Thread: Clicker

Kelly · 29-06-2006, 03:41 PM

I have in my tree an occupation which is a CLICKER!!

I did not have a clue what this was, but i soon found out what a clicker was.

There are a few meanings for a clicker.

Salesman's assistant who would drum up custom.
Print worker who would set up the press for the compositor
One who makes eyelet holes in boots using a machine which clicked.

petal · 29-06-2006, 07:22 PM

Copied this off a Shoemaking Terms thread I put on the Geneology Coffee Room a while back. (I got loads of these in my tree.......lol) Hope it helps.

CLICKER:
The clicker cuts out the upper parts of the shoe from the leather. He has always been the elite of the trade. Personal
care and skill is needed for this work in order to gain maximum use of a skin. The ideas of a creative designer are
carried into effect by the clicker.
Martin Skeffington writes, "My father who worked for a firm of slipper manufacturers in Earl Shilton in Leicestershire
was a clicker. He made his own blades for his clicking knife out of old hacksaw blades which were ground at one end
to form an extremely sharp rounded and pointed blade which he used to cut out the uppers for the slippers. He always
told me that the term clicker was derived simply from the fact that as they drew the blade around the pattern the blade made
a clicking sound. Later on in his working life the clicking knife became obsolete in the factory where he worked except for
samples. The main cutting of the uppers were then done on a press known as a clicking press which cut through several
layers of the materials using a metal pattern beneath the press. My father passed away in 1969 and it was only in the 1960's
that the change took place. I would guess the same probably applied in the shoeing industry in Northants."

Starlight · 29-06-2006, 11:44 PM

I have found the following deffinitions:-

CLICKER (1) servant of a salesman who stood at the door to invite customer

CLICKER (2) one who received the matter in the galley from the compositors &
made it ready for printing

CLICKER (3) makes eyelet holes in boots using a machine which made a clicking
noise

CLICKER (4) cut out leather and allocated it to the workmen

petal · 20-01-2007, 03:54 PM

Bit more info about the trade of a 'Clicker'

Whilst many other shoe trade jobs were originally done by outworkers , the Clicker mainly worked in the Factory ,cutting uppers to me assemble either by hand or later on machinists.
For many shoe factories the balance between profit and loss was usually found on the Clicking room floor ! .The usable "yield" from a Leather skin was down to a good Clicker , hence his High Position within the industry , anyone could cut uppers from a skin , but the skill lies in cutting the right parts of the upper from the right part of the
skin , and avoiding natural imperfections that are present in a skin, and making sure that the finished shoes do not end up as "Seconds" to be sold at a much reduced rate.It was and still is quite common for a Clicker to have pieces of his fingers missing , or at the least bad Scars from near misses , more common for "pressmen" than handknife cutters , in fact it was said that you did not know the
job until you had lost a finger !

29-06-2006, 03:41 PM	#1 (permalink)
Kelly Ancestry Aid Owner Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: UK - England Posts: 1,592	Clicker I have in my tree an occupation which is a CLICKER!! I did not have a clue what this was, but i soon found out what a clicker was. There are a few meanings for a clicker. Salesman's assistant who would drum up custom. Print worker who would set up the press for the compositor One who makes eyelet holes in boots using a machine which clicked.
	Kelly Ancestry Aid Owner

29-06-2006, 07:22 PM	#2 (permalink)
petal Super Member Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Horncastle, Lincolnshire Posts: 8,293 Total Awards: 3	Re: Clicker Copied this off a Shoemaking Terms thread I put on the Geneology Coffee Room a while back. (I got loads of these in my tree.......lol) Hope it helps. CLICKER: The clicker cuts out the upper parts of the shoe from the leather. He has always been the elite of the trade. Personal care and skill is needed for this work in order to gain maximum use of a skin. The ideas of a creative designer are carried into effect by the clicker. Martin Skeffington writes, "My father who worked for a firm of slipper manufacturers in Earl Shilton in Leicestershire was a clicker. He made his own blades for his clicking knife out of old hacksaw blades which were ground at one end to form an extremely sharp rounded and pointed blade which he used to cut out the uppers for the slippers. He always told me that the term clicker was derived simply from the fact that as they drew the blade around the pattern the blade made a clicking sound. Later on in his working life the clicking knife became obsolete in the factory where he worked except for samples. The main cutting of the uppers were then done on a press known as a clicking press which cut through several layers of the materials using a metal pattern beneath the press. My father passed away in 1969 and it was only in the 1960's that the change took place. I would guess the same probably applied in the shoeing industry in Northants."
	(AKA Mary) How beautiful it is to do nothing and rest afterwards...

29-06-2006, 11:44 PM	#3 (permalink)
Starlight Ancestry Aid Manager Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: South Essex Posts: 14,906 Total Awards: 6	Re: Clicker I have found the following deffinitions:- CLICKER (1) servant of a salesman who stood at the door to invite customer CLICKER (2) one who received the matter in the galley from the compositors & made it ready for printing CLICKER (3) makes eyelet holes in boots using a machine which made a clicking noise CLICKER (4) cut out leather and allocated it to the workmen
	Starlight Ancestry Aid Manager Hampshire:- Barks, Bartholomew, Carpenter, Cousens, Cousins, Dumper, Gallagher, Goodchild, Glasspool, Hoskins, Light, Mason, Monday, Mundy, Pearce, Pitt, Shepherd, Spreadbury, Staniford, Terrill, Thornton, Warne, Webb, Woodford & many more. Top Tip: Use the forum search engine

20-01-2007, 03:54 PM	#4 (permalink)
petal Super Member Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Horncastle, Lincolnshire Posts: 8,293 Total Awards: 3	Re: Clicker Bit more info about the trade of a 'Clicker' Whilst many other shoe trade jobs were originally done by outworkers , the Clicker mainly worked in the Factory ,cutting uppers to me assemble either by hand or later on machinists. For many shoe factories the balance between profit and loss was usually found on the Clicking room floor ! .The usable "yield" from a Leather skin was down to a good Clicker , hence his High Position within the industry , anyone could cut uppers from a skin , but the skill lies in cutting the right parts of the upper from the right part of the skin , and avoiding natural imperfections that are present in a skin, and making sure that the finished shoes do not end up as "Seconds" to be sold at a much reduced rate.It was and still is quite common for a Clicker to have pieces of his fingers missing , or at the least bad Scars from near misses , more common for "pressmen" than handknife cutters , in fact it was said that you did not know the job until you had lost a finger !
	(AKA Mary) How beautiful it is to do nothing and rest afterwards...