LESS GOLD BRAID

Evening Star, Issue 25070, 11 January 1944, Page 3

LESS GOLD BRAID

LOSS TO BRITISH SERVICES

Gold braid is following red tape in its disappearance from British naval and air force circles. Use of gold decorations has been'greatly reduced, and epaulettes are hardly ever made now. An Admiralty order has decreed also only half-bands of lace for uniform cuffs. Naval officers are asked to wear metal badges, but it is not an order, and the Navy has strong traditions in this respectDespite economy, however, the Worshipful Company' of Gold and Silver Wyre-drawers is unable to keep paca with demand. .. . At a luncheon of the Worshipful Company held in the "City of London recently it was explained that destruction of many looms in Coventry, when* gold lace was made, and cessation of imports from France have contributed to the shortage. "There is such a demand for th« wire that we cannot turn out enough." one of the heads of the only three firms now said to be making gold " wyre" told a reporter. The craft of wyre-drawing, which dates back tp 1461, has been adding glitter to fine clothes since the days of Edward IV.

The gold is put on a silver bar an inch and a-half in diameter, and- each inch of that bar weighs 10 ounces when the gold has been put on. When it is drawn out to make a gold thread half as fine as a human hair the length has become 10 miles.