The Scottish Mountain Heritage Collection
1146.2014.1
Tulloch Mountain Craft Jacket
16/07/2014
Hermione Cooper
16/07/2014
TMC orange jacket with nylon zip, hood and 3 pockets.Nylon drawstring.
ripstop nylon,cotton,velcro, metal
72(L) X58(W) CMS
1
On label a tortoise and " MADE IN SCOTLAND TMC PRODUCTS TULLOCH MOUNTAIN CRAFT"
orange
Tulloch Mountain Craft
Scotland
Tulloch is little more than a railway station surrounded by a few other buildings, on the West Highland Railway Line which runs from Glasgow to Mallaig through some of Scotland's wildest and most beautiful scenery. It was in one of those other buildings, around 1970, that Dave Challis decided to set up a small business to manufacture outdoor clothing and run outdoor education courses. The business was called Tulloch Mountain Craft(TMC)
The enterprise does not seem to have been a huge commercial success, though TMC did produce some interesting and innovative clothing at a time when there were only a few players in the market.
Very little of TMC clothing has survived and what there is hasn't fared too well; maybe because it was good and got used a lot. We have a fine example here in the collection which was literally salvaged from a rubbish bin. We think it's a very early product made from rip-stop nylon and cotton, though the cotton could be lightweight ventile - we need a textile expert! Positioning of the pockets seems to indicate that the jacket was/is reversible though the zip and cuffs are not. A former employee tells us that TMC did not have a sewing machine capable of making buttonholes, so velcro became the standard form of fastening pockets.
The colour and patina of this well used jacket is the envy of clothing manufacturers who spend millions of pounds trying to re-create something that looks so good. We are delighted to have salvaged a fabulous looking jacket with such fascinating pedigree.
Donated by Mick Tighe
16/07/2014
16/07/2014
Spectrum : UK Museum documentation standard, V.3.1 2007
16/07/2014