These aren’t just brushes — they’re Aldrich Bros. brushes

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The Aldrich Bros. Brush Factory display features a fascinating selection of brushes designed for specialised uses. See examples of vibrant coloured matting alongside beautifully illustrated catalogues once used by travelling salesmen to promote the company’s products.

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The display also includes photographs documenting the factory shortly before the buildings were demolished in the early 1990s.

 

The Aldrich Bros. brush and matting factory, still to this day, holds a special place in the hearts and minds of Diss residents, employing over 250 local people and forming strong community connections.

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The company produced brushes, mats and matting that were used in homes and workplaces locally and across the country — including a door mat at 10 Downing Street, matting in the House of Commons and the ring mat in the Hippodrome Circus in Great Yarmouth.

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Before era of internet shopping and modern advertising, illustrated catalogues were essential tools for Aldrich Bros. salesmen promoting their goods.

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The factory’s hooter once marked the rhythm of daily life in Diss, heard across the town.

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From the 1960s the factory declined and sadly in 1988 the hooter could be heard no more and the factory closed. Just prior to demolition in 1992 the building was used for filming an episode of "you rang m' lord," starring Paul Shane.

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Today its legacy lives on in local street names such as Aldrich Way, Brushmakers Way and Factory Lane.