Cobles

This photograph of endless stacks of surplus clothing was included in the collection Patricia Ziegler sent. It was taken at Cobles in London. The Zieglers went abroad searching warehouses in England for a great price on great quality surplus goods. Mr. Cobles is featured prominently in the Zieglers’ book Wild company. Here, Mel writes”…the courtly old man, his heavy frame making colossal demands on a silver-headed cane, led us into a cramped and disheveled adjoining room—“his showroom”—where mounds of jackets, sweaters, blankets,bags, pants, and shirts covered tables and a dozen or so chairs. Along the wall, dowels sagged with the weight of weary wire hangers that held other khaki and olive drab garments detailed with an abundance of epaulets, bellowed pockets, snaps, and emblems. We had come to the right place.” Patricia later adds: A few years later on another trip to London, now by far his best customers, we reminisced with Cobles Senior about this first visit. Mel asked him, “How much of the stuff we bought from you that day did you think we would never sell?”
“You want me to be perfectly factual with you?” he asked.
“Always.”
“Ninety percent of it!”

In reality, they couldn’t get enough.

(Thanks to Mr. Scott Dodds for his assistance with Wild Company quotes).