Machines for Storytelling

We can all tell stories.

In fact, it's one of the most natural ways to communicate.

Photo courtesy of the fantastic Witchmountain

The 28th of January marked the beginning of National Story Telling Week There will be festivals and celebrations in your local area every day up until and including the 4th February. 

Story Telling Week brings together tellers and listeners, professionals and enthusiasts, to celebrate the power of the spoken story, as a modern form of entertainment and as a powerful educational and therapeutic tool.

Photo courtesy of the fantastic Witchmountain

If I had to pick one skill to master, I think storytelling would be a close contender for the top spot. Stories are how we organise our experiences in the world and how we make sense of events that have happened to us.

The oral tradition of storytelling is one of the oldest and most powerful teaching and learning methods we have. It is a way that human beings have communicated information since before written language. I'm sure if Millican Dalton were with us today, he'd have a few stories to tell.

Don't know about you, but I'm far more likely to remember facts if they're wrapped around an interesting story.

Everyone needs oral stories. Why else would we tell each other jokes and anecdotes so compulsively? Stand-up comedy is really a version of storytelling.

Storytelling is theatre in miniature. It requires eye contact, gesture and imaginative use of the voice.

'You could look at human beings as machines for storytelling. From body language to syntax, from inflection to timing, we're the perfect shape and form for utilising this amazing art form.' Julian Barnes - courtesy of the Do Lectures.

Photo courtesy of the fantastic Witchmountain

I'll be making my way over to the Queensbury Deli this Saturday evening for the Story Meal with Queen of the New Wave of storytellers, Rachel Rose Reid. Maybe I'll get the chance to share the Millican story...

Happy storytelling this week.

Gute Zeiten in Berlin

Our blog posts have been a little thin on the ground so far in 2012. However, don't let our recent lack of activity fool you into thinking that we've not been up to much. In fact, quite the opposite.

2012 has started faster than ever. Just three weeks into the new year and we're already preparing for our second trade show.

The eagled eyed amongst you will have noticed the German title. We spent last week having a whale of a time in Berlin at Bread and Butter, Europe's largest fashion trade show for selected brands. After the success of our visit back in July, we were thrilled to be invited back to the L.O.C.K. (Labels of Common Kin) Hall.

L.O.C.K. Hall, Bread and Butter

In Berlin we launched our very first collaboration - Universal Works x Millican. You also may have picked up on one or two snippets on twitter recently...

Around six months ago we were approached by David Keyte, founder of British clothing label Universal Works. He'd been using a Mark the Field Bag for a while and loved it.

To be honest, we were a little taken aback at first. Universal Works is a brand we have admired since its inception back in 2008. Drawing inspiration from British workwear clothes and outdoor clothing, they use honest, natural fabrics and yarns, often using end of lines that would otherwise be wasted.

You can see why we liked them.

The collaboration with Universal Works has resulted in some healthy additions to the Millican family. Introducing, Jan the Daypack, David the Shopper, Martin the Courier Bag and Jamie the Holdall. More pics to follow soon...

We will launch the range in a limited run, which will hit the shop floors in August, however if you would like to reserve a style in advance drop us an email at uw@homeofmillican.com.

The Bread and Butter crowd were also able to catch a glimpse of our brand new colour for later this year (Grey Blue) as well as our two latest styles - James the Duffle Bag and Rob the Traveller (Large). I did say we'd been busy...

James is our Millican take on the traditional Duffel Bag, the ultimate utilitarian shape perfect for a weekend getaway. We loved the shape of Rob the Traveller so much, we thought we might as well make a bigger one. If only our product development was usually that simple.  The larger Rob allows you to comfortably fit in a 15" laptop, documents, notebook with extra pockets for pens and iPhone. Adding an extra level of efficiency and style to the daily commute.  

All sounds great, but where are the pictures? This time around we thought we'd try and film our road trip adventure through the eyes of a Flip camera and get our friend Magnus to edit it.

We were lucky enough to work with local musician Annemarie Quinn, a singer songwriter from our very own Keswick. Her music has a real sense of the lakes, mountains and countryside that we have on our door step. Pop over to itunes to hear more.

Enjoy.

Millican at Bread & Butter Berlin - 2012

Guest Post: Teach a Man to Fish

We've been lucky enough to bump into some highly inspiring and interesting individuals on our travels - all with stories to tell and experiences to share. So we've decided to open the floor this year, with the  introduction of guest posts and stories to the Millican blog.

Good stories, like good ideas need spreading, so what better way to make use of our blog...

As always we plan to keep the content diverse and interesting. The only common thread will be 'we like what they're about'. Simple.

You may remember I introduced you to Si and Cat. Two fishermen, building a boat, making a living from catching fish under sail and oar and selling it locally from the village of Portscatho, Cornwall.

You can see why we like it.

Cat kindly agreed to keep us updated on their progress, so over to Cat.....

Teach a Man to Fish - January 2012 Update


The past few weeks have been a blur of conversations, emails, early mornings, shopping lists and mince pies. We’ve cooked turkey for the first time in our house; taken our boat 'Planet' out for a Christmas Eve sail and spent New Year’s Eve in blonde wigs and masks. 

Christmas Day Walk on the Beach 

So we started 2012 buoyed up from time with friends and family and looking forward to the year ahead and I didn’t think it could get much happier than that. And then today Simon came back from the profile cutting workshop with this: 

Simon with our half model

I never thought a piece of MDF could look so attractive. This is our half model; a fifteenth scale longitudinal section of the hull of our boat and an exact three dimensional replica of Simon’s digital design. It is the penultimate step in the design process before we start ordering materials and making the real thing and the first tangible piece of boat we own. Proud.

Our half model being cut out by the three axis router at Fibrefusion

It strikes me that our boat - to some degree like every boat built - will be so much more than the sum of her parts. Already there are so many things built into the fabric of her design and the first stages of her build and I can only imagine there will be many more to come. Here are some of the things we’ve used so far:

-          Endless quantities of paper filled with boat design sketches and addresses for Christmas cards that we later forgot to deliver.

-          Every fishing book we can get our hands on, including Fishing News, an addictive little weekly number that we had never heard of three months ago.

-          A reliable computer for Simon to finalise his boat design on; spending hours tweaking lines, rendering surfaces and fairing hulls. For writing blog posts. For being unreliable. For breaking, mourning and eventually mending and replacing via a hard drive transplant and panicked tweets to Toshiba. For Twitter.

-          A mild Internet addiction to researching, emailing, blogging and procrastinating. And Twitter.

-          A loud alarm clock to wake us up at 4am to go Newlyn Fish Market and learn how to be fishmongers. For getting us out of bed to put the turkey in the oven.

-          A love of chatting to people who catch fish, cook fish, buy fish and sell fish, and their patience and readiness to share ideas and resources.

-          And finally, a couple of sore heads filled with fishing vocabulary, techniques and confusing legislation. And, on Boxing Day, slightly too much mulled wine.

Editing drawings for our boat

Next time, we hope to update you on our progress from the final checks on the model to the first few planks being fastened on our boat. 

Cheers, 

Cat

In the meantime, you can keep updated on all things Si and Cat on their blog and also Twitter. 

A Resolution or Two

It's amazing how 1 day can make such a difference.

On 31 December, you're looking back at the year behind you, still recovering from the Christmas festivities.

One day later, you feel lighter already (despite the possible hangover), looking ahead at the 366 days still to be filled - dreaming about all the options ahead, with a healthy dose of enthusiasm. Well, at least we do.

How optimistic are you about 2012?

If you believe the world's media, the current outlook seems less encouraging, with many leading economists predicting further recession in 2012.

We often remind ourselves we started Millican in a recession and we've been lucky enough to do very well despite the recession. Microsoft launched in a recession too apparently, so there's clearly hope!

And hope leads to dreams and resolutions.

Our main resolution for 2012 is to get out there more often. "Out there" is on our doorstep after all, literally. And being a tad busy can't be an excuse, can it ...?  Cycling, hiking and BBQ's by the lake (when the weather clears) need to become the order of the day this year.

Another one is to get organised for the Epping Ride in May, from Epping Forest back to Millican Dalton's cave in Borrowdale.  That'll be a ride an a half to look forward to - keep your eyes peeled on our Facebook page for this one.

And then there are the many product resolutions for 2012.

Dave the Rucksack will make his debut in Antique Bronze this Spring, a new Grey Blue colour will be introduced in Matthew, Mark, Rob, Harry and Joe this Summer, followed by an exciting new collection of felt wool protective covers for phones, iPads, laptops and cameras.

The Epping Ride will also be used as a test-bed for another brand-new collection for 2013 - if we'd tell you more now, we'd have to shoot you unfortunately, so we'll come back to that later in the year!

In the summer, we're launching our first collaboration, with British menswear label Universal Works. Four new canvas bags to fit alongside the Universal Works clothing collection for Winter 2012, and equally at home alongside our regular Millican bags. More on this to follow soon.

Other collaborations are in the pipeline for later this year and 2013, whilst the sampling team is busy with our first wheeled luggage, some new shoulder bags and another overnight bag.

That'll keep us busy ...

So what are your resolutions for the new year?  If any involve cycling, check out the London Cycle Blog for some inspiration.

Here's to a healthy, active and vibrant 2012 ...

It's Nearly Here

4 days to go.

So when did the countdown begin for you?

It's been a little busy here of late at Millican HQ (the shed at the bottom of the garden). It seems like I'm not the only one who likes to leave Christmas shopping to the last minute.

We had a bumper weekend of sales - our record best. Great to see the sales come flying in. However, I did feel for Russ in the warehouse who had to pack them all by hand. If anyone can do it...

Unfortunately we can no longer guarantee pre-Christmas delivery. However, we'll try and ship all UK Mainland orders placed before noon on Thursday the 22nd of December, for delivery the following day.

Still time then to take advantage of the festive bundle - it makes the ideal gift for someone special. For the more thrifty amongst us, it makes the ideal gift for two special people.

The view from the office window sees snow resting on the top of Skiddaw. As busy as we have been over the last couple of weeks, actually the last couple of years, it can sometimes result in a lack of appreciation for the surroundings.

 View from the office window

Nothing like family, food, mulled wine and snow to bring you back in touch with what really matters.

What a year it's been for Millican.

The 2 and half (I'm doing Sandra an injustice referring to her as a half) team has now mushroomed to 3 and a half. We received our five minutes of fame on the ITV show The Lakes. We mixed it with the likes of Barbour, Levis Vintage, and Nigel Cabourn at Bread and Butter in Berlin. We've met some great people who are keen to help spread the Millican philosophy and we've attended counselling for our addiction to Twitter and Facebook.

Those of you who are signed up to the newsletter will have noticed that we've been competition crazy of late. Congratulations to our latest winner, Robert who is now the proud owner of a Finisterre Sasturga insulated jacket. To stay up to date with all our latest promotions and competitions, sign up to the newsletter,  like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter.

George making the most of the snow

We look forward to continuing the journey with you in 2012, for now a big thank you for all your support over the last couple of years.

We hope you enjoy your bags as much as we enjoy our jobs. From all at Millican, we wish you a peaceful and joyful Christmas Break.

Berties Country Store

We are very proud to announce our latest stockist, Berties Country Store.

Opening their doors yesterday to the people of Dorset, Berties is situated in the beautiful town of Wimborne, making a perfect location for Millican on the south coast.

It was a few months ago when we received an email from David explaining he and his wife Anna, were planning to open a boutique country store. We were particularly inspired to hear that the idea for the store originated from a Millican bag.

They often say great business ideas begin with a hunch...

Whilst chatting away one night after seeing Millican featured in a magazine, they realised that there was nowhere close to them to see Millican bags, let alone buy them. Their thirst for interesting things didn't stop at Millican, they kept spotting goods they'd love to own but had nowhere near to go and buy.

They didn't always want to visit London to pick up what they'd seen in magazines etc. and Regents Park didn't sit too well with Bertie, their Border Terrier.

Bertie the Border Terrier

So hence 'Berties' was born.

Just a few months after our initial encounter, you're now be able to see, touch, feel and buy Dave, Matthew, Stewart, Mark, Stephen, Rob, Harry, Jonathan, Peter, Ian, Andy, Derek, and Les all from the beautiful Berties Country Store.

The Millican corner 

We're all wishing David and Anna every success.  

Berties opened its doors for the first time yesterday at 10am and need I tell you what the first sale of the day was... 

Berties Country, 28a West Street, Wimbourne, Dorset, BH211JS. 

Christmas Tree Weekend

Here at Millican we like everything to have a second use.

Admittedly, it isn't always possible.

Packaging is a big deal for us. It becomes even more apparent as we find ourselves surrounded by boxes and packaging as the Christmas orders flood in.

The whole process of buying a Christmas tree and decorating it has always been a really important event in my family. A true festive occasion.

I certainly sway towards the more traditional approach, an artificial tree just doesn't really do it for me. That said, I'm not usually the one doing the hoovering and finding dead needles months after December...

So how about this? Last weekend I popped over to the London Design Museum to see designer Giles Miller's, latest commission. He has designed a set of bespoke Christmas trees to be sold exclusively through the Museum's shop during the festive season.

O Christmas tree, O Christmas tree, how lovely are your corrugated branches!

Photo courtesy of Arts Thread

The cardboard trees come in a range of sizes with the largest standing at roughly 20 feet high and is said to be the tallest of its kind. The tree comprises of no fewer than 3,600 individually cut, handmade cardboard pieces.

Photo courtesy of Design Museum

For those of you who have a 20 foot + ceiling, you'll be sorry to hear that this is a one off for the London Design Museum. However, the smallest of the range is 16.5 inches tall and costs £25, if you're in the market for something a little larger you can purchase one for £50 which measures in at 31.5 inches tall.

I think you'll agree - a little less maintenance than your traditional Nordic pine.

I can only imagine that these trees will sell out pretty fast so if you want to get your hands on one then head over to the London Design Museum before they've all gone.

The exhibition is available to view from the 2nd of December - 5th of January 2012 at London Design Museum, Shad Thames, London, SE1 2YD

So have I convinced you on an alternative to the traditional, or does the lack of tinsel not do it for you?