blocked_10_final

Almost 100 years ago the knitting grifts were alive and well. In 1935 many readers wrote to Sir
Wyndham Childs at the newspaper "John Bull" about a scammer targeting poor people trying to
make a little extra money working at home. Unfortunately, they learned the hard way to choose
carefully who to give money to, and it would do us all good to remember this lesson today.
KNIT... KNIT... KNIT...
From all parts of the country letters
of complaints are being made concerning
a firm which goes by the
name Wool Purchases (Birmingham),
Ltd, and has registered offices at
199A Broad Street, Birmingham.
It is clear from the statements before
me that this company is carrying
on an extensive trade. Yet it’s
methods are entirely discreditable,
and inevitably lead to the victimization
of honest, and trusting poor
people.
Therefore I propose to reveal the
truth about Wool Purchases (Birmingham,
Ltd.) and the person who is
prime mover in the concern.
Advertisements are inserted by the
company at regular intervals in a
widely spread chain of local newspapers
to this effect: “Persons
wanted to knit and crochet ladies’
and children’s garments – Wool Purchases,
Ltd., 199A Broad Street, Birmingham.”
Applicants to that advertisement
receive a circular letter in the following
terms:
“We beg to state that we require
babies and children’s knitted and
crochet garments all the year round,
payment for same being made according
to work done and material
used.”
Attractive prices
There follows then a list of
the prices paid for various
goods, which are quite attractive
in their remuneration
on face value, and the
circular continues:
“If you care to give the
work a trial, on receipt of
five shillings deposit we will
send materials and instructions.
This amount is refunded
at any time you wish
to discontinue the work, providing
of course, that all materials,
etc, have been
returned and the work has
been satisfactory.”
It looks quite a simple and
fair proposition; a means to
secure extra money for
household expenses by
spare-time work. Actually it
is just a bait to draw deposits
from the unwary.
For I find in large number
of instances the promises
made by Wool Purchases
(Birmingham), Ltd., are quite worthless.
Repeatedly the company – on some
excuse or another – Refuses to pay
it’s customers for work done. Neither
are the deposits returned. In effect,
what happens is that the company
secures a varied stock of knitted
garments for nothing.
To show the manner in which the
company operates I cannot do better
than quote from a particularly pathetic
letter which comes from a
young married woman in South
London:
The Western Morning News and Daily Gazette.
Monday, January 1, 1934
4