English spelling differences, spelling differences) is the process of standing down a nation's armed forces from combat-ready status. This may be as a result of victory in war, or because a crisis has been peacefully resolved and military force will not be necessary. The opposite of demobilization is mobilization. Forceful demobilization of a defeated enemy is called Demilitarisation, demilitarization. The United Nations defined demobilization as "a multifaceted process that officially certifies an individual's change of status from being a member of a military grouping of some kind to being a civilian". Persons undergoing demobilization are removed from the command and control of their armed force and group and the transformation from a military mindset to that of a civilian begins. Although combatants become civilians when they acquire their official discharge documents the mental connection and formal ties to their mil ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Collar Stud
A detachable collar is a shirt collar separate from the shirt, fastened to it by studs. The collar is usually made of a different fabric from the shirt, in which case it is almost always white, and, being unattached to the shirt, can be starched to a hard cardboard-like consistency. History The detachable collar was invented by Hannah Montague in Troy, New York, in 1827, after she snipped off the collar from one of her husband's shirts to wash it, and then sewed it back on. The Rev. Ebenezer Brown, a businessman in town, proceeded to commercialize it. The manufacture of detachable collars and the associated shirts became a significant industry in Troy. It was later that the benefit of being able to starch the collars became apparent, and for a short time, various other parts of the shirt, such as the front and cuffs, were also made detachable and treated to rigid stiffness. As more emphasis started to be placed on comfort in clothing this practice declined, and the stiff col ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ministry Of Information (United Kingdom)
The Ministry of Information (MOI), headed by the Minister of Information, was a United Kingdom government department created briefly at the end of the First World War and again during the Second World War. Located in Senate House at the University of London during the 1940s, it was the central government department responsible for publicity and propaganda. The MOI was dissolved in March 1946, with its residual functions passing to the Central Office of Information (COI); which was itself dissolved in December 2011 due to the reforming of the organisation of government communications. First World War Before the Lloyd George War Cabinet was formed in 1917, there was no full centralised coordination of public information and censorship. Even under the War Cabinet, there were still many overlapping departments involved. The Admiralty, War Office and Press Committee (AWOPC) had been formed in 1912 as a purely advisory body, chaired initially by the Secretary of the Admiralty Sir G ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Parliament Of The United Kingdom
The Parliament of the United Kingdom is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace of Westminster, London. It alone possesses legislative supremacy and thereby ultimate power over all other political bodies in the UK and the overseas territories. Parliament is bicameral but has three parts, consisting of the sovereign ( King-in-Parliament), the House of Lords, and the House of Commons (the primary chamber). In theory, power is officially vested in the King-in-Parliament. However, the Crown normally acts on the advice of the prime minister, and the powers of the House of Lords are limited to only delaying legislation; thus power is ''de facto'' vested in the House of Commons. The House of Commons is an elected chamber with elections to 650 single-member constituencies held at least every five years under the first-past-the-post system. By constitutional convention, all governme ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Spiv
In the United Kingdom, the word spiv is slang for a type of petty criminal who deals in illicit, typically black market, goods. The word was particularly used during the Second World War and in the post-war period when many goods were rationed due to shortages. According to Peter Wollen, "The crucial difference between the spiv and the classic Hollywood gangster was the degree of sympathy the spiv gained as an intermediary in the transfer of black market goods to ... a grateful mass of consumers."Peter Wollen (2002) ''Paris Hollywood - Writings on Film'' pp185–6 Origins The origin of the word is obscure. According to Eric Partridge the word was originally racecourse slang, but had become widely accepted by 1950. It appeared in a paperback crime novel in 1934.Axel Bracey (1934) ''School for Scoundrels'' (Rich and Cowan) The ''Oxford English Dictionary'' states that it may come from: *''spiffy'', meaning smartly dressed; *''spiff'', a bonus for salespeople (especially drap ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Black Market
A black market, underground economy, or shadow economy is a clandestine market or series of transactions that has some aspect of illegality or is characterized by noncompliance with an institutional set of rules. If the rule defines the set of goods and services whose production and distribution is prohibited by law, non-compliance with the rule constitutes a black market trade since the transaction itself is illegal. Parties engaging in the production or distribution of prohibited goods and services are members of the . Examples include the illegal drug trade, prostitution (where prohibited), illegal currency transactions, and human trafficking. Violations of the tax code involving income tax evasion in the . Because tax evasion or participation in a black market activity is illegal, participants attempt to hide their behavior from the government or regulatory authority. Cash is the preferred medium of exchange in illegal transactions since cash transactions are less-easi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bespoke Tailoring
Bespoke tailoring or custom tailoring is clothing made to an individual buyer's specifications by a tailor. Clothing Meaning of the term The word ''bespoke'' derives from the verb ''bespeak'', to speak for something, in the specialised meaning of "to give order for it to be made." Fashion terminology reserves ''bespoke'' for individually patterned and crafted men's clothing, analogous to women's haute couture, as opposed to mass-manufactured ready-to-wear (off-the-peg or off-the-rack). The term originated on Savile Row, a street in London considered the "Golden Mile of tailoring". Bespoke clothing is traditionally cut from a pattern drafted from scratch for the customer, and so differs from ready-to-wear, which is factory made in finished condition and standardised sizes, and from made to measure, which is produced to order from an adjusted block pattern. The opposition of terms did not initially imply that a bespoke garment was necessarily well built, but since the developmen ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Utility Clothing
The Utility Clothing Scheme was a rationing scheme introduced in the United Kingdom during the Second World War. In response to the shortage of clothing materials and labour due to wartime austerity, the Board of Trade sponsored the creation of ranges of "utility clothing" meeting tight regulations regarding the amount of material and labour allowed to be used in their construction. Utility clothing, and later utility furniture, was marked with the CC41 tag. In spite of its austere specifications, utility clothing designs were commissioned from leading fashion designers including Hardy Amies, Norman Hartnell and other members of the Incorporated Society of London Fashion Designers. Utility clothing During the war, the government took control of supplies of raw materials for manufacturing utility garments. They imposed regulations that took into consideration the economic condition of the country. Conserving raw materials such as cloth, wool, leather etc. was advisable because ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Simpsons Of Piccadilly
Simpsons of Piccadilly was a large retail store situated at 203-206 Piccadilly in central London. It was created by Alexander Simpson and architect Joseph Emberton. When it opened in April 1936 it was the largest menswear store in Britain, and is now a Grade I listed building due to its innovative construction. Its original purpose was to house the entire range of clothing provided by the tailoring company S. Simpsons and DAKS. It was later purchased by the Waterstones chain of bookshops, and currently serves as their flagship store. History After the launch of the successful DAKS trousers in 1934 Alexander Simpson wanted a store in which to stock the entire S Simpson range in central London. Wanting a location near Savile Row so that the foreign visitors to that street could go to examine Simpson clothes nearby for its high quality ready-to-wear tailoring, in 1935 the site of the old Geological Museum in Piccadilly was to be sold on a 99-year building lease, which Simpson won a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fifty Shilling Tailors
50 (fifty) is the natural number following 49 and preceding 51. In mathematics Fifty is the smallest number that is the sum of two non-zero square numbers in two distinct ways: 50 = 12 + 72 = 52 + 52. It is also the sum of three squares, 50 = 32 + 42 + 52, and the sum of four squares, 50 = 62 + 32 + 22 + 12. It is a Harshad number. 50 is a Stirling number of the first kind: \leftright= 50 and also a Narayana number: \operatorname(6, 3) = \operatorname(6, 4) = 50 There is no solution to the equation φ(''x'') = 50, making 50 a nontotient. Nor is there a solution to the equation ''x'' − φ(''x'') = 50, making 50 a noncototient. In science *The atomic number of tin *The fifth magic number in nuclear physics In religion *In Kabbalah, there are 50 Gates of Wisdom (or Understanding) and 50 Gates of Impurity *The traditional number of years in a jubilee period.Leviticus 25:10 *The Christian Feast of Pentecost takes place on the 50th day of the Easter Season *The Jewish ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Full Monty (phrase)
''The Full Monty'' is a 1997 British comedy film directed by Peter Cattaneo, starring Robert Carlyle, Mark Addy, William Snape, Steve Huison, Tom Wilkinson, Paul Barber and Hugo Speer. The screenplay was written by Simon Beaufoy. The film is set in Sheffield, England during the 1990s, and tells the story of six unemployed men, four of them former steel workers, who decide to form a male striptease act (à la the Chippendale dancers) in order to make some money and for the main character, Gaz, to be able to see his son. Gaz declares that their show will be much better than the renowned Chippendales dancers because they will go "the full monty"—strip all the way—hence the film's title. Despite being a comedy, the film also touches on serious subjects such as unemployment, fathers' rights, depression, impotence, homosexuality, body image, working class culture and suicide. ''The Full Monty'' was a major critical success upon release and an international commercial success ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Montague Burton
Sir Montague Maurice Burton (15 August 1885 – 21 September 1952) was the founder of Burton Menswear, one of Britain's largest chains of clothes shops. Early life Born Meshe David Osinsky and a Lithuanian Jew in Kurkliai, Kaunas province, he came alone to the UK in 1900 to escape the Russian pogroms.Moving Here Sir Montague Burton – an introduction He was well-educated, having studied in a , but arrived unable to speak English.Silver, Bernard (2000). ''Three Jewish Giants of Leeds'' [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
