Caoutchoue: A vegetable substance obtained from incisions made in several plants, affording a milky juice, as the Urceola elastica, a tree of tropical Asia, the Ficus elastica, a species of fig in Nepal, and especially the Siphonia elastica, a euphorbiaceous plant of South America. It is white at first, and assumes the dark shade usually possessed on exposure to smoke. It is impermeable to water, tenacious, elastic, unalterable by exposure to air, fusible at 150 degrees, soluble in ether and the essential oils. It is also called India rubber (having been first used to erase pencil marks) and gum elastic. Vulcanized caoutchoue, caoutchoue compounded with a small proportion of sulphur, by which it is rendered hard and elastic like horn; – so called because subjected to a high degree of heat during the process of manufacture. It is used for a great variety of purposes in the arts.
If you see a man with an India-rubber coat on, India-rubber shoes, an India-rubber cap, and in his pocket an India-rubber purse, with not a cent in it, that is Goodyear. If you see a man with an India-rubber coat on, and in his pockets nine sweet potatoes, that is Edwards.
Early items made of natural rubber would deteriorate over time. After a year or two, natural rubber turns to liquid and stinks! During the LH years, vulcanized rubber was used to coat fabric, which was then fashioned into many useful items, including coats.
Was Mr. Edwards’ rubber coat a Mackintosh?
