British Pathe

M/S of a table set with modern-looking stainless steel cutlery. C/Us of forks, knives and spoons, saucepan, salt and pepper pots, toast rack, a very simple stainless steel candelabra, various cooking utensils.

C/Us looking over the shoulder of stainless steel designer Robert Welch as he sketches...

M/S of a table set with modern-looking stainless steel cutlery. C/Us of forks, knives and spoons, saucepan, salt and pepper pots, toast rack, a very simple stainless steel candelabra, various cooking utensils.

C/Us looking over the shoulder of stainless steel designer Robert Welch as he sketches outlines of spoons, forks and knives. M/S as he walks away from his drawing board and we see he is in his studio / workshop. He selects a piece of metal for his design at a workbench and produces a burner and starts to heat the metal. C/Us of the heating process as the metal lies on some heavy rocks for protection, turning red hot at the end which is then seen in M/S as Mr W hammers it on an anvil to make a spoon shape. C/U as he examines it then M/S as he takes it to a smaller anvil and hammers it into a more rounded shape and compares it with his original sketched design. M/S as he takes it to a buffing machine, starts to buff the spoon, then C/U of same. The commentator tells us the spoon is part of a set that has been designed for a new passenger liner, the SS Oriana.

M/S of a young lady sitting at a table, eating a meal with cutlery and making notes on it. Mr W comes into the shot and sits beside her. M/S as he hands her a new knife and fork to try out. C/Us of her using the cutlery, and Mr W tries out some pea tongs! (Tongs with curved bottoms that keep the peas in place for serving.)

M/S of a modern stainless steel teapot, milk jug and sugar bowl; hot water is poured into the teapot and a thermometer inserted into the spout to check the water stays hot. C/Us of manufacturing expert, Mr Wiggin, and the designer examining and discussing two very modern stainless steel jugs and a sugar bowl and tongs.

Note: this is a nice film showing the work of a designer described as one of the first in this country to succeed in designing marketable modern cutlery. There is interesting documentation on file about him including a biography and correspondence.