Some images of a remarkable TOOTAL “choker”, coming from my own collection …
JEEVES
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Tootal
Product type Scarves, ties, fabrics, accessories
Owner Coats Viyella
Country United Kingdom
Introduced 1799
Markets Worldwide
Previous owners
Robert Gardner (1799)
Tootal Broadhurst Lee (1842)
Tootal Ltd. (1973)
Tootal Group plc (1985)
Website tootal.co.uk
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Tootal is a brand name for a range of British ties, scarves
and other garments. The brand is now owned by Coats Viyella. It originates from
a textile spinning and manufacturing company established in Manchester in 1799,
which later became Tootal Broadhurst Lee, and subsequently Tootal Ltd. The
company held patents in crease-resistant fabric.
The firm identifies its origins in a company founded in
Manchester in 1799 by textile merchant Robert Gardner. The Tootal family, who
resided in Wakefield, Yorkshire, became involved in the company in the early
nineteenth century. Sarah Tootal married Daniel Broadhurst in 1811, and their
son Henry Tootal Broadhurst (1822-1896) – the brother of Charles Edward
Broadhurst and brother-in-law of Sir Joseph Whitworth – established a business
partnership in Manchester in 1842 with Edward Tootal and Henry Lee, who had
worked in Gardner's cotton goods warehouse.
The partnership opened the Sunnybank cotton spinning and
weaving mills, and became the largest manufacturer of hand looms in Blackburn,
but the partnership was dissolved in 1860. The firm then developed the
manufacture of fancy cloths, using steam-powered looms in place of hand looms,
and acquired mills at Bolton and Newton Heath for their manufacture. In the
1860s, Henry Tootal Broadhurst, Henry and Joseph Lee, and Robert Scott, were business
partners who formed a limited company, Tootal Broadhurst Lee, marketing their
goods under the name Tootal.
The company was notable for its vertical integration,
combining both spinning and weaving activities, and for its marketing network
which included offices and warehouses in Bradford, Belfast and Paris, and
national and international agencies promoting their goods. By 1888, when the
joint stock company Tootal, Broadhurst, Lee and Company Ltd. was formed, the
firm employed some 5,000 workers and operated 172,000 spindles and 3,500 looms,
making it one of the largest integrated cotton textile producing companies in
Lancashire. Sir Joseph Cocksey Lee (1832-1894), the brother of Henry Lee MP and
later an active promoter of the Manchester Ship Canal,[4] became its chairman.
At the same time, a separate company, the Lee Spinning Co., was also
established.
In 1898, the company opened a large new brick-clad warehouse
and office block, now known as Churchgate House, in Oxford Street, Manchester.
The building, designed by Joseph Gibbons Sankey, is now a Grade II* listed
building, described as "a powerful monument to the entrepreneurialism of
the Industrial Revolution and Victorian bombast." Plans in the 1930s to
build an adjoining warehouse which would have been the tallest building in
Europe at the time were never completed.
Tootal, Broadhurst, Lee continued to develop in the late
nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, and in 1907 Edward Tootal Broadhurst,
the son of Henry Tootal Broadhurst, succeeded Harold Lee (the son of Henry Lee)
as chairman. The company was an innovator in its promotion of brand names, and
in selling its goods direct to retailers. Though early in its history it
specialised in cotton fabrics, it later diversified into other yarns including
silk and rayon. It developed a range of fabrics in a wide variety of patterns,
including a velvet marketed as "Tootal cloth", and
"Tarantulle", used for lingerie and baby wear, as well as focussing
on products such as handkerchiefs, scarves and ties. The company provided
neckerchiefs and other items for soldiers in the Boer War. A research
department was established, and it was active in developing new innovations,
such as crease-resistant fabrics.[1] In the early 1920s, it took out patents on
urea-formaldehyde resins to produce crease-resistant fabrics, and
commercialised its patents by developing an international licensing programme,
with successful agencies being granted the use of the Tebilized registered
trade mark.
In the First World War the company was noted for giving
early guarantees that all their men returning after service would be reinstated
in their old positions. By 1939, Tootal had branches throughout Britain and
subsidiaries in Argentina, Australia, Canada, France, and New Zealand, as well
as agencies throughout the world. The company participated in the 1947 British
Industries Fair, and featured its "Lystav, Robia and Tobralco patented
dress and furnishing fabrics, Pyramid men’s handkerchiefs and a bright display
of Tootal ties and scarves." New factories were opened in St Helens in
1947, and in Devonport, Tasmania, in 1952. In the 1960s, Tootal joined the
English Sewing Cotton Co., and later the Calico Printers Association, becoming
English Calico Ltd. which was renamed Tootal Ltd. in 1973. In 1985 it became
Tootal Group plc, and in 1991 was acquired by Coats Viyella, which disposed of
several of its subsidiaries.
Tootal scarves and ties in polka dot, Paisley and other
patterns are now regarded as iconic of the period between the 1920s and 1950s
in Britain, when they were advertised widely with the slogan: "Every Man
Needs… Tootal Ties". They were associated with the mod subculture in the
1960s, were again revived as fashion accessories in the 1980s and 2000s, and
are now seen as emblematic of classic British men's fashion.
Tootal Broadhurst Lee Co
of Radcliffe, Lancs, (now Greater Manchester)
of Manchester and Bolton, cotton manufacturers, later
textile spinners and manufacturers.
of 56 Oxford Street, Manchester. Telephone: Manchester,
Central 3244. Cables: "Tootal, Manchester". London Address: 21
Cavendish Place, Cavendish Square, London, W1. (1947)
• 1799 The company was founded in Manchester, by Robert Gardner,
a textile merchant.
• 1842 Tootal family involvement began.
• 1860s Sunnyside Mills, Bolton and Newton Heath Mills,
Manchester, were acquired.
• 1888 After several name changes, the firm became Tootal
Broadhurst Lee Co Ltd. The company was registered on 17 January, to take over
the business of spinners and manufacturers, carried on at Manchester, London
and elsewhere, under the firms of Tootal-Broadhurst, Lee and Co and the Lee
Spinning Co. [1]
• 1891 Directory (Radcliffe): Listed as Cotton spinners and
manufacturers. More details [2]
• 1891 Directory (Manchester and Salford): Listed as Cotton
Spinners and Manufacturers. More details. [3]
• 1891 Directory (Bolton): Listed as Cotton spinners and
manufacturers. More details. [4]
• 1918 A research department was established, which carried
out early work on creating crease resistant fabric. The company was notable for
its early use of brand names and was a leader in the field of selling direct to
retailers.
• By 1939, the firm had spinning, weaving and yarn dyeing
factories in Bolton and factories in Newton Heath, Manchester, weaving silk and
wool and producing handkerchiefs and ties. There were branches in Belfast,
Birmingham, Leeds, London and Glasgow and overseas in Argentina, Australia,
Canada, France, and New Zealand. The company had agencies throughout the world.
Subsidiaries’ activities included dress manufacture, bleaching, dyeing and
crease resistant finishing.
• 1947 A new factory was opened in St. Helens, Lancs. (now
Merseyside).
• 1947 Listed Exhibitor - British Industries Fair.
Mufacturers of Tobralco, Lystav, Robia and other Tootal Dress and Furnishing
Fabrics; of Pyramid Handkerchiefs, Tootal Ties and other Tootal Products.
(Earls Court, Ground Floor, Stand No 123) [5]
• 1952 A new factory was opened in Devonport, Tasmania.
• The company became a subsidiary of the holding company
Tootal Ltd, which joined English Sewing Cotton Co in 1963.
• 1968 This in turn merged with the Calico Printers
Association, becoming English Calico Ltd.
• 1973 This became Tootal Ltd.
• 1985 It became Tootal Group PLC, and is now part of Coats
Viyella plc.
(This historical account is mainly based on L. Richmond and
B. Stockford, ‘Company Archives’ (1968)):
Tootal Broadhurst Lee
Co
1961.
of 56 Oxford Street, Manchester. Telephone: Manchester,
Central 3244. Cables: "Tootal, Manchester". London Address: 21
Cavendish Place, Cavendish Square, London, W1. (1947)
of Ten Acres Mill, Newton Heath, Manchester; Sunnyside
Mills, Bolton; and Black Lane Mills, Radcliffe, textile spinners and
manufacturers.
1799 The company was founded in Manchester, by Robert
Gardner, a textile merchant.
1842 Tootal family involvement began.
1853 Tootal, Broadhurst and Lee were one of a number of
businesses who signed a petition in Manchester concerning the government of the
East Indies[1]
1856 "NOTICE is hereby given, that the Partnership
heretofore subsisting between us the undersigned, as Manufacturers, at
Manchester and elsewhere, under the firm of Tootal, Broadhurst, and Lee,
expired by effluxion of time on the 1st day of August, 1856, since which date
the business has been, and will continue to be, carried on by the undersigned
Henry Tootal Broadhurst and Henry Lee, on their own account; and they will
receive and pay all debts due to and from the said partnership.—Dated the 8th
day of December, 1857. Edward Tootal. Henry T. Broadhurst. Henry Lee."[2]
1859 Dissolution of the partnership of Tootal, Broadhurst
and Lee of Manchester, manufacturers, as regards E. Tootal[3]
Up to 1860 the firm was the chief manufacturer of hand looms
in Blackburn but then gave up this line of business in favour of fancy cloths,
for which they introduced steam power to replace hand powered looms[4]
1860s Sunnyside Mills, Bolton; and Newton Heath Mill,
Manchester, were acquired.
Henry Tootal Broadhurst, Henry and Joseph Lee and Robert
Scott were business partners who formed a limited company Tootal Broadhurst Lee
(or Tootal for short).
1887 The company was vertically integrated, combining
spinning and power-loom weaving, at a time when there was a tendency for firms
to specialize in a single process. A further distinctive feature of the company
was its marketing network, including offices and warehouses in Bradford,
Belfast, and Paris, and agencies further afield. Tootals employed about 5000
workers in 1887, and operated 172,000 spindles and 3500 looms, making it the
third largest vertically integrated cotton firm in Lancashire.
1888 Joint stock company formed: Tootal, Broadhurst, Lee and
Company Ltd in order to faciltate family and other arrangements; the new
company took over Tootal, Broadhurst, Lee and Co, merchants and manufacturers,
and Lee Spinning Co; no shares were issued to the public. Sir Joseph C. Lee was
to be chairman[5]
1888 The company was registered on 17 January, to take over
the business of spinners and manufacturers, carried on at Manchester, London
and elsewhere, under the firms of Tootal-Broadhurst, Lee and Co and the Lee
Spinning Co[6]
1891 Directory (Radcliffe): Listed as cotton spinners and
manufacturers. More details.
1891 Directory (Manchester and Salford): Listed as cotton
spinners and manufacturers. More details.
1891 Directory (Bolton): Listed as cotton spinners and
manufacturers. More details.
1907 Edward Tootal Broadhurst succeeded Harold Lee, son of
Henry Lee, as chairman
1918 A research department was established, which carried
out early work on creating crease resistant fabric. The company was notable for
its early use of brand names and was a leader in the field of selling direct to
retailers.
By 1939, the firm had spinning, weaving and yarn dyeing
factories in Bolton and factories in Newton Heath, Manchester, weaving silk and
wool and producing handkerchiefs and ties. There were branches in Belfast,
Birmingham, Leeds, London and Glasgow and overseas in Argentina, Australia,
Canada, France, and New Zealand. The company had agencies throughout the world.
Subsidiaries’ activities included dress manufacture, bleaching, dyeing and
crease resistant finishing.
1947 A new factory was opened in St. Helens, Lancs. (now
Merseyside).
1947 Listed Exhibitor - British Industries Fair.
Manufacturers of Tobralco, Lystav, Robia and other Tootal Dress and Furnishing
Fabrics; of Pyramid Handkerchiefs, Tootal Ties and other Tootal Products.
(Earls Court, Ground Floor, Stand No 123) [7]
1952 A new factory was opened in Devonport, Tasmania.
The company became a subsidiary of the holding company
Tootal Ltd
1961 In Bolton, subsidiaries of Tootal included:
Tootal Spinning Ltd.
Tootal Weaving Ltd.
1963 Tootal joined English Sewing Cotton Co
1968 This in turn merged with the Calico Printers
Association, becoming English Calico Ltd.
1973 This became Tootal Ltd.
1985 It became Tootal Group PLC
1991 Tootal Group plc was acquired by Coats Viyella plc[8]
which subsequently disposed of several subsidiaries of Tootal.
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