88/25/1-2

Two curved steel sack needles. They were used by the donor on his smallholding in Reading for stitching up sacks.
Two curved steel sack needles. They were used by the donor on his smallholding in Reading for stitching up sacks.

MERL Miscellaneous note, Greta Bertram, 19 February 2014 – The Lucas Collection contains objects (88/23–88/43) and documents (D90/8/1–21) donated by Mr H. B. Lucas, a farmer and dairyman. Mr Lucas kept chickens, cows and pigs on his smallholding in Whitley Wood Road, Reading, and retired in 1971. The Lucas family farmed in a small way at Lane End Farm in Shinfield, Reading, from the end of the nineteenth century. Mr Lucas’ grandfather built Lane End House, and brought threshing machines to Berkshire, and his uncle was a threshing tackle contractor with premises opposite the farm. The objects in the Collection were used by Mr Lucas on his smallholding and in conjunction with his dairy business. The documents (now in the MERL Archives) consist of show catalogues for poultry and fancier's associations, prize certificates for eggs and poultry, record cards for egg production and newspaper cuttings about shows., MERL ‘Handwritten accession’ form (Institute of Agricultural History) – ‘Standard museum name: SACK NEEDLES // Accession number: 88/25/1&2 // … // Recorder: JMB // Date: 2.3.89 // Description: Two curved steel needles with eyes. // Dimensions: Length (1) 20.0 cm (2) 14.0 cm // Associated information: Used for stitching sacks’