Tell me, who has the shears?

[Gruto]

"... I was given his shears, and I still use them to this day."
http://www.thesavilerowtailor.co.uk/201 ... -ever-met/

"When Harvey retired he gave me his cutting shears, which I don't use but have retained the yellow cloth that he had wrapped around the handle ..."
http://steeds-view.blogspot.dk/2012/02/ ... -born.html



I am sure there is an explanation (like more than one pair of Colin Harvey shears) but at first glance the contending claims are intriguing

[hectorm]

Interesting that you picked that up, Gruto.
Now, Mr. DeBoise is saying that he received the shears from Mr. Harvey himself, upon the latter´s retirement. We do not have any reason to doubt that fact.
I see some passing of the torch here.
On the other hand, Mr. Hitchcock says that he was given the shears upon Mr. Harvey´s death. Not a passing of the torch here, but maybe some kind of recognition by A&S.
Surely more than one pair of shears are involved. I will not speculate more.

[NJS]

There are also different sizes of shears - often 8 inches to 13 inches as well as pinking shears and a tailor might well have more than one pair. Hasn't Thomas Mahon got a pair that belonged to Sheppard (of A&S), handed down through Cameron and Hallbery? I believe that he said that it was the 'passing of the baton' to worthy successors. I wonder what happened to Scholte's; as I often wonder what happened to Beau Brummell's umbrella with the handle in the form of the Prince Regent's head!

[hectorm]

I often wonder what happened to Beau Brummell's umbrella with the handle in the form of the Prince Regent's head!

a brown silk umbrella, which was always protected by a silk case of remarkable accuracy of fit — the handle surmounted by an ivory head of George the Fourth in well-curled wig and gracious smile.


Your recalling of Brummell's umbrella made me re-read this article from 1844
http://www.dandyism.net/beau-brummell/

[NJS]

I often wonder what happened to Beau Brummell's umbrella with the handle in the form of the Prince Regent's head!

a brown silk umbrella, which was always protected by a silk case of remarkable accuracy of fit — the handle surmounted by an ivory head of George the Fourth in well-curled wig and gracious smile.


Your recalling of Brummell's umbrella made me re-read this article from 1844
http://www.dandyism.net/beau-brummell/

Yes. I expect that the Armstrong family had the umbrella. I seem to recall Ian Kelly on the television, when he first published his book, with some snuff boxes which had belonged to Brummell. The world also forgets that he had a brother and a sister who may well have descendants in possession of relics. I think that things with these associations are quite special. I have a few books from Arthur Quiller-Couch's own library, with beautifully engraved bookplates and a couple of them are poetry books which he marked in pencil when selecting poems to include in the Oxford Book of English Verse first published in 1900.