Figure 1.--.

I have been very interested to read the information on the Historical Boys' Clothing site regarding the traditional school gaberdine mackintosh. I feel that I may be able to add some information for you, as I wore a school 'regulation' gaberdine from the age of 4 until I left school at age 18. This period covers the late 1950's until 1973. I must agree that it was usual for boys to wear a navy blue gaberdine, but at the private primary school in England that I attended we originally had to wear a brown gaberdine. This was soon replaced by a navy blue gaberdine. They were always double brested, with a belt and only the girls had hoods.

My Experiences

I wore a school 'regulation' gaberdine from the age of 4 until I left school at age 18. This period covers the late 1950's until 1973. I must agree that it was usual for boys to wear a navy blue gaberdine, but at the private primary school in England that I attended we originally had to wear a brown gaberdine. This was soon replaced by a navy blue gaberdine. They were always double brested, with a belt and only the girls had hoods.

Methodist School

At the age of 8 I went to a very strict Methodist school. The wearing of a navy blue school regulation gaberdine mackintosh was strictly enforced when in the junior school. All the gaberdines in those days had a check lining, but some had the addition of a thick quilted lining in the top part of the coat. It was in the early years in this junior school that I began to take notice of gaberdines and how they were worn. I can remember that a company called Kaycee made a gaberdine which had a very attractive check lining, and the material was much stiffer, and it had a thicker rubber interlining over the shoulders and upper arms.

My Clothes

All the way through my school life I never had any other sort of coat or mackintosh. Even when at home I would wear one of my older school gaberdines for play and helping out on a farm. More often than not I would also wear rubber boots when outside to keep my feet and legs dry.

Robert Hirst

I can remember the Robert Hirst make of gaberdine as these had a little chain to hang the mack up, but this always felt cold against the neck when put on. Also they had a very unattractive design for the lining. Robert Hirst gaberdines usually came with a secret pocket for boys, and an attached purse for girls gaberdines. These were inside the left hand pocket.

School Rules

As we moved up the school, and into the senior school the rules for wearing the traditional gaberdines were relaxed. There never seemed to be anything written into the uniform regulations, but navy blue duffle coats began to be worn by older boys.

Girls Sister School

All the girls without exception in our 'sister' girls school continued to wear navy blue double breasted gaberdine, which ALL had to have a large hood attached. The two schools would meet up at various times during each term for Church services, school plays etc., and I can clearly remember seeing ALL the girls with hoods up on many occasions. It was obviously an order to have their hoods up which had to be obeyed!

My Hooded Gaberdine

At the age of 15 my mother offered to buy me a navy blue duffle coat instead of a new gaberdine, which would normally be bought new every year in August ready for the 'Back to School' in the Autumn term. However by this time I had begun to become acustomed to wearing my gaberdine mackintosh, and would wear it fuly buttoned to the neck and tightly belted whenever I had the opportunity. This would often mean being the only boy in the school wearing a coat on many days, especially in the Summer term. Anyway, I told my mother that I would like a new gaberdine. When we went to buy it in the boys department of the school outfitters we were told that they had run out of the size I needed. We were advised that as they had greater stocks of the larger sizes in the girls department, we should go up there to buy a new gaberdine for me. I was rather large for my age in those days.

I had to try on the new gaberdine in the girls department and my mother had no trouble in buying me a new one there. However in those days I did not realise that there were several subtle differences between boys and girls gaberdines, other than which side they were buttoned up! Boys gaberdines had a vent at the back held together by a small button (which usually quickly came undone), however girls gaberdines had an inverted pleat which helped to keep the backs of their legs warmer and drier. It seems that girls gaberdines were usually several inches longer than the boys, and then of course there was the HOOD. I had to walk out of the school outfitters wearing my new gaberdine and it was not until I got home that I noticed the girls hood was still attached!

My mothers initial reaction was to remove it for me, but before the start of term, I thought about it a lot. I envied the boys wearing their duffle coats because they had a hood, and did not seem to mind at all wearing it UP whenever they liked. In the event I went back to school with the girls hood permanently attached to my new gaberdine. My mother had sewn up the button holes so it could not get lost or stolen by other boys. The gaberdine skirt was very voluminous and long, and the other boys teased me a lot, especially about the girls hood. I found this hard to understand as they all had hoods on their duffle coats which they wore up over their school caps with no trouble at all. There seemed to be a particular stigma about the gaberdine hood not being worn by boys. It was only alright for girls. Also it was normal for the boys wearing duffle coats to fasten the toggles up to their necks, so I always did the top button of my gaberdine up when worn. It has been stated in your pages that it was normal for girls to fasten their gaberdines up to their necks, but not the boys. But I was wearing a girls gaberdine, so why worry! Two years later at the age of 17 my mother needed to buy me a new coat, and by this time she knew that I loved wearing my gaberdine. When we went to the school outfitters she went straight to the girls department and bought me a new girls gaberdine complete with a large hood. I was absolutely delighted to see that it was a Kaycee gaberdine. This was much heavier than my previous girls gaberdine and had a much stiffer belt and collar and the waterproof rubber interlining over the shoulders rustled. There was one problem though! Although it appeared to be double breasted, it could only be done up girls way as it had two button holes missing on the boys side. My mother was very doubtful if I would wear this gaberdine given the fact that I was to leave school the next summer. However I promised her that I would wear my new gaberdine even after I left school until it was worn out which I did.

Observations

School uniform

For a period in the middle decades of the 20th century, the gaberdine school raincoat formed a distinctive part of British schoolboy clothing. It was of woollen or cotton gaberdine, a close twill-weave fabric with a smooth finish. The raincoat was frequently worn not only for school, but also as general boy-swear. Interestingly, the gaberdine raincoat is the one major element of British school uniform (other than black leather lace-up shoes) which is not derived from some form of sportswear - not surprisingly since topcoats are not typically worn for games! At some schools the gaberdine raincoat was compulsory, some schools even specified the brand. Boys had different opinions about the coats. Some have complained that they were "utterly useless for repelling more than a minute or so of the gentlest rain". Others thought them quite serviceable. While opinions vary, quite a number of HBC readers from England still remember the gaberdine raincoats that they wore as boys.

Gabersines and hoods

Despite my personal experiences I can confirm that hoods were only normally worn by girls. The exception would be where a younger son may inherit his older sisters gaberdine and the hood was not removed. In one particular town in Suffolk I did see several boys at a school where girls wore bottle green gaberdines and boys normally wore navy blue gaberdines. They were obviously wearing their older sisters gaberdines sometimes with the hood attached, and even worn UP on a few occasions when I saw them.

Duffle coats

With regard to duffle coat hoods. I believe it is incorrect to say that they "commonly came with detachable hoods." In my experience they were always attached to the coat.

Current Trends

It is interesting to note that many schools still offer the school gaberdine mackintosh (with or without hood) as part of their school uniform for boys and girls. However it is very difficult, or even now impossible (February 2004) to buy a traditional double breasted belted gaberdine, except perhaps in a more modern style and material which is not really gaberdine. However there is a company in Lancaster, England called Lakeland Elements, who will make to measure a fully traditional gaberdine mackintosh with a check lining. It can be fully interlined in rubber if required to make it fully waterproof. It comes complete with a large schoolgirls style hood which can also be interlined in rubber if required.

Brian Scott