63/20

Emily Elizabeth Mullins (Manufacturer)

This picnic hamper, or luncheon basket, was made for the Museum by Emily Mullins, a Reading basketmaker, and was therefore never used. It is a rectangular basket, made of buff willow, with a simple lid with a cane frame and ties. It has a small roped carrying handle and two straps. The rise of motoring in the 1920s led to an increase in the sale of picnic, luncheon and tea baskets with many leading West End firms advertising them.

1 basket: willow (buff); cane

Miss Emily E. Mullins (1906–1967) was a basketmaker in Reading. Her family were basketmakers for at least five generations. Her father, William Mullins, had no sons and Emily chose to become a basketmaker and carry on the tradition. She ran a basketmaking business in Bath circa 1926–1939, and moved to London in 1940 where she made baskets for the war effort. Later, she moved to Reading where she took over her father’s job on his death at Cook’s Dairy and Farm Equipment Ltd., a basketmaking firm founded in 1760 by John Cook. Cook’s had premises at Market Place, Reading, and the workshop was at Silver Street, Reading. The Museum has an extensive collection of baskets and basketmaking tools (approximately 200) given to the Museum by Emily Mullins. No correspondence between the Museum and Emily Mullins was found in July 2012, and it is assumed from scraps of information (e.g. a note on the Adlib record for 63/61 which said that the 63/ baskets were made by Emily Mullins for the Museum and were therefore never used, and a note on the Adlib record for 64/147 which said that Emily Mullins made numerous baskets for the Museum in 1964) that the baskets were made by Emily Mullins at Cook’s Silver Street workshop and the tools were used by Emily Mullins at the same workshop., MERL 'Catalogue of baskets' form – 'NAME: LUNCHEON BASKET. (Miss E. Mullins) // Acc. No.: 63/20 // Group: PERSONAL USE // Neg. no.: 60/4713 // Place of origin: Berkshire // Period in use: // DESCRIPTION // Materials: Buff willow. Lid has cane frame & ties. // Shape and construction: Rectangular. Simple cover. 1 small roped carrying handle. 2 straps. Specification see S & Pr. [Basketmakers’ Lists of Sizes and Prices of Work] 1956. p.39 // Dimensions: 20” x 12”. Height 6 1/2” // Use: Picnicing // Dialect names: // Distribution: // Additional notes: In the 1920s with the increase of motoring the sale of picnic, luncheon & tea baskets went up. Leading West End firms advertised them.'

Silver Street [Reading]

1963

Wood, willow, buff, Plant fibre, rattan

Cook's Dairy and Farm Equipment Ltd. ()
Wright, Dorothy (Recorder)