Pope Products

Barton Pope and his brothers Raymond and Harley were born in Northam, Western Australia and moved to South Australia with their parents in 1913. Their father, previously a storekeeper, began manufacturing irrigation components at their 56? 66? Robert Street, West Croydon home. The boys were educated at Pulteney College (later Pulteney Grammar School) and at age 14 Barton began working for his father. What started as a father and son operation grew into a small business registered in 1928 as "Pope Sprinklers Ltd." with shareholders Henry, Barton and Harley Pope, Lily Maria Pope and J. H. Richards.[2] A new company, "Pope Products Ltd." was floated in 1934 to take over the assets of the old company of the same name which went into voluntary liquidation. Shareholders were the two Pope brothers, R. F. Smith, S. H. Carman and Winifred Laura Browne.[3]

Around 1935 the company moved its operations to Charles Road, Beverley. From 1939 an increasing output from the factory was directed towards the war effort; chiefly stamped and cast parts for munitions destined for the Commonwealth munitions factory at Maribyrnong, Victoria and for aircraft production at the Commonwealth Aircraft Corporation at Fishermans Bend. The factory underwent significant expansion in the immediate post-war period.[4]

The company acquired premises in Finsbury

The company was not noted for employee relations: in the early days they made extensive use of juniors 14–16 years of age as machine operators and menial labour to avoid paying award wages (hence its local nickname "The Boy Farm").[5] Accidents were not uncommon.[6][7][8] With growing union militancy and the Communist threat in the late 1940s,[5] Pope Products became a model employer. It introduced a generous incentive scheme;[9] in 1953 bonuses to its workers exceeded dividends paid to shareholders; the same year it instituted an employees' recreation hall[10] and sponsored sporting activities for its workers and staff.

The company entered the Australian vernacular. "Is the Pope a washing machine" was a popular play on the rhetorical question "Is the Pope Catholic?"

The output of the various Pope Products factories included:

• Lawn and garden sprinklers[11]
• Agricultural Sprinklers: Typhoon, Monsoon, Premier and Butterfly. With the Butterfly sprinkler also being extensively used in domestic applications.
• "Ned Kelly" repeating cap gun, "Aussie" single-shot cap gun
• Woodworking tools: planes, chisels[12]
• Rotary lawn mowers, endorsed by Lew Hoad[13]
• Hand and powered "tumbler" mowers[14]
• Wringer washing machines[15]
• Refrigerators[16]
• PopeAire air conditioners[17]
• Pope-Motorola television sets and Hi-Fi Stereo Cabinets, endorsed by Jack Davey[18]
• Electric motors[19]

In 1963 Pope Products and A.Simpson and Son amalgamated as Simpson-Pope Holdings Ltd. to manufacture washing machines and refrigerators. This company became Simpson Holdings in 1979 was absorbed by Email Limited in 1986, which in turn became part of the Electrolux manufacturing group in 2000.

Raymond, Barton and Harley Pope were sons of Henry Pope and his wife Sarah Anne, née Nunn (ca.1868 – 7 March 1947).[20] The two younger sons were talented violinists; Harley in particular was described as "brilliant".[21]

• Official website
• Pope and Falcon woodworking planes