1. This year is also the 200th anniversary of the invention in1818, by Scottish chemist James Syme, of a technique for dissolving rubber in coal tar which led to the development of the Mackintosh.
2. Charles Macintosh patented his waterproof coat in 1823.
3. The earliest known reference to a “Mackintosh Cloak” was in 1835. It is not known how or why a “k” was added to Macintosh’s name.
4. The first reference to it as a “mac” was in 1901.
5. Macintosh’s innovation was to sandwich a solution of rubber in naphtha between two layers of material.
6. Early macs were stiff, smelly and melted in hot weather. In 1843 vulcanisation cured such problems.
7. The European Patent Office lists 16 raincoats for dogs dating back to 1996.
8. A 2001 patent for “disposable raingear for dogs” claims to reduce “the unpleasant odour that can emanate from a wet dog”.
9. “Everybody trusts a guy in a raincoat. I don’t know why.” (Stephen King, Just After Sunset).
10. “I’m an optimist, but an optimist who carries a raincoat.” (Harold Wilson).