Not wishing to make fun of the dead, I love the skill and grace of the Telegraph's obituary page. While reading the Telegraph Obituary of Lindsay Masters, I nearly fell out of my chair.
Lindsay Masters
Telegraph photo
The first sentence tells a remarkable story of a time long gone;
Lindsay Masters, who has died aged 79, was a one-time door-to-door lederhosen salesman who transformed Haymarket, the publishing company that made Michael (now Lord) Heseltine’s fortune.
I can perfectly imagine how a career in lederhosen sales came to be. What I cannot I imagine is how incredibly difficult each sale must have been. Shelley,were leather shorts popular in post war Britain?
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6 comments:
Gosh! That's before my time (in England and on Earth). Will consult with my...erm...consultant and get back to you!
Reply from consultant (AKA Bill, my husband):
"The only shorts that I remember any adult male wearing when I was a child were the ones that they came out of the army with. They were only worn in extremes of heat while on holiday or on days out at the seaside. Some eccentrics wore them for hiking as well.
Logically, we had just been to war with Germany so they cant have been that popular but there was a vogue for Tyrolean style hats with a feather as a change from the cap so its possible. Perhaps Quentin Crisp wore them."
I googled 'Brits wear lederhosen' and came up with this http://www.basicfamouspeople.com/index.php?aid=1981
Mary Quant biography and in the side bar it says Master sold them door-to-door IN GERMANY. Still, given recent history (then) it seems an odd occupation for a Brit. Still, the obit does say he was a very good salesman...
It is said a good salesman can sell anything! I just finished a 2nd reading of Hons and Rebels by Jessica Mitford her tales of door to door by Edmund Romilly come to mind-worth the read. Like the new header very much! pgt
Shelley your consultant reminded me of something. In the US in the mid 1950's there was an afternoon (for kids) Robin Hood television show. I remember having the feathered hat, Tyrolean it was not.
I only remember Errol Flynn's Robin Hood movie from my childhood. Not sufficiently familiar with Tyrolean to make a judgement, but I'm guessing his hat wasn't either.
Coincidentally, I got Hons and Rebels for Christmas. Bill just finished, so I will pick it up. Currently reading about Dolly Wilde.
Cecil Beaton and Rex Whistler might have worn Austrian Tyrol style clothes in the country with friends... My late Mama, then an art student in London, visited Germany in '33 and came back with dirndls(?) and peasant blouses-£ was very strong in those days-sadly, her nephew wasn't allowed to wear the lederhosen, she brought him.
Best
Herts
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