DID you work for the Spirella Corset Company in Letchworth GC? If you did, then a company supplying foundation wear and underwear for films, television and theatre would like to speak to you. Button-Boot and Spatterdash of Humberside is appealing for any

DID you work for the Spirella Corset Company in Letchworth GC?

If you did, then a company supplying foundation wear and underwear for films, television and theatre would like to speak to you.

Button-Boot and Spatterdash of Humberside is appealing for anyone with memories of the company, people who worked for it or used its service, in order to make a record of the information.

Dr. Geoffrey Duffield, senior partner at the company, said any information is welcomed, no matter how trivial, and stressed the importance of retaining the information while it was still in living memory.

The company can be contacted by letter, Freepost, Brigg, DN20 9BR; email corsetiere@corset.ndo.co.uk; phone 07973 222 767 or fax 01652 650 651.

Spirella, formed in 1910 by William Wallace Kincaid, moved into the Spirella Building in 1920 and continued production of bespoke corsets until the 1970s when demand slowed and eventually the company closed.

The building was also known as Castle Corset or the Factory of Beauty.

The SCC was extremely important to the town's economy as one of the biggest and most influential employers, particularly during the 1920s to 1940s, said Terry Gray, public relations manager of Letchworth Garden City Heritage Foundation.

Around 2,000 people are said to have been employed there.

It is rumoured that among its customers, the company provided garments for such film stars as Marilyn Monroe and Mae West.

Additionally, the Spirella ballroom was the centre of social life, holding concert parties for the inhabitants of Letchworth, Hitchin and Stevenage.

As well as supplying corsets, the company manufactured parachutes and decoding machinery during World War II.