Socudya, Go Fetch Nostalgia

The Old Bleach collection · Randalstown

From the works.
Into the home.

Cloth, colour and the name on the box. Explore the objects that survive, from an illustrated wedding-gift advertisement to table sets still in their packaging.

Open the collection ↓
Old Bleach four-place setting with floral pieces and orange napkinsEnlarge photograph
Four-place setting in pure Irish linen, as described on the packaging. Date unknown.

01 / The surviving objects

Open the box

The overview photograph shows two sets. The separate card and label photographs let us look more closely at what was sold under the Old Bleach name.

Two boxed Old Bleach table sets, including a Mallard design and a set with a Moonglow tagEnlarge photograph
Two boxed sets with their printed cards and labels. Dates unknown. Photographs supplied for this archive.

A matching set, ready for the table

Packaging preserves details that can disappear when cloth is separated from its box: the name of a design, the materials and how a set was presented.

Brand
Old Bleach
Objects
Boxed table sets, product card and tag
Date
Not established from the supplied photographs

Choose a photograph to enlarge it. The details below belong with this overview.

Old Bleach Mallard product card illustrated with ducks and a laid tableEnlarge photograph
Mallard product card, photographed with the boxed sets.

Mallard

The illustrated card names the design and describes Old Bleach hand-painted table damask. Ducks in flight connect the packaging to the design shown on the cloth.

Read the main wording

“Old Bleach” · “the original handpainted table damask” · “MALLARD” · “GUARANTEED ENTIRELY FAST”. These are the manufacturer’s printed descriptions.

Old Bleach Moonglow tag attached to patterned cloth, marked cotton and rayon damaskEnlarge photograph
Moonglow label. The printed material description is cotton and rayon damask.

Moonglow

This tag matters: it describes a cotton-and-rayon damask. The brand’s name does not mean every surviving product was pure linen.

Read the main wording

“Old Bleach” · “MOONGLOW” · “COTTON & RAYON DAMASK” · “BLEACHED BY THE SUN” · “MADE IN IRELAND”.

02 / Colour at the table

Four places, one set

Floral table pieces and orange napkins give this surviving package its own character.

Packaged floral table pieces with orange napkins and an Old Bleach labelEnlarge photograph
Four-place setting. The packaging describes traditionally woven pure Irish linen. Date unknown.

The material is on the label

Unlike the Moonglow tag, this packaging identifies pure Irish linen. Keeping the two descriptions alongside their own photographs preserves that distinction.

Contents
A four-place table setting
Material
Pure Irish linen, according to the packaging
Date
Unknown
Illustrated Old Bleach wedding-gift advertisement showing a woman beside a linen cupboardEnlarge photograph
Old Bleach wedding-gift advertisement in The Graphic. Publication heading visible in the supplied photograph.

03 / Advertising the name

A cupboard full
of promise

This illustrated advertisement presents linen as a wedding gift and a store for a household’s future. Its detailed scene deserves room to be read as well as seen.

Read the headline

“HER WEDDING GIFT: RICH STORE OF ‘OLD BLEACH’ LINEN.”

The complete photographed page is preserved, including its publication heading. Enlarge it to inspect the original typography.

04 / A name made familiar

Advertising everyday cloth

Three photographed advertising pages bring together decorated lettering, towel designs and claims about durability.

Three vintage advertising pages including Old Bleach Shamrock and Art TowelsEnlarge photograph
Old Bleach towel advertisements shown together. Individual publication dates have not been established.

The Shamrock Towel

“Towels that last a Lifetime” is the promise printed in the large advertisement. The other pages include Old Bleach Art Towels and descriptions of grass bleaching.

The photograph includes surrounding material from the original pages. Keeping that context helps distinguish the original advertisements from a modern recreation.

05 / Already in the archive

Paperwork, products
and design

The sales bill, luncheon set and earlier advertising remain together here. Source links accompany the existing design records.

Old Bleach sales bill dated 3 January 1935 listing sheets and pillowcasesOpen bill

3 January 1935

A surviving sales bill

The bill records sheets and pillowcases supplied to Dicksons & Co. Ltd. in Dungannon. Its printed terms state that parcels worth 20 shillings and over could be sent carriage-paid by post or rail.

Green and blue boxed Old Bleach luncheon set with four table mats and four napkinsOpen set

Date not recorded

A boxed luncheon set

The surviving label identifies four 12 by 18-inch table mats and four 17 by 17-inch napkins. It is a real example of Old Bleach household linen sold as a complete matching set.

Help identify what survives

Have a label, a date
or a story to add?

A source, a photograph of the reverse or a family memory may help identify an object. Tell us what you have, even if you do not know a worker’s name.

Share an object or a detail

New photographs were supplied for this archive. Dates and ownership histories are not inferred from their appearance. Source and permission details can be added as they are established.