George Platts Smoke Print Book
Scissor Smoke Prints
An image showing two scissor designs as represented in the smoke print books.
Name/Title
George Platts Smoke Print BookEntry/Object ID
2025.7.23Tags
scissors, platts, pattern book, smoke print, smut printDescription
Smoke printing - or smut printing - was one technique used by manufacturers to record designs of scissors in pattern books. The process is described as follows: "To make the impressions in the books, the bows and shanks of the scissors would have been held above a tallow candle flame so that a coating of soot was deposited onto the metal. The scissors were then pressed onto the leaves of the books thus making an exact record of the shape and size." (Rees, 1995). It is worth noting that this process recorded a mirror image of the scissors. The images here are as selection taken from photocopies of the original books; the photocopies are held by the Ken Hawley Tool Collection at Kelham Island Industrial Museum in Sheffield. The originals were last known of in possession of descendants of George Platts. Rees, J. (1995) Two Pattern Books of George Platts & Son Ltd., Sheffield Scissors Makers. Tool and Trades History Society Newsletter 50, Autumn 1995.Category
Scissors