Sowerbutt's Laces

"This was a funny one in '46," the retired writer for the East London Pioneer, who still has the notebook from his early 1960s interview with Sowerbutt, said. "You couldn't get shoelaces in the Smoke for love nor money. I remember seeing people walking round with string, shoelaces with knots in, strips of canvas, all manner of stuff. Never got to the bottom of what the problem was. The factories had been supplying the Army and supplies for narrow goods - braids, crochet goods - had been cut to nothing. Blip in the system. As ever, Jimmy Sorbay saw an opportunity. A mate of his in Smithfield had been making narrow goods before the war and had been stuck with a big order for a customer who went bankrupt or disappeared. They were yellow with black stripes interwoven. Jimmy called them B-laces and they sold like hot cakes. The stall-holders and shoe shops were clamouring for them. Sold the lot at a good profit and gave away a few to the local families. You should have seen Londoners that year with their yellow shoelaces. What a laugh."
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