Pakamac

Hi again everybody, we don't have the legendary Marks & Spencer here in Australia but we have always had shops like it. Back when I was at high school in the late 60s-early 70s, Coles besides their supermarkets had a 'department store' in every major shopping mall or centre.

These shops sold a lot of imported goods under the brand 'Embassy'. I remember it was the local Coles department store where the navy-blue nylon raincoats I wore for school came from. If I remember rightly the last one I had cost $2.99 (with two plastic rainhats in pouches thrown in for free as a 'back to school special'). They had the 'Embassy' brand, and I have a vague memory they were originally made in England. One of the two nylon coats I wear now, both second-hand but newer, has an Embassy label but was made in China.

I wouldn't be surprised at all to find the coats we had then were Pakamacs in all but name. There was absolutely nothing wrong with them then (except lack of 'cool'), and as I wear them again now for outdoor activities there is nothing better.

A while ago I gave my daughter a bright red nylon raincoat when I found it didn't fit me - now she wears it regularly, even to work. Believe me, if she thought it looked frumpy, or sloppy, or whatever, she would never touch it with a barge-pole.

Hi ROB YES PLEASE GREAT STUFF MACS PLEASE thank you

Hi G I think our worst holiday weather was in 1997 when we went to Ireland. We stayed in Killarney and I think it rained every day! The days we went to Muckross I think it was the last weekend in August were very wet and we both remember walking around the grounds in the rain. We were prepared for bad weather and I remember one of the ladies at the farm asked us whether someone had told us it rained a lot in Ireland! She also said she thought our macs were really good and as we often get nice comments I think lots of people really do like them. Despite all the rain there were quite a few people there and we had a nice time. As I said we bought our macs in Ireland and they are the semi-transparent black and clear plastic macs that were quite popular back then. I might have to add another comment about our umbrellas because I don't know so much about them but we quite like the see through ones because you can still see the gardens when it is raining outside. I am sorry it has taken a little time to write this comment but I hope it is the type of thing you wanted to hear. Please say if you would like to hear about the other days or more about the macs.

Hi Frank I had a girlfriend once who had a sister who had a Ms mac she borrowed it one rainy night happy days

Hi does anybody remember the M S nylon macs somebody's wife or
Girl friend let thought they were the best

hi Rob and Beth yes we would to hear about your holidays and mac wearing ASP

Thank you for your comments. If you would like to hear more about our holidays we will try to add some comments about the rain and our macs and brollies for you.

Hi R B yes please take no notice of daft comments Brian this is a great site but can you only post comments about macs not daft or persnol attacks please it just puts people off most of us just want to read peoples tales about pac a macs

Well R&B, I for one love reading your contributions here about wet Welsh and Irish holidays in plastic macs. The place names may be unfamiliar to me but the plastic macs aren't and that's what is important. We are all here as Pakamac fans but I don't suppose anything new can be said about genuine Pakamacs.

We are Pakamac lovers living the memories in the plastic macs and nylon macs left for us to enjoy in the 21st century. I imagine in a few years we'll all be consigned to history.

Let's have no sniping or griping about contributors. Surely that should be the only reason to block a post.

As always, my email is published here should anyone wish to chat about these garments. As has happened in the past, I will delete the email address once the spam becomes too heavy. As a reminder or for those who don't know me, I am TG. I avoid the inappropriate approaches that keep our lady contributors to themselves. The men only have themselves to blame.

Hi again Rob & Beth, I meant 2013 not 2014 when we were discussing umbrellas - I mentioned that I have a couple of Fulton clear domes I use often, including one with a white outer edge and Beth had one like it. They are excellent umbrellas, I love the thick handle you can really grip, and they're bigger and nicer shape than I remember when they were first seen in the 70s.

You're the absolute last posters on here that should worry about being boring.

Hi G yes they are transparent black and transparent clear plastic macs and you are right we always need them when we go to wales! Although they are not very fashionable it is amazing how many people make nice comments and ask us where they can buy one. Most people are very kind but if you have a garden and it is pouring with rain you are probably just pleased to see some visitors! We are getting fed up with some of the comments on here but if you have any more questions or would like to hear more about Wales or Ireland please say and we will try to add some more.

Hi Frank patience is a virtue

Hi Rob & Beth, the last thing you need to worry about on this forum is being boring - check how much of Frank's Pullitzer Prize winning insight has been canned.

Hi Beth and Rob been a long time is your Mac transparent did you ever get to Wales lots of rain to wear your macs

We stopped writing last time because there are so many so many negative comments here.

HI Rob all that fuss and you still have not put one comment

We bought lots of plastic macs in Ireland G. Rob's are made by Go and are black and mine are mostly St.Bernard macs from Dunnes. They have kept us dry lots of times and have lasted pretty well. It is just difficult to buy anything similar now even though a lot of people say they like them.

I had a cagoule G but we bought our first plastic macs to go camping in Wales in the late eighties. They were brown and blue and I think we got them from a mail order company. We started going on holiday to Ireland a few years later and we have been quite a few times since. We have often had wet weather so we have bought quite a few plastic macs! When we stayed in Killarney one year we had really bad weather so we can write about this but we will have to do this together R&B.

Hi Rob yes that would be fine its macs for me umbrellas do nothing well keep the rain off will Beth write as well?

Hi G, is it Gareth. I didn't want to disappoint anyone but I wasn't sure whether you wanted to hear more about our umbrellas or macs. I could write about one of our holidays when we had lots of rain and include some of the nice comments we've had from other people about our rainwear. would this be OK.

Hi Rob bit disappointed thought we would hear your tales it just not pack a mac it's plastic and pvc been Mac fan I am used to disappointed

It was nice to read this comment Susan because I realise that some people really want to hear about the original Pakamac raincoats like the ones in the advert here but unfortunately we don't have any and I thought this was perhaps why our comments were deleted.

I love reading the comments here even when they are only slightly related to Pakamacs. It's lovely knowing that the regular contributors are Pakamac fans keeping memories and related enjoyment alive.

All this rain and floods only seen one old lady wearing a plastic mac

Sorry, I meant thank you Brian. I think your advice has worked and we are really happy to contribute if it is interesting for other people.

Thank you G and Robin. I thought perhaps they were deleted because they were a bit boring but you are always very positive G. I wanted to say to you and Elizabeth that unfortunately we can't remember what we posted about umbrellas in 2014 but I did find my comment from 9th October saying it was nice to read about Robin's trip to Ireland because it reminded us of our holidays there. Please say if it is the umbrellas or our pakamacs and our holidays in the rain you would like to hear more about and we will try again.

Hi Rob, not sure what the problem is but your comments do not appear. I'm just seeing a blank message.

Maybe it's the apostrophe character? Or double quote? Sometimes if you copy/paste from another app, the characters get corrupt and the message is blank. Try stripping any special characters and try again, or, email me your comment and I'll figure out why your messages are not appearing. Thanks.

Rob email Brian he will get to the root of the problam

Thank you G and Elizabeth I have tried to post three comments for you but with no luck.

Hi Rob one blip and you throw your toys out of the pram