Mark asked the following
Any info on what else John Bull made?
My recollection the of the once celebrated John Bull was the manufacture of anything made of rubber from cycle and motor car accessories , household goods , items of clothing and footwear and the list goes on. Their cycle and motor inner tubes were always coloured red, still have one in the workshop.
I believe its demise came at the time when many of these products were been manufactured in plastic especially.Its worth noting John Bull also went through a difficult period during WW2 due to the supply the raw material imports although they did contrbute to the war effort with a compound type of rubber products.They finally went out of bussiness in the early 1960's when Dunlop and other foreign manufacturers became the main source in the making of rubber products.
Could still do with a John Bull rubber hot water bottle here tonight ,its freezing in Dorset tonight !
Doug Smith
North Dorset
UK