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Boom time and heyday 1860-1960

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Paget Machine at Troyes

Workshop of the world
Between 1840 and 1860 Britain experienced a period of rapid growth that saw many changes in the workplace and in society. The rail network in Britain expanded to around 10,000 miles of track, cutting travel times between many cities and towns. For the first time in history, goods could be transported across the country within a matter of hours. Opportunities for business opened up and the economy boomed. The construction of the railways alone employed 200,000 people and at its peak used 40% of the country's expanding output of iron.

Growing businesses
The end of the nineteenth century saw an upturn in the British and world economy. Growth in I & R Morley's sales created a turnover of £3.06 million from a workforce of 8364 employees, a considerable proportion of whom (3,950) still worked from home. In Leicester, Corahs was a leading firm in the town. The company employed 2500 factory workers in 1891, and reached a turnover of £598,000. Production concentrated on the growing outerwear market for cardigans, jumpers and jackets.

Abbey Pumping Station

Changing cities
By 1851 more people lived in towns than in the countryside in Britain. Leicester's population expanded by 40% during the 1860s from 68,000 to 95,000. To accommodate the population growth in towns, new houses were built. The middle classes moved to new suburbs, such as South Highfields in Leicester, while the working classes were crowded into houses that were tightly packed together, creating an unhealthy environment.

Fully-fashioned stockings

Effects of war
The outbreak of war in 1914 created new challenges and opportunities for the knitting industry. Economic growth was brought to a halt as uncertainty spread across the world. Government contracts gained by manufacturers in the knitting industry kept many of East Midlands factories going. Corahs supplied over seven million garments to the Government between 1914 and 1918. The completion of orders was achieved despite the loss of employees to the armed forces. Half of the male members of Corah's workforce, 330 in total, went to serve their country, 40 never returned.

Fully-fashioned navy blue nylons

Post war recovery
The rationing and controls imposed during the Second World War remained in place in the immediate post war period. The fragile economy needed careful management to ensure that the country recovered from the effects of the war. Demand for goods and services was high, blitzed towns and cities had to be rebuilt, wardrobes replenished, and run-down factories refurbished with new, more efficient plant.

Scott & Williams circular knitting machine

The knitting machine building industry
Since the time of William Lee, the knitting industry has been supported by the knitting machine building industry. Before the nineteenth century, knitting frames closely followed the design of Lee's frame. The mid-nineteenth century saw the development of circular knitting machines and automatic fully-fashioned machinery. Leading companies of the industry for the next century were founded around this time. Moses Mellor and G. Blackburn & Co. (initially known as Attenborough & Mellor & Co.) were founded in the 1840s and 1850s in Nottingham. The next wave of innovations occurred in Loughborough during the 1860s, where A. Paget & Co. Ltd, and William Cotton & Co. Ltd. developed fully-fashioned machines.

Wolsey vest

Reaching the customer
During the Victorian era, railways made it easier for producers to sell goods across the whole country. To ensure that the customer knew whose product they were buying, firms began to label their goods. If the customer liked the producer's goods, they could then go and buy more of them, asking for them by name. Gradually brand names were promoted by using advertisements to increase awareness of the brand. The earliest in the hosiery industry was I. & R. Morley, who inserted an M in the selvedge of their stockings from the mid-nineteenth century.

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