Luggage and Guard's area, sizing the wood pad by the doors

[65447]

DOCKERS' INDUROLEUM - FIREPROOF FLOORING - SHIPS, SHIPS' SALOONS, &c., &c.

INDUROLEUM is the finest flooring composition obtainable. It is FIREPROOF, ELASTIC, JOINTLESS, ANTISEPTIC. It is easily applied and sets with an even surface. Supplied in all Colours.

DOCKER BROTHERS, Ltd., Headoffices: Saltley, Birmingham.

&

In Britain, an exception to the deliberately unpatterned approach can be seen at Finella, the Victorian house in Cambridge where the hall and dining room were
experiments in inlaid “Induroleum”, a rubber flooring material thought to be superior to linoleum. (Spelthore BC - Manygate Lane Conservation Area - Modernist Houses)

Not a complete answer, but some clues...

[gdb]

DOCKERS' INDUROLEUM - FIREPROOF FLOORING - SHIPS, SHIPS' SALOONS, &c., &c.

INDUROLEUM is the finest flooring composition obtainable. It is FIREPROOF, ELASTIC, JOINTLESS, ANTISEPTIC. It is easily applied and sets with an even surface. Supplied in all Colours.

DOCKER BROTHERS, Ltd., Headoffices: Saltley, Birmingham.

In Britain, an exception to the deliberately unpatterned approach can be seen at Finella, the Victorian house in Cambridge where the hall and dining room were
experiments in inlaid “Induroleum”, a rubber flooring material thought to be superior to linoleum. (Spelthore BC - Manygate Lane Conservation Area - Modernist Houses)

Thank you for the information. I used web search engines to find Induroleum yesterday and got just four possibilities, two were to the Manygate Lane site and one to the LMSR-CA site. The fourth reference was to an industrial information archive site which recorded, I think, "Induroleum" in a shipping periodical. My original thought was that "Docker" referred to a stevedore.. how wrong could I be!

thank you, Graham

[52D]

In the vintage motorcycle world the mention of Docker will bring a nasty reaction. Lord and Lady Dockers lavish lifestyle was one of the contributing factors in the downfall of BSA where they did not invest in modern tooling thus allowing inroads from the east. Profits generated went to their personal fortunes - Rant over now back to the LNER.

[Mark]

Hi Guys

I came across this forum and thread by chance.

I used to work for the paint company that started as Docker Brothers and I got quite interested in their history.

The name of the product Induroleum comes from Indurated (i.e. hardened) Linoleum.

Dockers registered the trademark in 1914 but there was a flooring company selling a product called Duroleum - must have been a similar product - quite a few years earlier.

Through FD Docker (Sir Bernard's father) Docker Brothers was closely associated with the Metropolitan Carriage & Wagon Company. So they must have seen the advantages of this tough product for their carriages and developed their own version.

Not only was the product tougher but any colouring went all the way through rather than being printed on the surface. So the long-term appearance was much better too.

I don't know the technical difference between linoleum and the hardened version. I think I saw some prices once and the hardened product was about twice the price. But quite likely it lasted much more than twice as long.

I might have a few other bits and pieces in my papers but hope that helps for now.

Mark

[65447]

Mark,

Very glad that you've found us - the sort of information that you have is of interest and most useful to researchers and historians. The previous internet search reveals that it was also used by the LMS.

[Mark]

I just remembered I have the attached image saved on my computer. Sorry the quality is not too good but I had to photograph it from a magazine. It is dated about 1932

You can see from this that Induroleum was used in domestic applications as well as industrial.

The bold colours and geometric shapes suited the Art Deco style of the 1930's.

When they made these geometric designs I have a notion that they started with sheets of the various colours and cut and joined them - a bit like a mosaic.

But don't quote me on that - it's just a guess - and my guesses are often wrong!

Mark

[Dave]

Mark

Welcome..

Thanks for that infomation, it all helps.