(R)evolution in the foundry

By the end of 1946, the management decided to rearrange the foundry, which still carried the reminders of the old Valcke foundry. The motto behind the reorganization was ‘towards progress through quality’. Shock machines installed in the new set-up enabled the formation of the sand under pressure and quick release of the molds after casting.
In March 1947, the company participated in a conference on foundry techniques that was held at the Fabrimetal premises in Brussels. The seminar allowed Picañol to demonstrate the possibility of producing cast iron with considerable resistance by mixing a large amount of steel into the load in the melting furnace. In April 1947, Picañol was the first company in Belgium to obtain two licenses for processing acicular, nickel-molybdenum alloyed cast iron with a high tensile strength and shock resistance, even at longer resistance periods. The process proved to be an immense improvement for the production of the ‘hammers’ and ‘barriers’ of the Omnium weaving machine. However, adding steel to the cast iron was not always without danger. In the years after WWII, steel was often recovered from remnants from the two great wars. The region around Ypres was littered with ammunition from those wars and an abundance of steel from grenades and shells could be found in the area. This could also result in unexploded mortar shells being detonated when they were thrown into the ‘cubilot’ (furnace), with the sparks of the hot, glowing metal flying all over the place.

The introduction of light products

The next market development was the soaring demand for narrow weaving machines that were capable of producing lighter fabrics, hence starkly in contrast to the weaving machine offered by Picañol that was made for the production of heavier fabrics. After an in-depth study of the weaving machines available on the market, in 1946, the seven staff members of the company’s development department started working on a lighter weaving loom, which resulted in the creation of a machine with an available weaving width of 112 cm. The company managed to produce four of these 200 rpm machines per week. Germany was one of the first countries to purchase Omnium weaving machines after WWII. Customers there included Anton Cramer from Greven, a company specializing in ‘inlett’ (cover) weaving, a technique often used today in the production of eiderdown duvets. The then ‘Betriebsleiter’ or Managing Director, Herr Bause, shared the family Steverlynck’s passion for hunting, but the post-war circumstances prevented him from obtaining a new rifle. In return for purchasing Picañol machines he was therefore gifted a Browning rifle, its loose parts hidden in the crates between the weaving loom components. Picañol was to become the dominant seller in the German Westfalia area for some years later. Southern Germany would remain the domain of the Swiss constructors Saurer and Ruti for some time, until Picañol finally also managed to obtain a share of their market. (Picture: the Omnium in 1949)

After the war: Picañol and people smuggling

The post-war era clearly showed a change in the textile market. Although often hindered by circumstances resulting from the war, the company’s sales area slowly extended into other European countries. A number of Omniums were delivered to Hungary shortly after the end of WWII. Whereas delivery of the machines ran rather smoothly, their installation met with quite a few problems: the Picañol mechanics that had to install the machines were seldom granted a visa. One of those men, Raphael Versavel, was therefore smuggled into Hungary from Austria, hidden in one of the boxes containing a weaving machine.

The largest in town

Picañol’s factory continued to be the largest enterprise in town during the war years. At the outbreak of the WWII, the company employed 130 staff. A little more than a year after the German retreat in 1944, that number had grown to 250 people who delivered three weaving machines per day. The arrival of the Polish armored division in September 1944 not only marked Picañol’s move to a new address, it also heralded a brand new start. By late November 1945 the company underlined its expansion plans by purchasing a building lot in the Weverijstraat.
(picture from private collection,www.westhoekverbeeldt.be)

The start of W.A.P. Sport

As work and life continued during the German oppression, so too did sporting activities. Initiated by Roger Bolle, Armand Dossaer and Gerard Vanneste, football matches between the different divisions had already been a standard company item for several years. On 9 November 1943, the Group founded the corporate football team W.A.P. Sport (W.A.P. = Weef Automaten Picañol). The objective behind it was to create company brand awareness through the team’s sporting achievements. The name of the new club was the result of a prize competition; winner Georges Verschaeve was awarded a gateau for his suggestion. At that point in time, the club’s management consisted of ten members, Bernard Steverlynck being the honorary President. Remi Stroobrandt was appointed as chairman; Arthur Devos became the secretary and Roger Bolle the club’s Financial Director. Armand Dossaer, Louis Baete and Daniel Bouchaert formed the selection committee, while Aimé Geudens acted as trainer and Achiel Vanhulle as linesman. According to the foundation charter, the association strove to ‘provide physical and mental education as well as stylish amusement in order to raise funds for sick and injured colleagues with a long term disability’. During the club's first seasons, Managing Director Bernard Steverlynck took up the role of referee but was also active as a player in friendly matches. The war pushed prices through the roof. The asking price for a leather football cover was 350 francs; the inner bladder was sold for 25 kilograms of grain - after all, citizens of a city could only get grain at exorbitant prices. With two Ypres regional championships won, the club had its heyday just after WWII. The grounds of White Star Ypres at the Minneplein served as the team’s playing fields.

Bernard Steverlynck

In 1943, Bernard Steverlynck, the eldest son of Karel and brother of Emmanuel, joined the company. Born on 14 January 1920 in Kortrijk, ‘Mister Bernard’ took his Ph.D. in Chemistry at Louvain University in 1943. In those days he was already a close friend of Mayor Dehem; a friendship that would intensify over the years and would form the basis of the industrial resurrection of the Ypres area. Bernard started at Picanol as Managing Director and later became the Chairman of the Board of Directors. In addition to his professional activities, he soon became very much involved in local social life. A former member of the Louvain student brass band and an enthusiastic football fan, he fervently promoted the establishment of the Picañol Brass band as well as WAP Sport (to be continued). Indeed, Bernard’s interests stretched beyond Picañol. Countless trade organizations called on his many talents: he chaired the Fabrimetal-Beide Flanders for quite some time, held the presidency of the Syndicate of Belgian Textile Machine Manufacturers, and was a Social Judge at the Employment Court in Ypres. His keen interest in social life earned him honorary chairmanships of the Picañol Brass Band and White Star Ypres football club. Today, his name still lives on in the annual pigeon flight 'Bernard Steverlynck Grand Prix' and in the drawing competition of the Bernard Steverlynck Art Circle.

(photo: Bernard Steverlynck with the Belgian king Baudouin).

Diversification in the early years: gasogene boilers

Fabrication for own use not only included parts of weaving machines; it also involved the manufacture of ‘gasogene boilers’ for trucks under the name ‘Sabadell’. Fuel was scarce, but these boilers operated on coal, which produces a combustible gas on oxidation. Nevertheless, these power sources proved to be a source of nuisance rather than an energy supplier. The anthracite coal – generating limited amounts of ashes and smoke - had to be replaced by lower quality coal that produced a greasy smoke. As a result, the filter required daily cleaning or several cleanings a day when one was travelling large distances. In the end, a total of 6 gasogene boilers rolled off the production line. Production was stopped after the sixth boiler. However, despite the many disadvantages, the company did manage to sell a few boilers. In the city of Ypres the company Cornette drove a truck with a Sabadell boiler and in Woesten, one of them was used by Jules Govaert’s ‘Far West’ fruit nursery. A third boiler was installed on the Picanol truck. During a journey to Brussels, Gaston Liefooghe had to clean the filter three to four times. When he finally reached the capital after an 11 hour drive, he was as black as a miner! The memoires of Henri (Enrique) Ribot, who started working at Picañol in 1940, contain some additional information: ‘Expecting gasogene boilers to become hugely successful, Jaimé wanted to design a boiler for cars, so he ordered me to draw a small trailer that could be attached behind the car to transport coal, kindling and other materials. But demand for the product never took off and the trailer never left the drawing table.’

(photo: Henri Ribot – with glasses – and colleagues back in 1942. H. Ribot passed away in January 2011 – his memoirs were a thankful source for this blog).