'Niagara' (1953) - now in high definition. Some very nice scenes of shiny yellow and black rubber macs in the film.

[rothbhoy]

I think this was the movie that got me started. I also had a chance to dress in the boots and lovely, heavy rubber macks as a teenager.

Wow! You were so lucky there Miss Rachel. I wonder when the yellow and rubber macs were phased out. Do you happen to know by any chance?

It is true, I was part of that bit of "rain history" actually two times. Let me give you some detail. I saw the movie possibly in the late 60's and at that time I was ten. The movie was filmed in 1954 I think and the cat walks on the American side were still open. The had to wear boots, pants and a coat to get onto the slippery catwalks.

1) Some time in the early 70's our family took a trip to Niagara Falls. I think I was 12-ish????? Anyway I was pretty excited at the possibility to dress up in the rubber garb and see the water fall up close like in the movie. Much to our surprise the cat walks were close for repairs. i guess they had been there since the 1930's. Not to feel too bad we went on the Canadian side and road on the "Maid of the Mist." We had to wear heavy rubber boots and long rubber macks. i was wonderful: all the spray and rubber-ed up site seers. It was too short of a ride.

2) The next time I was at the falls was that same year! Our church organized a youth trip and of course I was all in! This time was outstanding and possibly the best rubber outing. We went on the boat and we also went to the "Cave of the Winds." At that time we still had to suit up in a dressing room with heavy rubber boots and long rubber coats. Then it was a ride down to the bottom of the falls on an elevator. The doors opened up to several platforms drilled out of solid rock only a few feet from the roaring falls! It was super wet! Possibly the grandest time I every had as a young person.

Now I have tried to locate the out coats we wore in that movie on the internet but only see these goofy, plastic, toss away ponchos I guess they hand out now. I searched 20 minutes and found this ONE picture. This picture seems close to the entrance. This is exactly how I was dressed back then.

https://i.pinimg.com/originals/a2/9a/5d ... d07c9b.jpg

I was sort of dissipointed we did not look like the outfits in the movie but it was still very exciting! So to the question as to when they stopped: might have been after 1980???

MR

That's a brilliant narration of how it was at the time. I really would have loved to have been there - truly wonderful by the sounds of it. Thanks a lot Miss Rachel - that was VERY much appreciated!

[Gordo]

Hello Gordo,

great research! This explains why we could not get onto the catwalks as a child: by the time I got there in the 70s they were gone. No idea if they ever got rebuilt.

I was disappointed because the two times I actually got there the rubber pants were phased out for the long coats (see link above). I suspect they got rid of the yellow out fits for the one piece, black rubber coat because of the time element of getting everyone dressed. Something else that I remember that the same building we went into put on the heavy rubber coats: they had this huge hanging track system for drying the coats after their use. It was sort of like the system you see in the dry cleaners except this had hundreds of rubber coats in all sorts of sizes. The guy at the window would ask for your height and then he would fetch the coat. Next you would walk to another window to do the same thing but for boots. Then there was another room with benches and little cupboard to stick your shoes in (you had to pulloff your street shoes to wear their boots). After sight seeing the thing was all done in reverse. You can imagine my face when I had to give back that lovely, heavy rubber coat at the end. my day was ruined...

Yes there's nothing like rubber rain trousers. It's interesting in that most older pictures and examples of rubber rainwear I've seen and read are of only raincoats. For some reason it seems as if rubber rain trousers weren't as common decades ago. Certainly not as common as PVC rain trousers today, although I could be wrong.

I also want to point out that there are tourism sites or activities in which rain trousers are worn, thought these likely are PVC. In tidal bore rafting in Shubenacadie in Atlantic Canada I've seen examples of full yellow raingear particularly in early fall. Plus I've seen the same thing in rafting in Finland. As a matter of a fact there's one company I came across from some where's around there in which they wear what looks to be full Aalesund Doggerbank rainwear. Which has a slightly shiny look.

Off course visiting out of the country this year is pretty much impossible.

[rainwearseeker]

is there any company that makes rubber rain wear like that? i have a yellow sbr condor rain suit and a yellow rainfair sbr raincoat that is the exact same material.

i remember reading that the cheap ponchos first appeared in 1990.

[rothbhoy]

is there any company that makes rubber rain wear like that? i have a yellow sbr condor rain suit and a yellow rainfair sbr raincoat that is the exact same material.

i remember reading that the cheap ponchos first appeared in 1990.

Many thanks for that info Rainwearseeker. I was wondering when they disappeared and were replaced by those dreadful plastic ponchos. The movie's from 1953 so it's nice to know that they continued to be worn for another 37 years after that.

[MissRachel]

Boy this movie has really rekindled old memories. i went looking for the "Black Diamond/Kaufman" label Gordo mention above and found this:

https://www.etsy.com/listing/200335003/ ... FBRjltRmJv

It seems you can find a form of those coats used in the movie but not the same one or even in stock...

I am also playing the movie on a spare monitor here as I work from home this morning. I guess I need to post comments on just the movie. Additionally I am wondering about all the photos my parents took of us on that trip to the Falls. One huge difference was the incline railroad was no longer in use in the 1970's: I do not remember that wooden structure at the bottem of the gorge that let out by the boat.

This is going to drive me crazy: looking for photo albums of the fails from the 1970's in a box in the crawl space?

MR

[rothbhoy]

Imagine if you actually owned the yellow rubber mac that Marilyn Monroe wore in the movie. It would be worth an absolute fortune!

[MissRachel]

Imagine if you actually owned the yellow rubber mac that Marilyn Monroe wore in the movie. It would be worth an absolute fortune!

LOL, who wears lips sick to bed?

[rainwearseeker]

are there any stores that make classic rubber rainwear like that?

[rothbhoy]

are there any stores that make classic rubber rainwear like that?

Definitely nowhere in the UK - so it's over to our US/Canada Forum members to answer this one....

[Gordo]

Boy this movie has really rekindled old memories. i went looking for the "Black Diamond/Kaufman" label Gordo mention above and found this:

https://www.etsy.com/listing/200335003/ ... FBRjltRmJv

It seems you can find a form of those coats used in the movie but not the same one or even in stock...

I am also playing the movie on a spare monitor here as I work from home this morning. I guess I need to post comments on just the movie. Additionally I am wondering about all the photos my parents took of us on that trip to the Falls. One huge difference was the incline railroad was no longer in use in the 1970's: I do not remember that wooden structure at the bottem of the gorge that let out by the boat.

This is going to drive me crazy: looking for photo albums of the fails from the 1970's in a box in the crawl space?

MR

Out of curiosity.

Do you remember what Niagara Falls raincoat inside lining was like? Was it polyester, pure rubber or something different?

I've been trying to figure this out from viewing Niagara.