Pakamac

All the stories of Moms making there sons wear macs there used to be a lady called Anna who used to write on this blog complaining about her son who didn't want to wear his mac I would love to know what became of them.

Given all the interest in gaberdine mackintoshes maybe there should be a dedicated section on the Historyworld site?
Just like the Pakamac there were some very well known manufacturers of school gaberdine mackintoshes including Robert Hirst and Sartor. Similar to the iconiic Pakamac advertisement at the top of this page, there are similar advertisements for the Robert Hirst school mackintoshes which date back to the 1960’s.
I estimate that during the 50’s 60’s and 70’s that many thousands of school mackintoshes were produced, I wonder where they all went as they very rarely appear on e bay these days?

Jonathan,
Please feel free to e mail directly as it seems like we had similar experiences with our gaberdine mackintoshes during our school days.
Mactim

Way back in 1950's my home looked out on to a row of shops. local school girls used to meet up there on way to school. loved wet days as they were all wearing pakamacs Beverly Mr masher8@btinternet.com

Hello all, love reading about your mums making you wear your gabardine school mackintoshes. Like to hear more.Many years ago when i was at school lot of boys and girls thought it sissy to wear a mackintosh. Seems most that had their mackintoshes on a lot were ones with strict parents that made them wear there mackintoshes. Sadly not in my case . Beverly Mr.

Hi, a friend has just told me about this forum so I thought that I’d add my little bit. Anyone who looks at my nickname will realise that my passion is for the genuine school regulation gaberdine mackintoshes with girls hoods. Although my mother did it me a plastic Mack when I was at school. It didn’t last long as the buttons tore through.
I wore a navy blue gaberdine from when I was 4 until I left school at 17. I loved the warmth and security that it gave me. Although I was at boarding school I still wore my gaberdine at every opportunity. There was no one to force me to do it up properly but I always had it fully buttoned and belted and in the senior school I added a girls hood when my mother bought me a new 46” length new gaberdine. I’ve got two now both days interlinked in rubber, 52” long. Hoods of course.
Robin

Hi Mactim

I suspect our mother's were very much alike - traditional and no nonsense? It was quite embarrassing to have to wear a pakamac and gaberdine mackintosh in my teens in the mid 80s when all my peers were wearing contemporary coats and jackets. She was overly protective I suppose, and wouldn't accept any disobedience on my part in wearing my macs , but that's a whole different story.

Jonathan

Jonathon, it seems like both our mother’s had very similar principals as to how our school gaberdine mackintoshes were to be worn. Like you my mackintosh had to always be correctly belted and buttoned up and i recall that my pakamac was to be worn to keep my mackintosh both dry and clean. My mother did n’t like to see any any stains or splatters of mud on my mackintosh but with my pakamac she did n’t mind as they could be easily wiped off. My sister was the same height as me and on occasions I would borrow her Pakamac as it had a hood and I liked having the hood up on really cold and wet days it kept my head warm and dry and with my mackintosh underneath I felt very snug. I never know why you were considered to be a “sissy” in those days if boys wore hooded mackintoshes or hooded pakamacs as nowadays all anoraks male or female have hoods .i used to envy my sister with her hooded gaberdine mackintosh which I always wanted to but never dared to borrow but I did occasionally try it on at home!.

Oh how wonderful to see there are still others who recall their memories of Pakamac Rainwear at school, especially those whose parents insisted upon a strict dress regime, which I too had to adhere to.
For my mum always made sure I had my Pakamac with me, wherever I went, even on sunny days, telling me it may rain, or even a summer thunderstorm. Of course I soon got used to that, which I didn’t mind at all, even though I pretended not to like it.
For I was rather secretive about wearing my Pakamac, which was always a plastic one, for it had a rather cosy protecting feeling for me. One that has never gone away, hence my collection of Genuine Pakamac Plastic Rainwear.
But anyway, it’s so nice to see there are others who feel the same way, be it plastic, nylon, or gabardine. However, I never really liked rubber ones, the aroma was just too offensive for me, but as I said before, each to his or her own.
Best wishes to you all, Plastic Pakamac.

So interesting to hear from Mactim about his time in school. This resonates heavily with me . My own clothing for both school and outside school included a navy gaberdine mackintosh which my somewhat traditional mother insisted I should wear belted tightly, and buttoned to the neck. Always and with no exceptions.

And when it rained heavily or persistently I was always required to wear my full length nylon pakamac buttoned to the neck. My own pakamac was always a couple of inches longer than the gaberdine mackintosh meaning there was no chance for the hem of the gaberdine to get wet or grubby.

I well remember even now, almost 35 years later, being marched (yes... marched) to the outfitter at the age of 16 or 17 for a new gaberdine mackintosh and pakamac, when all the other boys were wearing anoraks or cagoules. And having to wear them until well past my 18th birthday.

Would love to chat further about similar experiences

Thank you for your clarification Mactim, and I do now understand, so each to his or her, own.
But anyway, I can never forget the soft smoothness of a proper Pakamac plastic raincoat, not the textured sort that so many manufacturers provide, but the genuine Pakamac ones I was brought up with, which will always be my favourites, no matter what else I may wear, as I often do.
Best wishes. Plastic Pakamac.

Whilst gaberdine mackintoshes were the regulation coat to be worn at my school, a pakamac was optional . Unfortunately the gaberdine mackintosh on a walk to or from school on a very wet day was not completely waterproof unlike a Pakamac as you know. The gaberdine could get get a big damp whereas if the Pakamac was correctly done up no rain would get through. The combination of a gaberdine mackintosh and a Pakamac would keep me really warm and still does today as I still like wearing a plastic Mac over either my Burberry gaberdine mackintosh or one of my rubberised mackintoshes. As you know old habits don’t go away!

At my school, Manchester Grammar, we never had Gabardine raincoats, but in the mid sixties the preferred school outfitter in central Manchester would include a filmy grey plastic Pakamac in the blazer pocket as part of the uniform. And needless to say, I would wear mine as much as I could. Not everyone wore them, some even discarded them, but I always wore mine, and still do.
But, to me anyway, why wear an already waterproof gabardine raincoat under a Pakamac plastic one, perhaps Mactim could help us to understand, for to me anyway,a Pakamac plastic raincoat is far more waterproof than a Gabardine one? However, a Gabardine raincoat was rather more stylish, but I still prefer my genuine Pakamac one.

Does anyone remember the days when Pakamac's where worn over your school uniform?
I always remember that my sister and ! were made to wear our Pakamcs over our gaberdine school raincoats on rainy days.
My Pakamac was longer than my school raincoat ,so that my gaberdine raincoat never got wet .
I used to keep my Pakamac was always neatly folded up in my School satchel.

PlasticPakamac, your comments are music to the ears. I may well contact you. Best waterproof wishes.

In my school days I used to wear my Pakamac, as did some others, but only when they were really needed. But outside of school I’d wear it as much as I could, I even had matching overtrousers, for such things were so very common then, Not true of today though, such a shame.
Fortunately I do have a collection of Genuine Pakamac Plastic Raincoats, which I still wear, and I wonder just how many others still do today?
Oh, email me above if you wish to reminisce.

At school, some of the pupils, who wore plastic macs, referred to them as "their rubber macs", adding to the excitement.

Merry Christmas to all pac a mac fans and a happy new year to you all.

Hello Alan,
Nice to know there are others who remember the original Pakamac Plastic Raincoats, I even had one as a young teenage boy, and have loved them ever since.
But perhaps you could drop me an email to discuss things further.
Best wishes, Pakamac.

Thanks for your comments Plastic Pakamac. I have used pvculike sometimes, as mentioned by Nicholas Green, but wondered if it was possible to get the old Pakamacs. A longshot I know, and no doubt costly.

WE ALL MISS THE OLD TYPE OF LADIES & GENT'S PLASTIC PAC A MACS I WISH THEY WHERE STILL BEENING MADE TODAY BUT THERE IS A COMPANY THAT STILL MAKES THEM TODAY AND THEY ARE CALLED
PVC-U-LIKE AND THEY ARE JUST LIKE THE OLD TYPE OF THE PLASTIC MACS YOU COULD GET IN THE 195O/6O/7O'S

why 2015

Hello Alan, lots of nylon and plastic macs on Ebay, worth looking there for Genuine Pakamac Plastic raincoats and things for they occasionally pop up there. However, genuine ones do tend to go for rather high prices.

I remember wearing a plastic pakamac in the mid 1960s.Is it still possible to buy a plastic pakamac?

I will be publishing my photos soon. Probably sometime in November due to the backlog of unpublished photos, that I have.

Hi Brian where can I see photos of your mac? or macs.

Thanks for mentioning Suzanne nylon Pakamacs, Sue. We have so much in common(to put it mildly!)q

Sue, mine was purchased brand new, December 1982, and is as good as new. I shall be publishing some pictures of it soon. Thanks for mentioning Suzanne.

Is the label readable in your Suzanne nylon Pakamac, Brian? I wish that I had photographed mine before I soaked the mac.

I have a "Suzanne" nylon mac too. Mmmmm!