Trouser press

This article is about the electrical appliance. For the magazine, see Trouser Press.

A trouser press is an electrical appliance used to smooth the wrinkles from a pair of trousers (pants in Australia, Canada, South Africa and the United States).

They are commonly provided in hotel rooms, though may also be purchased for home use; they are generally associated with use by businessmen who require a smart formal appearance to their suit.

The Corby Trouser Press is one of the leading brands, and the only iconic brand for the product.

John Corby Limited was established by John Corby in Windsor, England in 1930 as a manufacturer of valet stands. These were later improved with the addition of a pressing area and the first Corby trouser press was launched. These subsequently became electrically heated during the 1960s.

In 1977 John Corby Limited became part of what is now Jourdan plc. The company relocated to Andover, Hampshire in 1986 and in 2005 moved the manufacture to the premises of a sister company Suncrest Surrounds Limited in Peterlee, Co Durham. All sales, marketing and service operations continue to operate from Andover in Hampshire. The business was bought in May 2009 by Yorkshire businessman Richard Kaye's "Fired Up" group, based in Huddersfield.

In popular culture

During the 1960s the trouser press was an aspirational product for the British middle classes, and this led to a thread of satire and cultural references. The Bonzo Dog Band recorded a song, Trouser press, satirising 1960s consumerism, and made numerous references to the trouser press as emblematic of middle class life. Author and journalist Ira Robbins founded an influential alternative music magazine titled Trouser Press after the Bonzo song, and his book The Trouser Press Record Guide: The Ultimate Guide to Alternative Stone is a reference work on alternative and outlandish music first published in 1983 and the fourth edition was published in 1991 (ISBN 0020363613).

The ubiquitous presence of the trouser press in British commercial hotels has made them a recurring theme, along with "tea and coffee making facilities", in British cult comedian Bill Bailey's monologues. The Tea, Coffee and Trouser Press Census tour diary along is included as an extra feature on his Part Troll DVD. Bailey's Tinselworm show has a spoof infomercial in the style of Kraftwerk, Hosenbügler (German for trouser press), which sees Bailey and Kevin Eldon riding around the stage on Segways with trouser presses mounted on them. It has also been featured in the British comedy Alan Partridge during the episode "Basic Alan" in which Alan dismantles a Corby Trouser Press in his bored desperation.

External links

• John Corby Limited official website