The history of the Mackintosh so far...

In 1823, Charles Mackintosh of Scotland obtained the rights to patent a process used in making a waterproof fabric comprising two layers of cloth glued together with a solution of rubber. Initially, he confined himself to producing the waterproof cloth, but tailors rushed to make coats from this new fabric. This was despite Macintosh's warning, that if they sewed the material the needle holes would let in water. The original coats duly leaked, and in an effort to resolve the situation tailors made coats with double stitched seams, the inevitable result was that the coats let in twice as much water! In order to rectify the situation, in 1830 Mackintosh and a partner began to make up the garments themselves with properly proofed seams and thus was born the coat that bears his name. Although the name 'Mackintosh' remains the same after more than a century and a half, it is now often affectionately shortened to 'Mac' in honour of its Scottish originator.

Since those early days, manufacturers of the cloth have greatly improved its qualities. There is now more choice available in both the weight and the colour, although the many skills used over generations in making up the garment have not changed.