THE SOMERTON MAN: THE TROUSERS, THE LAUNDRY MARKS AND THE FOB POCKET

 

TROUSERS & LAUNDRY MARKS....

The maker's tag in the trousers is quite clear complete with the patent number, the fact that it is a War-Time model, and that it is none elastic/ From that information we should be able to find when wartime models were first produced and then ceased to be produced which would at least give us an approximate time of when they were bought. Of interest is the fact that the laundry marks themselves were quite faded, which means that the images of the marks we are familiar with further below, have been marked over.

This next image shows the laundry marks in the correct position. What we can see here is that the marks were made directly onto the surface of the trousers pocket. It's not entirely clear but this might be the pocket that was repaired?

The two images that follow are of the laundry marks themselves.
The first one shows the image in the negative view and the second is

a positive image. Over the years I have taken a number of images of these marks and will add more shortly.     

You should be able to make out some markings in both images:      

Here's a quick image of a fob pocket used in the manufacture of the trousers. Somewhere I have a book/pdf which gives a history of the manufacturer and the jobbing shops that were hired by them. Fairly sure that the jobbing shops were in the habit of making 'specials' including fob pockets. But, will have to find the manual to confirm that of course:

AND HERE'S THE PDF LINK< (I HOPE!)