STRATTON OF ENGLAND Ladies Powder Compacts, Ladies Cigarette Cases,Ladies Portable Ashtrays.

A Brief History of the Stratton Of England Factory By Kind Permission of Juliette Edwards

Here is a " A Brief History of the Stratton Name " as written by Juliette Edwards. (Founder of The British Compact Collectors' Society. ) and this is wholly attributed to her. A Brief History of the Stratton Name: In 1920 two Birmingham companies merged; Jarrett & Rainsford, makers of haberdashery goods and cheap jewellery, and Stratton Ltd., makers of knitting needles, radio receivers and men's jewellery. Stratton Ltd. was owned by G.A. Laughton and the new company was called Jarrett, Rainsford & Laughton Ltd., with the Stratton name retained for the company's Fancy Metal department. From 1923 part-finished powder boxes were imported from the USA to be assembled and decorated in England until the company set up its own compact and lipstick case manufacturing equipment in the 1930s. This was so successful that by 1939 half these items for the British cosmetic industry were being made by Stratton Ltd., although they did not carry the Stratton name. At the same time a range of "fancy vanity boxes" (compacts) marked Stratton, or the earlier "Stratnoid" name, were produced for the jewellery trade, competing successfully against imports from the USA, Germany and Japan. An employee of a German competitor was forced to flee the Nazis in 1938. He joined the company, adding his experience and expertise gained with Rowenta to Stratton's Fancy Metal Department, which was located in the Alexandra Works, one of the company's five factories in Birmingham. In November 1940 four of these factories were destroyed by Luftwaffe bombing raids on Birmingham, with 500 foot-high flames engulfing the Alexandra works and the adjacent Globe Works. The company found new premises at scattered locations around Birmingham and turned production to the war Effort, adapting salvaged machinery where possible: for example, machines designed to make lipstick cases were modified to produce shell cases. The manufacture of powder compacts was resumed in 1946 at the rebuilt Leominster Works, using new and adapted machinery, so that many post-war Stratton compacts are unlike their pre-war counterparts. A new factory was built at Warstock Road, Birmingham, for the Twinco Moulding Division of the company and in the mid-1950s, in response to an export drive, the Fancy Metal Department was able to move to premises on the same Warstock Road site, where the company operated until it changed hands in the late 1990s. In 1997 the company (then known as Laughton & Sons Ltd.) sold the Stratton name to Cork International; in 2000 it became the property of Firmin & Sons PLC, a company with a long involvement in the fancy metal business. The Stratton name has recently (2006) changed hands again and the new owners, Faze Two Manufacturing Ltd., plan to reinstate the Stratton name with the prestige it formerly held. Thank You:- I would like to thank Juliette Edwards for giving me this Brief History on "The Stratton Name". I would hope who ever reads this will get pleasure and insight into one of our a great British factories. Juliette, this " Brief History on the Stratton Name" has added great content to my blog "Thank you" ____________________________________________ Juliette Edwards is also the author of the 'Miller's Powder Compacts A Collector's Guide' of which I have a photo included in my website. Trevor Hall.(This website designer)

Saturday, September 01, 2007

Again A Pair of compacts, One a cigarette case, and the other a Powder Compact. Both with scolloped edges....Stunning !!

Here on...Stratton Of England Ladies powder compacts,ladies cigarette cases,ladies portable ashtrays we have:- A Pair of good old fashion Carnations on this Compact and case,our ladies love them & these on a crisp white background they really do stand proud.A Fantastic choice and design which would look devine in any ladies hand.

Monday, August 13, 2007

Cerca 1930s compact that matches my Ciggie Case

Thursday, May 03, 2007

A beautiful compact of autumn leaves

Sunday, April 15, 2007

Cobolt Blue Translucent colour on this diamond cut engine turned Case Cerca 1960s

Monday, April 09, 2007

Two Stratton Compacts both the same in design, but different looking fronts.One Enamel and the other Plain

Wednesday, March 21, 2007

Stunning Scene of Geese on a Translucent Blue Background this matches the cigarette case.

Monday, March 05, 2007

A STratton Cigarette Case and Powder compact to be Proud of.!

These two cases look absolutely beautiful together,A Pair for a Queen Maybe?..No they belong to me,and thats where they are staying....but would have adorned any ladies handbag.

Sunday, March 04, 2007

Stratton Cigarette Case Retro Style Cerca 1950s/60s

Well this case really is unusual,i have not seen one before and it's use of colours must put in the Retro era .........I like it......whether or not the ladies liked it in it's hey day is another thing.

Sunday, February 18, 2007

Apsolutly Stunning Three Peice consisiting of Cigarette case, Lighter & Powder Compact

This Stunning scene by a waterfall,as two angels watch over this happy couple,truly delightfully.
I would love dearly to find the Ashtray to match !!

Wednesday, February 14, 2007

Stratton Cobalt Blue Powder Compact a stunning blue flower Design.

This Stratton compact was purchased to match my cigarette case in the same design,the cobalt blue flowered design on a white background,with an outer Colbalt blue circle and gold band design,again no Reg.Des number....so if anyone can date it for me i would appreciate this.

Stratton Powder Compact with Compressed Powder Refill

The Gorgeous Stratton compact has not a got a Reg Design number,But the Cigarette Case compact that matches the design has a Reg Des number of 886136 which puts the Cigarette case to the year cerca 1957, But i really don't know if this Powder compact would be earlier or later.Even so a beautiful compact with glorious white Rose design on a Bluish grey background,and the rest of the compact is in Engine turned gold coloured metal.It has the Stratton of England Stamp to the rear.

Sunday, February 11, 2007

Stratton of England Quality In This Case And Great Choice Of Colours

A beautiful Case with an Enameled lime green background,swirling Red,Green,& Blue type Berries,maybe a cherry or even holly Berries,Even so this is a beautiful designed case, and the colours are really amazing together.

Sunday, January 14, 2007

Stratton cigarette cases compacts, & Portable Ashtrays

Technorati Profile

A Pair of Finches on a Branch of Apple blossom maybe

Friday, December 15, 2006

A Typical Portable Ashtray by Stratton of England with Enameled Front

Sunday, December 10, 2006

A Beautiful Crisp Aqua Blue Background With Wild Hawthorne Type flowers.

These aqua blue cases with flower scenes are some of my favorites,they are warm looking and you can almost smell the scent on those flower heads.Inside and on the rear of the case is the typical gold colour star effect on the engine turned metal that stratton uses so well.

Saturday, December 09, 2006

A Portable Ashtray to Match a Gorgeous Designed Cigarette Case or Other Ladies Accessories

Maybe an oriental theme to this Ashtray.....Beautiful !

Friday, December 01, 2006

Another Stratton Case from Circa1970s....Apsolutly Stunning

Thursday, November 23, 2006

Stratton Of England ! Ladies Cigarette Case,Ladies Compacts, And Portable Ashtrays

This is a ladies Cigarette Case from The Famous Stratton of England Factory,A beautiful Case.

Stunning Stratton Cigarette Cases And Compacts

Monday, November 13, 2006

A star effect on the inside of the Goldtone metal of a cigarette case

Wednesday, November 08, 2006

A Gorgeous Stratton Clean Looking Cigarette Case

These pink roses are apsolutly delightful to the eye, and you can almost smell the fine aroma of a real English Rose.....Very popular Cigarette Case Cerca 1970s/80s.

Saturday, November 04, 2006

Another Stratton Quality Cigarette Case

Stratton Quality in this "Enameled But Matt Look" Finish. This really is a Gem with the white Rose on this Matt grey Background.GORGEOUS !!

Friday, November 03, 2006

Stratton of England A collection Ladies Compacts,Ladies Cigareette Cases

These Were my first Stratton Cigarette Cases Collected, and this was the start of my collecting Stratton Memorabillia.

Thursday, November 02, 2006

One Silver Colour, One Gold Colour, Both Fronted With Beautiful Art work

These Two Cases I Cannot find Out Any Information On. But I Feel They Could Well Have Been The Start Of The Earlier Models Of Stratton,I Think Before Cerca 1950 As They Are On A Silver And Gold Tone Engine Turned Metal. These Two Cases Are The Only Two That I Own Which Are Not Fronted In Enamel.Do you think they could be hand painted ?
If Anyone Can Feed Me Some Information On These Cases Cerca dates etc, I would Be Very
Gratefull.

Wednesday, November 01, 2006

A Beautiful English Rose On A Gold Tone Portable Ashtray.

For the ladies who liked to have a touch of class, and of course somewhere to put there cigarette ash when standing around chatting having a smoke with there friends at theatre or picture house maybe......Gorgeous !!

Small Ashtrays By Stratton,Showing Some Typical Themes, Some Just Ordinary But Very Unique.

These Very Clever Designs by Stratton,You Have A Swivel lnsert for Resting your Cigarette and showing Beautiful Small Enameled Fronts.

Check out my blog at:- http://dreamingagain321.blogspot.com

Where do i start and where do keep my gorgeous collection of Stratton Memorabillia

Well the first large consideration when starting a collection, is where do you keep it, how large will it become, and will it just hang around collecting dust, which really is going to reduce its appeal to yourself and others, which in turn looses it`s value. Do you hide it from those none desirables in society that want to have all that we have, and at any cost, or do you put it on show for the world to see( was that not the reason why you wanted to own a collection? Yes of course it was) So It is going to go on show!!...........BUT WHERE....I will share that with you, when you have had chance to view more cases.

A Great eBay tale !! But a very true Story

Stratton Cases come with a fantastic amount of Enameled Fronts, consisting of themes, scenes,birds, flowers,and Characters, and some to match the Era in which they were made, and i have only been collecting these for the past year and now it is 2006, and i always have a rush of blood when i see a case that i have not yet seen or collected, this one was one of those blood rushes, in fact i was on the edge of my seat waiting to see if i could win the bid on eBay to rescue this case to my collection.I waited seven days and watched in anticipation,watching and waiting to see if i was the lucky bidder, for three days i held my bid of just fourteen UK pounds,and this only after i had taken the bid of someone El's in the race for this beautiful case.It did not take me long to feel bad about the whole situation, as i had lost the bid to another bidder coming from the United States.I tried to take on a bid almost immediately, and unfortunately for me the bid went higher and higher until i was the highest bidder once again, but it was Higher than i wanted to pay, and only for one reason as i really did not know how much to pay for something i had only paid a few small UK Pounds for before, i needed to know how much they were worth, i tried to find websites on collecting Strattons, and the only indication i could find was for the Ladies Make-up compacts, and these were being sold for some small amounts of Money, to very large amounts of money, in fact a lot more than i was paying for this cigarette case.Anyway the moral of the story was Hey i Wanted that case badly and i would pay for it, like this other person would pay for it, so it must have been worth at least that much to me, as it was to them. Guess what YES i WON the BID..........Yes it was 26 UK Pounds, but I do really really like it and it stands proud in my collection...........Was i right to pay that much for it...........well i think i was !! Don't you?