The word ‘anorak’ seems to have come from the Inuit (Eskimo) people and refers to a short jacket with a hood and no zip up the front. Early versions would have been made from animal fur and were pulled over the head as there were no zips in those days and buttons were too much hassle. Early Arctic explorers adopted the Inuit anorak and the idea filtered down to the outdoor industry in the U.K. with the first mass produced ones appearing in the 1930’s, after which, just about everybody wore one for a decade or three. The UK versions were made from a variety of materials and we think this one is ventile, though we are not 100% sure. Graham Tiso was a Scottish mountaineer who set up an equipment retail business with his wife, Maude, in Edinburgh in 1962, and subsequently produced a vast array of gear often made to his own specification – as with this one – but manufactured by someone else. A much expanded Tiso range of outdoor shops is still trading successfully in 2016. This anorak seems to date from the late 1960’s and was kindly donated by John Bazin in Bristol.