It is no accident that the name Zephyr was applied to the paper floats made by Ernest Talbot. Many people have speculated that the name had something to do with David Slater’s Zephyr reel and more than one person has been disappointed when I have told them that there is absolutely no
connection.
If it had not been for the First World War it is possible that we would not have seen the invention of the Zephyr float. The Zephyr car was originally designed and manufactured in 1913 to test the Zephyr patent pistons.
The pistons were remarkably successful and so was the car. A plant was started which planned for large-scale production to start in 1915.
With the start of the war, the whole plant was turned over to the manufacture of the Zephyr pistons and the plans for car production were shelved. During the entire war period, the few models that had been made ran under war conditions and proved exceptionally reliable.
The Zephyr pistons were used in many different makers’ aero engines including the Rolls Royce Eagle engines fitted to the Vickers-Vimy. This aeroplane was flown by Allcock & Brown when they became the first people to fly non-stop across the Atlantic in 1919.
I wondered how an individual based in Lowestoft, a seaside town, could patent a float, especially a range of Match Fishing floats. Although the river Waveney runs into the sea here, as well as the Norfolk Broads being nearby, the area was not established for Match Fishing.
Ernest Talbot was born in 1879 in Norton – a suburb of Sheffield, that hotbed of Match Fishing with thousands of anglers and almost a religion to many people who lived and worked there around the turn of the 20th century.
He was educated in Sheffield and lived in Dore, another part of Sheffield well known to many of our subscribers.
After graduating from Sheffield University College in 1901 he went to work for an auto repair company in Sheffield.
In 1902 he moved to another car manufacturer in Manchester. After two years he took up the job of Manager of the motor car workshop of the Mansfield Engineering Company in Nottinghamshire. He also set up this new venture before joining James and Davison in Lowestoft.
The company of James, Talbot & Davison was established in 1912 as Motor Engineers with a change to the company occurring in 1916. With the end of government contracts in 1919 the company could look forward to resuming production of their now well-proven Zephyr car fitted with Zephyr pistons. However, there was a problem! After the end of hostilities the company, along with many others, had problems getting raw
materials. They had trouble sourcing the cylinder blocks and even tried to have them made in Belgium but poor quality led to the demise of the Zephyr motor car.
The company eventually became Zephyr Cams making camshafts and was in business until 2002 when it was wound up after an asset stripping scandal that even raised questions in the House of Commons. With no cars to make Talbot turned his thoughts to angling and floats. Without a doubt, he had many thoughts and ideas on this simplest of angling accessories.
The first application was made in January 1919 followed by another application in July and the complete application later in the same month. The completed specification was accepted in March 1920.
His application was made so that floats could be lighter and as small as possible.
The basic principle was that the float was constructed from a continuous piece of paper with an eyelet fixed to one end it was then wound spirally and the other end fixed to stop it from unwrapping.
Fig 1 on the patent drawing shows the single coil with eyelet fitted.
A second coil is then placed next to the first and they are joined together with a strip of paper. The two pieces are then pulled apart by each eyelet to form a hollow chamber in the shape of a spiral helix as in Fig 2
The eye is used to hang the float whilst it is painted and made waterproof. This eye is retained and used for passing the fishing line through whilst the other eye is removed and a rubber band is used to hold the line to the float.
The second application had made a few improvements mainly in that the manufacture would be cheaper and more widely applicable.
I suspect during actual manufacturing that better ways were found to make the floats.
No longer were the two coils butted together and covered with an overlapping piece of paper to make the joint.
Now one coil was slightly smaller than the other and the two coils were telescoped together. As per Fig 5 A5 slots into A6
The eye was used to hang the float up and to apply the dye, gum or waterproofing. This was applied thickly and allowed to collect at the end forming a bead and a quicker method of finishing off the
float. As in Fig 6 and Fig 7 A7.
Another improvement was the use of formers to shape the float. An elliptical shape would produce a slim line float offering less resistance to the current.
Slider floats, which are slightly bent, have the bottom section on a bent former. The upper eye for the top half would be wound in during the manufacturing process or fixed into a hole in the side
of the float. As in Fig 6 A8.
A different former could be used to produce a complete range of floats of varying shapes.
A separate company, The Zephyr Anglers’ Supplies Ltd, of the Waveney Works in Lowestoft was set up. The range of floats was launched in 1919 with 15 different sizes and priced from three pence to nine and a half pence. The sizes were thin, medium and stout and in 3, 4, 5, and 6 inches,
and the Sliders in 4, 5, and 6 inches.
The first advert and a review of the floats appeared in the Fishing Gazette on July 12th 1919.
Marston reviewed the floats and from his review, the readers are made aware of his fascination with watching a float drift downstream.
Some of the claims made by the makers for the float are slightly dismissed by Marston but he does agree that they are “wonderfully cheap” In August 1919 the company takes an advert in The Angler’s News & Sea Fishers Journal giving the individual sizes of the floats.
In September 1919 they appointed an export agent who was also responsible for sales in London.
In January 1920 7 more sizes were added, four eight-inch floats including the slider and three Flat Tops 2 2½ and 3 inches. They also appoint an agent for France and Spain.
In the next issue, we will see how the floats continued to evolve and I will deal with how to date them.
If anyone knows the whereabouts of the salesman’s sample board that passed through the auction rooms a few years ago I would appreciate it if they could let me know.
ZEPHYR FLOATS Part two.
In 1933 Talbot again returned to the patent office with a new design for the manufacture of his floats. This patent 417,604 was finally accepted in 1934
Previously the paper was a narrow long strip, for one of the floats the paper used was a piece ⅜ inch wide and 25 feet long. This caused some problems in the manufacture of the larger sizes as some of the coils would collapse before they were fully extended.
On other large sizes, the diameter would be greater than that required. Another problem that frequently happened was that if the overlapping sections were not glued during the manufacture the whole coil would spring open.
In this patent, there would be no coils of paper, this time the paper would be in the shape of a rectangle, square, parallelogram or a section of a circle.
All the shapes were cut to size and the float was then wound on a mandrill. Fig 1 in the patent drawing shows the mandrill. This would produce a cone as per Fig. 2. Once two cones had been produced
they would be telescoped together with a ferrule. Fig 3 shows the ferrule.
The complete float was then held together with a paper strip glued over the joint that had the size of the float printed on it. This is shown in Fig 4 A5.
If a longer float was required a section, A6 in Fig 5, was inserted between the two cones.
This new method of construction helps us in dating the floats. From January 1919 to March 1920 the floats are dark green almost black with Pat. Pend. They are a hard-to-find item and I have only ever seen two.
From 1920 to 1934 the floats are a dark green with many close coils showing. The label has Zephyr Pat. 2190-19. printed on it.
From 1934 onwards the floats came in two colours olive green and light brown. Some of the floats from this period have the 1919 patent details on them. I suspect that this was just a case of using
up old labels. I have never seen a float with a 1934 patent label.
Gradually the range of float was increased including the Fairy Antennae and the ZR Zephyr Rolls made to the suggestion of H. Rolls the Bedford tackle dealer and Match Fisherman.
Also during this period, the floats used for match fishing were introduced.
Four other floats of which I have very little information were also made these were the E, the BP, the FP and the pelican quill. I know that during the 1950 Field Fishing Tackle from Kentish Town.
London stocked a complete range of Zephyr floats and the 5BP 6BP and 7BP were sold as well as a pelican quill.
I believe that the FP stood for Flat Pelican and an example is shown in the photograph of the FT floats.
What the collector must realise when assembling a collection of these floats is that they were all handmade. Consequently, they all vary slightly in shape, size, colour and the colour of the tip. The company did make other items of tackle including Zephyr rods but as of yet, I do not know of them. You might be lucky and come across a packet of float caps.
The two packets illustrated come from different eras. The packet containing 15 or 16 caps has DEPT 10 on it this was the address of The Army & Navy Stores in London and matches the description on the price list. This has 5D on it as a price and would place it after 1955
The other packet has 3D on it with a dozen caps and is earlier.
Ernest Talbot did go into partnership and Ernest & Turnbull were in operation during the 1950’s
Ernest Talbot died in January 1966 aged 86 at the White House in Harleston next to where the last floats were made.