Online catalogue launch and Open Afternoon
We are celebrating the launch of the online catalogue for the Stoddard-Templeton Archive with an open afternoon on Thursday, 19th April.
We’ll have some of the highlights of the Archive on display, be showing some of the companies’ films, and have some talks from one of the archivists who catalogued the collection and from users who have already been in to consult the collection.
All are welcome to this free event. Full details and registration are on this site.
A few snippets from the Templetonian by Elva McLean
A few snippets taken from The Templetonian, the company’s in-house magazine, reflects the era of over fifty years ago, none more so than the obituary for John Eadie, M.B.E. John died in 1957 at the age of eighty-nine, having worked at Templetons in the Design Room for three months short of seventy five years. In itself, it is a remarkable feat and the MBE that he received was in recognition of his long service. It certainly puts into perspective the present angst about working into our mid-sixties and beyond, but then again expectations are so much higher now than in John Eadie’s lifetime.
John Eadie, with fellow colleagues from the Albert design department, standing at the piano
- John Eadie in 1938, after 56 years of service with Templeton
On a lighter note, the Templetonian employees were invited to submit articles, poems and the like, a sample of which is given below:
ODE TO A SWEET YOUNG THING
There’s a mill o’ bright colours that faces the Green,
And a bonnier buildin’ there never was seen;
And there you’ll find beauty and wisdom and skill
Amongst the braw lassies o’ Templeton Mill.
Then here’s to oor sturdy Scotch lassies sae braw,
And here’s to the English and Irish an a’,
Wha are a’ very nice and respectable –still
There are nane like the lassies o’ Templeton’s Mill.
Even a joke page appeared from time to time with such debatable gems as : –
FOR THE MARRIED TYPES –
What is the chief cause of divorce?
Marriage.
ANY MALE ON THE STAFF –
You can judge the true state of your mind by whether the word “bikini” reminds you of an atoll or nothing atoll.
To cap it all, the page below is an extract from the Spring 1963 edition, reminding the readers that the Company’s paternalistic approach encompasses all aspects of the carpet trade.
How to make your own Templeton carpets…
Should you fancy having a go at making your own Templeton carpets, have a look at this excellent and somewhat psychedelic film showing the interior of the Templeton carpet factory and the carpet designing and manufacturing process in the early 1970s.
HOW TO MAKE YOUR OWN TEMPLETON CARPETS.
In February, excerpts from this film were shown as part of the Glasgow Film Festival screening of ‘The Inventors of Tradition’ exhibition on the textile industry in Scotland.
The Templeton Building: Past and Present
With the project drawing to a close, the Stoddard Templeton team thought it only right to have a night out on the tiles carpet. We agreed unanimously that there was no better place to celebrate our efforts than in the grandeur of the Templeton Building on Glasgow Green where the majority of the archival materials with which we have been dealing for the past few months originated. Now home to a German brewery, bar and restaurant, the Templeton Building has retained many of its original architectural features and gives a real sense of the unique luxuriousness that must have characterised the factory in years gone by. Whilst its exterior façade of enamel, red brick and terracotta is evocative of the vibrant patterns to be found in the design collection, its interior is dominated by a beautiful timber floor which is punctuated by a number of concrete blocks as if to declare that the industrial machinery and employees who are so central to the corporate records once stood there. The cacophony of noise and activity that they once created exists in imagination alone for the machinery and workers have now been replaced by a never-ending stream of diners, party-goers and wedding guests. Whether a site of Scottish industry or a place of leisure and recreation, however, one thing has remained reassuringly constant since 1892: the Templeton Building’s centrality to life in Glasgow.
Poster created by Zoe Coleman as part of her History of Art work placement with the Stoddard Templeton Design Archive, 2011.
On Friday afternoon we were joined by academic staff, postgraduate students and heritage professionals working in areas such as history of art, history, textile conservation and economic and social history to discover the potential of the Stoddard-Templeton Archive for teaching and research.
Items from the design and corporate archives were placed on display, and short presentations on the collection and the services available to support teaching and research were given by Clare Paterson, Assistant Archivist (Business Collections), and Lesley Richmond, Archives Director and Senior Research Fellow.
Pictured here is the Templeton factory finishing room. It is a wonderful image which depicts a bygone era and is just one of the items that will be on display during today’s Open Afternoon (see below for further details).
Open Afternoon: Friday 20th May, 2-4pm
Join us to discover the potential of the Stoddard-Templeton Archive for teaching and research. Items from the design and corporate archives will be on display, with short presentations on the collection and the services available to support teaching and research.
This event is aimed at academic staff, postgraduate students and heritage professionals working in areas such as history of art, history, textile conservation and economic and social history.
To join us, please book a place in advance or drop-in during the afternoon.
Contact Clare Paterson to book a place.
Schedule of presentations:
- Introduction to the Stoddard-Templeton Archive 14.00 & 15.15
- Archive Services support for teaching and research 14.15 & 15.30
Archive Services staff will be on hand to provide assistance and answer queries. Refreshments will be available throughout the afternoon.
Location:
Please come to the reception desk on level 2, 13 Thurso Street. Directions, including maps, can be found on our website.
Please note: events for users of the Archive will be held later in the year when the collection is fully catalogued and accessible.
Just another day at the Templeton office…
A Very Artistic Carpet
This photograph from the Corporate Archive has got to be a personal favourite so far!
It was discovered in an album full of photographs of specially commissioned carpets manufactured by James Templeton & Co. It’s likely to be from around the 1950s-1960s and a caption on the reverse explains that it was intended for an art club in Montreal.
Clare Paterson
Michelle Kaye
sammaddra
kimberlysommerville
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