A trouser press, also referred to by the trademarked name Corby trouser press, is an electrical appliance used to smooth the wrinkles from a pair of trousers. They are commonly provided in hotel rooms worldwide, though may also be purchased for home use; they are generally associated with use by businessmen who require a formal appearance to their suit.
RAF veteran Peter Corby, the inventor of the press, died in August 2021, at the age of 97. [1] [2]
Most trousers creases occur on the bottom two-thirds of trouser legs, particularly around the back of the knee. Trouser presses are typically the tool for removing these creases without damaging the trousers. On a typical trouser press, the side levers are raised; and the trousers placed between the pressing plate and the cushioned heating pad. The press is slowly closed, the trousers gently pulled so that they align properly and the press dial turned on for heat. The press heats to around 60 °C (140 °F) regardless of model type. It can take roughly 15 to 45 minutes to press the trousers depending on the model type and the thermostatically controlled heating pad will warm up and gently press out creases and wrinkles without scorching the trousers.
The Corby Trouser Press brand is the generic trademark for the product. John Corby Limited was established by John Corby in Windsor, Berkshire, in 1930 as a manufacturer of valet stands. These were later improved with the addition of a pressing area and the first Corby trouser press was launched. These subsequently became electrically heated during the 1960s.
In 1977, John Corby Limited became part of what is now Jourdan plc and relocated to Andover, Hampshire in 1986. In 2005, the company moved manufacturing to the premises of a sister company, Suncrest Surrounds Limited in Peterlee, Co Durham. All sales, marketing and service operations continue to operate from Andover, though the business was acquired in 2009 by Fired Up Corporation Ltd, based in Huddersfield. The brand was later re-launched, reverting to its founding name of "Corby of Windsor".
During the 1960s the trouser press was an aspirational product for the British middle classes, and this led to a thread of satire and cultural references. The Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band recorded the song, "Trouser Press", for their 1968 album The Doughnut in Granny's Greenhouse , satirising 1960s consumerism, and making numerous references to the trouser press as emblematic of middle class life. Author and journalist Ira Robbins founded an influential alternative music magazine titled Trouser Press after the Bonzo's song, and his book The Trouser Press Record Guide: The Ultimate Guide to Alternative Stone is a reference work on alternative and outlandish music first published in 1983 and the fourth edition was published in 1991 ( ISBN 0-02-036361-3). [3]
The ubiquitous presence of the trouser press in British commercial hotels has made them a recurring theme, along with "tea and coffee making facilities", in British comedian Bill Bailey's monologues. The Tea, Coffee and Trouser Press Census tour diary along is included as an extra feature on his Part Troll DVD. Bailey's Tinselworm show has a spoof infomercial in the style of Kraftwerk, Hosenbügler (German for trouser press), which sees Bailey and Kevin Eldon riding around the stage on Segways with trouser presses mounted on them. [4] It has also been featured in the British comedy I'm Alan Partridge during the episode "Basic Alan" in which Alan dismantles a Corby Trouser Press in his bored desperation. [5]
A drink or beverage is a liquid intended for human consumption. In addition to their basic function of satisfying thirst, drinks play important roles in human culture. Common types of drinks include plain drinking water, milk, juice, smoothies and soft drinks. Traditionally warm beverages include coffee, tea, and hot chocolate. Caffeinated drinks that contain the stimulant caffeine have a long history.
Stephen John Coogan is a British comedian, actor and screenwriter. He is most known for creating original characters such as Alan Partridge, a socially inept and politically incorrect media personality, which he developed while working with Armando Iannucci on On the Hour and The Day Today. Partridge has featured in several television series and the 2013 film Alan Partridge: Alpha Papa. In 1999, he co-founded the production company Baby Cow Productions with Henry Normal. For his work he has garnered numerous accolades including four BAFTA Awards and three British Comedy Awards as well as nominations for an Academy Award and Golden Globe Award.
A suit, lounge suit, or business suit is a set of clothes comprising a suit jacket and trousers of identical textiles generally worn with a collared dress shirt, necktie, and dress shoes. A skirt suit is similar, but with a matching skirt instead of trousers. It is currently considered semi-formal wear or business wear in contemporary Western dress codes, however when the suit was originally developed it was considered an informal or more casual option compared to the prevailing clothing standards of aristocrats and businessmen. The lounge suit originated in 19th-century Britain as sportswear and British country clothing, which is why it was seen as more casual than citywear at that time, with the roots of the suit coming from early modern Western Europe formal court or military clothes. After replacing the black frock coat in the early 20th century as regular daywear, a sober one-coloured suit became known as a lounge suit.
J. Lyons & Co. was a British restaurant chain store, food manufacturing, and hotel conglomerate founded in 1884 by Joseph Lyons and his brothers in law, Isidore and Montague Gluckstein. Lyons’ first teashop opened in Piccadilly, London in 1894, and from 1909 they developed into a chain of teashops, with the firm becoming a staple of the High Street in the UK. At its peak the chain numbered around 200 cafes. The teashops provided for tea and coffee, with food choices consisting of hot dishes and sweets, cold dishes and sweets, and buns, cakes and rolls.
A kettle, sometimes called a tea kettle or teakettle, is a device specialized for boiling water, commonly with a lid, spout, and handle. There are two main types: the stovetop kettle, which uses heat from a hob, and the electric kettle, which is a small kitchen appliance with an internal heating element.
A mangle (British) or wringer (American) is a mechanical laundry aid consisting of two rollers in a sturdy frame, connected by cogs and powered by a hand crank or by electricity. While the appliance was originally used to squeeze water from wet laundry, today mangles are used to press or flatten sheets, tablecloths, kitchen towels, or clothing and other laundry.
A teasmade is a machine for making tea automatically, which was once common in the United Kingdom and some Commonwealth countries. Teasmades generally include an analogue alarm clock and are designed to be used at the bedside, to ensure tea is ready first thing in the morning. Although crude versions existed in Victorian times, they only became practical with the availability of electric versions in the 1930s. They reached their peak in popularity in the 1960s and 1970s. Since then their use has declined, but they started to boast a partial revival in the 2000s, partly as a novelty retro item.
Twinings is a British marketer of tea and other beverages, including coffee, hot chocolate and malt drinks, based in Andover, Hampshire. The brand is owned by Associated British Foods. It holds the world's oldest continually used company logo, and is London's longest-standing ratepayer, having occupied the same premises on the Strand since 1706. Twinings tea varieties include black tea, green tea and herbal teas, along with fruit-based cold infusions.
Coffee preparation is the process of turning coffee beans into liquid coffee. While the particular steps vary with the type of coffee and with the raw materials, the process includes four basic steps: raw coffee beans must be roasted, the roasted coffee beans must then be ground, and the ground coffee must then be mixed with hot or cold water for a specific time (brewed), the liquid coffee extraction must be separated from the used grounds, and finally, if desired, the extracted coffee is combined with other elements of the desired beverage, such as sweeteners, dairy products, dairy alternatives, or toppings.
Stephen James Mangan is an English actor, comedian, presenter and writer. He has played Guy Secretan in Green Wing, Dan Moody in I'm Alan Partridge, Seán Lincoln in Episodes, Bigwig in Watership Down, Postman Pat in Postman Pat: The Movie, Richard Pitt in Hang Ups, Andrew in Bliss (2018), and Nathan Stern in The Split (2018–2022).
Dualit is a British manufacturer of kitchen and catering equipment, and coffee and tea capsules. It is known for its range of heavy-duty toasters. It was primarily designed for the commercial catering market, its domestic usage increased during the 1990s
The Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band was created by a group of British art-school students in the 1960s. Combining elements of music hall, trad jazz and psychedelia with surreal humour and avant-garde art, the Bonzos came to public attention through appearances in the Beatles' 1967 film Magical Mystery Tour and the 1968 ITV comedy show Do Not Adjust Your Set.
Trousers, slacks, or pants are an item of clothing worn from the waist to anywhere between the knees and the ankles, covering both legs separately. In the United Kingdom, the word pants generally means underwear and not trousers. Shorts are similar to trousers, but with legs that come down only to around the area of the knee, higher or lower depending on the style of the garment. To distinguish them from shorts, trousers may be called "long trousers" in certain contexts such as school uniform, where tailored shorts may be called "short trousers" in the UK.
A man's suit of clothes, in the sense of a lounge or business or office suit, is a set of garments which are crafted from the same cloth. This article discusses the history of the lounge suit, often called a business suit when featuring dark colors and a conservative cut.
Ironing is the use of an iron, usually heated, to remove wrinkles and unwanted creases from fabric. The heating is commonly done to a temperature of 180–220 °C (360–430 °F), depending on the fabric. Ironing works by loosening the bonds between the long-chain polymer molecules in the fibres of the material. While the molecules are hot, the fibres are straightened by the weight of the iron, and they hold their new shape as they cool. Some fabrics, such as cotton, require the addition of water to loosen the intermolecular bonds. Many modern fabrics are advertised as needing little or no ironing. Permanent press clothing was developed to reduce the ironing necessary by combining wrinkle-resistant polyester with cotton.
"The Intro and The Outro" is a recording by the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band. It appears on their debut album, Gorilla (1967). It is not so much a song as a comic monologue in which the speaker introduces the musicians who ostensibly appear on the recording. The recording fades out before the emcee completes the introductions and without the "orchestra" being able to play anything more than a vamp. The piece was written by Bonzo member Vivian Stanshall, who also provides the vocal. Stanshall first introduces the seven members of the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band, who are credited with their actual instruments, over a vamp that resembles Duke Ellington’s "C Jam Blues".
The United States provided many inventions in the time from the Colonial Period to the Gilded Age, which were achieved by inventors who were either native-born or naturalized citizens of the United States. Copyright protection secures a person's right to his or her first-to-invent claim of the original invention in question, highlighted in Article I, Section 8, Clause 8 of the United States Constitution, which gives the following enumerated power to the United States Congress:
To promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective Writings and Discoveries.
Vera Jane Siddons Beadon, formerly Jarvis and Whigham, was a Scottish socialite, heiress, and actress. She was known as the leading witness in the internationally publicized 1963 divorce case between her stepdaughter and stepson-in-law, Margaret Campbell, Duchess of Argyll and Ian Campbell, 11th Duke of Argyll. Beadon, who was accused of having an affair with the Duke of Argyll by her stepdaughter, successfully sued the duchess for libel, slander, and conspiracy to suborn perjury. Beadon testified in court on behalf of the duke, presenting evidence supporting the duke's claim that the duchess had engaged in extramarital affairs. At the time of her death in 1999, she was the last surviving participant in the Argyll divorce case.
Peter John Siddons Corby was a British inventor. He joined the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve after leaving school and served as a flight engineer with No. 78 Squadron RAF in the last weeks of the Second World War. Corby remained with the RAF after the war serving in teaching and maintenance roles as well as with No. 15 Squadron RAF. He retired in 1951 to join his father's business making valet stands. Corby was inspired by a meeting with an aeronautical engineer who had developed electrical heating systems for the Concorde supersonic aircraft. Corby utilised these systems in the Corby trouser press, which was sold widely to hotel chains. Corby sold his company in 1977 and retired to the Isle of Wight. He entered the insurance industry as an underwriter at Lloyd's of London but lost much of his wealth during an insurance crisis in the 1990s.