NATIONAL EXHIBITION OF BRITISH CONSUMER GOODS

Press, Volume XCIII, Issue 27874, 24 January 1956, Page 12

NATIONAL EXHIBITION OF BRITISH CONSUMER GOODS

LONDON LETTER

(From KEITH EUNSON. London Correspondent of "The Press”!

London, January 13. —The Design Centre for British Industries, whicn the Duke of Edinburgh will open in London s West End later this month, has been organised by the Council ot Industrial Design as a permanent national exhibition of durable c 9 n 7 sumer goods. It is the first of its kind in the world. This national showroom of British production will have its goods changed constantly, so that the best and most modern articles in current production are on public show. . . The exhibition will consist mainly of goods from trades producing furniture and furnishings, textiles, floor coverings, pottery, glass, cutlery, travel goods, lighting cooking and heating equipment, radio and television sets, hardware wallpapers, and office equipment. Everything will be selected for its high standard of design and manufacture and the “permanent” exhibits will be supported from time to time by special displays of goods of topical trade interest.

The Design Centre is intended as a showroom of British goods for trade buyers, both in Britain and overseas, as well as a guide to the British public. More than 75,000 buyers and businessmen abroad will be circularised. It is also hoped that tourists to Britain—there were more than 1,000.000 in 1955 —will find in the centre a guide to the best that British manufacturers can offer and a practical aid for selective shopping. -Nothing will be sold at the centre, but a service will be provided to put prospective buyers in touch with the manufacturers.

The selection of goods for display will be independent and practical, according to the design council, and the estimated costs of £BO.OOO a year will be met by industry and the Government. There will be a charge for all goods displayed.

Job for Expert To the Ropery at H.M. Dockyard, Chatham, where Nelson's Victory was built and launched, has gone an order for the special rope needed to replace the rigging of the famous old ship. Work has already begun on giving Nelson’s former flagship her most extensive re-rigging since 1946, so that it will be completed in time for “Navy Day” in August. The rope to he used will be mad :? in the same long timber-built ropewalks at Chatham as that required in refitting the Victory five years before Trafalgar after she had been used as a prison hospital ship in Ihe River Medway in the closing years of the eighteenth century. The work includes the manufacture of rarely made shroud-line and cableshroud- ropes. The man given this task is Mr W. J. Blackler, who was employed in making the rigging for the Victory when she was opened to the public at Portsmouth in September, 1927. Vacancy—At Last! There is one vacant job in the vastly overcrowded theatrical profession in London. Sadler’s Wells Opera has lost its cat, known as “Sadler.” This character, who has been missing a month, was no mere backstage mascot; he often had small parts. He made a reputation for himself during “School for Fathers.” in which he appeared at the end of the second act, jumped on to. the garden wall, gazed haughtily about and made a slow, dignified exit through the wings amidst thunderous applause. This opera is being revived next month, and as “Sadler” had no understudy, the way is open for some cat to follow in his footsteps—or confound the critics with a wholly new interpretation of the part!

What the Well-dressed Dog . . . While in the animal world, it is worth reporting the latest development in night-wear for dogs. The price of £ls may appear rather enormous to New Zealanders, but dog-loving Englishmen would think nothing of it. The device is designed to protect dogs at night, and consists of a fluorescent jacket that shines brightly in the dark. The jackets are made of the nylon used for the fluorescent costumes of dancers in dimly-lit ballet scenes. In ihe headlights of a car, pets wearing the jacket stand out like a neon sign. On the greyhound tracks they are also of advantage. Each dog has one of a

different colour, and punters can tell the position of their “bet” all the way. Rising Costs Trust House, one of Britain's largest hotel chains, is in a good position to know what things cost. In a recent edition of its magazine some interesting comparisons are made of costs before and alter the war. In 1939 the average receipts for each meal served worked cut at 3s. By 1951 this had risen to 4s 3d; it is now 5s 9d—an increase of 96 per cent, since 1939. For each guest accommodated, with a bed the cost before the war was 6s. This became 10s 6g in 1951. and has now risen to 13s i»d. a rise since 1939 of 124 per cent “Roger. Over”

Royal Air Force crews and some ground staff will have to learn the new phonetic alphabet adopted after much i esearch by the International Civil /Aviation Organisation and the North riuanuc Treaty Organisation. Its main use is for air-to-air conversations and air-to-ground work by radio-telephonv, and Royal Air Force men must be u d certect by March 1. In the new alphabet the old “B for Baker” has gone in preference for “B for Bravo.” Golf replaces George, and Whisky will get an internationally free advertisement instead of William. Instead of “P for Peter” it will be "P for Papa.” and it is now “J for Juliet” instead of “J for Jig.” But the Royal Air Force has remained true to one old friend. International usage decrees they should use “R for Romeo.” but the Air Ministry reports that “R for Roger,” meaning “I have received your last transmission satisfactorily.” will be retained by the junior service. Golf for the Professionals

About £30.000 will be available to golf professionals in prize money during the coming British season, and the contingent from the Commonwealth may take more than their share oi it away. A strong team of players from Australia. South Africa and Canada, including Peter Thomson. Bobby Locke, Norman von Nida. Gary Player, and Al Balding, is expected. von Nida’s* decision to come over is a surprise after his “farewell” to British golf; but he apparently has some young players he wants to introduce. Balding, from Toronto, may be a challenge for the top place now occupied by Peter Thomson. He won the Sanford (Florida) tournament, beating stars like Sam Snead and Ed Oliver. Player is a promising South African who did well here last season. It these golfers were available to team for the Commonwealth against British professionals at Sandu’ich in July, the British Ryder Cup team might get a big surprise.

Plans have been completed for an addition to the Tower of London to give a more appropriate setting for the Imperial State Crown. The newbuilding will cost £lOO,OOO, but building cannot start until the approval of Parliament is obtained. The present housing for the Crown Jewels is both inadequate and undignified; they are displayed in a glass and steel case in the Wakefield tower, which is too small for the number of visitors each day, and there are frequently long queues oi waiting people. The new building should auickly pay for itself, as the Crown Jewels and armouries bring in more than £BO,OOO a year from visitors.

Strange Sales This is sale time in London. Most of the big stores, and many of the little ones, too, advertise goods with “startling reductions” or “prices slashed.” Throughout London queues may be seen waiting to enter the melee inside the stores. But later this month there is to be a sale at which crowds are not expected. About 20 dealers in ivory are coming to London to bid for elephant tusks now being assembled at London Docks. Though the sale will be in Mincing Lane, no ivory will be shown in the saleroom. Dealers wiU have already made their selections after a visit to the “ivory floor” at the docks. Much of the raw ivory will be re-exported, tut some will be used for brush backs, combs, billiard balls and ornaments. Only three ivory brokers remain in London; and it is expected that they will dispose of 15 tons of ivory during 1956. Those Germans New Zealand visitors to Europe return full of admiration for the way in which the Germans are working. Iheir industry was put in a new light this week when an industrial designer, Mr Robert Gutmann, during a lecture gave figures on productivity. He said a Swiss firm that has established branches in Germany and Britain had found that if the Swiss production was measured at a base level of 100, the English branch never achieved more than 85 per cent., while lhe Germans had reached 140 per cent ! With a delicate appreciation that comparisons can be odious, Mr Gutmann did not sharpen the moral. He had some reassuring things to say about British design, and pointed out that in this field the Germans were not such paragons. Shaw* Remembered The Old Vic is to mark the centenary of Bernard Shaw’s birth, whiqh falls on July 26. by a four-week season of two plays by visiting companies. The Bristol Old Vic will play “Major Barbara.” and the Birmingham Repertory Company will present “Caesar and Cleopatra.” This season will come at the end of the Old Vic’s own of 45 weeks. Richard Burton and Claire Bloom are the “celebrity stars” with the company, and John Neville is the resident star, along with such wellknown performers as Paul Rogers and director Robert Helpmann, of ballet feme. The company will present “Othello” from February 21 with Neville and Burton alternating as lago and Othello.