PRODUCT STORIES

Melvill & Moon is South Africa’s ‘retro Safari brand’. We manufacture high end Safari luggage, canvas Seat Covers, Campaign Furniture and Safari accessories.
Everything we make is under our own brand name – apart from the work we are delighted to do for James Purdey & Son, South Audley St, London.

THE ROORKHEE

Named in honour of the headquarters of the Indian Army Corps of Engineers Roorkhee, United Provinces, India, it was the standard British army officers issue campaign chair from 1898 to the start of Word War 2.

They needed a chair that was light in weight, could be folded up and carried around easily and could be used on uneven terrain without breaking. This was achieved by constructing the chair from a series of turned oak parts which were fitted into each other loosely and were not glued, being held together by a combination of leather straps. The arms straps, arms, seat and back all act under tension to keep the structure in place.

FIELD CHAIR

Our first reference of this surprisingly comfortable, and easy to erect little field chair arrived as part of a consignment of items of campaign provenance scoured from the dusty attics of English country houses. In faded letters across the back was the name of its original owner – ‘Major General Edward Spiers’. A search on Wikipedia revealed the fascinating life of Sir Edward Spiers, 1st Baronet, Bt , KBE, CB, MC (1886 – 1974) and his lifelong bond with Sir Winston Churchill.

A lightweight, campaign chair with military provenance that, like the Roorkhee, comes in a carry bag. Being far quicker to assemble or disassemble than the Roorkhee the Field Chair has gained popularity as a spectators chair and as a quick and easy to erect bush dinner chair with upmarket game lodges. Made of American White Oak, a sustainable wood

DJINN BAR

Our Djinn Bar is an entirely portable piece of furniture designed along Campaigne Furniture lines. It consists of three separate pieces of furniture. Each piece, although part of the Djinn Bar, has its own separate use. The Bar which has 10 separate compartments for bottles and glasses is great on a picnic or on the tailgate of your 4×4 at the Grouse Shoot and equally presentable in your study at home. The base that the Bar sits on is also designed to be used as a tray. The legs, with leather top straps provides a useful small luggage rack. We have named this new piece of ours the “Djinn Bar” (Djinn being the Arabic word for spirit) after the Djinn Palace which is on the shores of Lake Naivasha in Kenya. The Djinn Palace was dubbed the Gin Palace. It was the symbolic centrepiece of the Kenya Happy Valley Set in the 1930’s.

A portable piece of furniture designed along Campaign Furniture lines. It consists of three separate pieces of furniture. Each piece, although part of the Djinn Bar, has its own separate use. The Bar which has 10 separate compartments for bottles and glasses is perfect at a picnic or on the tailgate of your 4×4, game viewer or Estate vehicle. The base that the Bar sits on is also designed to be used as a tray. The set of legs, with leather top straps provides a small useful luggage rack.

CATALINA BAG

Harking back to the 1930’s and Imperial Airways Empire Flying Boat era, named after the most famous flying boats of all, the Catalina is a bag that evokes the mood and a style of air travel far removed from todays experience. Alexander Freiters’ documentary sums up the ‘laudator temporis acti’ of Imperial Airways legendary flying boat service to Africa perfectly: they carried passengers in standards of country house comfort still talked about today.

Call us ‘incurable romantics’ but it is a fact of life that there are many of us in the world today who relate far more to a style of life in say, the Edwardian era than we do to what we might refer to as the ‘plastic throwaway society’ of today. And so it is that we are drawn to the evocative imagery of films like ‘Out Of Africa and we lean towards products, places, experiences and even materials that still manage to exhibit the romance of days gone by. The Catalina is that sort of bag.

GROGAN RUCKSAK

One of the most romantic stories of the grand safari era is that of Grogan. The intrepid suitor who walked from Cairo to Cape Town to prove his worth to a sceptical aristocratic future father in law. Grogan had been kicked out of Cambridge for lack of application (‘pranking’) and before that had been expelled from Winchester. This had then been followed by a brief stint at the Slade School as an aspirant artist before he became distracted by a misadventure in the Matabele war and an eventual role in the defence of Bulawayo where he became so ill he was mistaken for dead and narrowly missed being buried alive.

Life become more serious when he fell head over heels in love with Getrudde Watt – the heiress and direct descendant of James Watt the Scottish inventor of the Steam engine. In between Grogan and the equally besotted Gertrude stood her step father who, based on the suitors track record, viewed Grogan’s prospects with understandable scepticism. Grogan’s proposal of being the first man to walk from Cairo to Cape Town as a way of proving his worth was accepted by the step father who reportedly felt that Grogan was signing his death warrant. Grogan’s eventual triumph in an epic 2.5 year adventure that saw hime overcome many challenges including hostile tribes, man eating lions and cannibals, not only secured Gertrudes hand in marriage but it made his name. He was granted an audience with Queen Victoria and was the youngest person ever to be invited to address the National Geographic Society. He and Gertrude travelled to America where they were feted by American society. They ended up living in Kenya where he became a leading figure in the settler community and in the development of the Kenyan economy.

NAIROBI RACE DAY BAG

Many fashion brands lean on the imagery of the equestrian sport Polo. But this is more than just a fashion bag, It’s a working bag designed around the specific needs of real players. There are certain things that you simply cannot afford to arrive at a game without; Your helmet, knee guards, gloves, protective glasses, jeans, team shirt , gloves, sweatshirt, towel etc. For those who cant be bothered with a boot bag this bag will accommodate those too – but there is the sweat and the grime of dirty boots after the game to be considered. Our pics of this bag at work were from a South African side visit to Canada. The player specific numbers and tour / club branding a good example of the attractiveness of embroidery on leather.

Life become more serious when he fell head over heels in love with Getrudde Watt – the heiress and direct descendant of James Watt the Scottish inventor of the Steam engine. In between Grogan and the equally besotted Gertrude stood her step father who, based on the suitors track record, viewed Grogan’s prospects with understandable scepticism. Grogan’s proposal of being the first man to walk from Cairo to Cape Town as a way of proving his worth was accepted by the step father who reportedly felt that Grogan was signing his death warrant. Grogan’s eventual triumph in an epic 2.5 year adventure that saw hime overcome many challenges including hostile tribes, man eating lions and cannibals, not only secured Gertrudes hand in marriage but it made his name. He was granted an audience with Queen Victoria and was the youngest person ever to be invited to address the National Geographic Society. He and Gertrude travelled to America where they were feted by American society. They ended up living in Kenya where he became a leading figure in the settler community and in the development of the Kenyan economy.

SHORT DUFFEL BAG

The short Safari comes with great Safari credentials. But in the modern era it is distinguished for the fact that it was chosen as the players personal carry bag for Rugby World Cup 2015 tournament winners the All Blacks. Where ever you saw the team on the move each of them had a Melvill & Moon Short Safari Duffel on their shoulder. The highlight for us came when Ritchie McCaw emerged out of customs back in New Zealand with the William Web Ellis Trophy in hand… and a Short Safari Duffel over his shoulder.

BLADSAK

‘Blad’ is Afrikaans for your web cage. ‘Sak’ is bag. The bag is traditionally worn over the shoulder and slung above the belt line under the arm.

The semi arid Karoo region of South Africa is home to many legendary sheep farms. On account of low carrying capacity none of these farms are small. 10,000 hectares plus is not uncommon. So a day out on the farm means literally that. You don’t exactly pop home for lunch. This is where the Karoo farmers ‘bladsak’ (shoulder bag) tradition began. A day bag big enough to carry all ones personal essentials for the day – the most important one being lunch.

The Herold family are well known Grasff-Reinet (Karoo) farmers. Our original Bladsack sample was leant to us by David Herold. He’d fashioned it out of webbing while with the South African forces in Italy during WW2. Sadly that steadfast original was lost in a farm fire. The bag depicted is our original copy of it now into its 3rd decade of service on that same Karoo farm.