Not By Myself
Local History Business Memoir Entrepreneurship Australian Biography Ethical Capitalism Motivational Memoir Fashion Industry History
Fletcher Jones’ 1984 memoir, Not By Myself, is the classic Australian rags-to-riches story that vintage-book hunters keep on their permanent “want” lists. In 240 crisp pages the country boy who left school at twelve recounts how he parlayed £30 and a borrowed sewing machine into one of the nation’s best-loved apparel brands, Fletcher Jones & Staff. Along the way he revolutionised retail with employee-share schemes, on-site childcare and a factory garden long before “corporate social responsibility” became a buzz-word. The result is a fast-moving narrative that doubles as a case-study in ethical capitalism and a love-letter to the rural Victorian town of Warrnambool, where the landmark sail-cloth mill still stands.
Collectors prize this first-edition hardcover for its rarity and its window onto 20th-century Australian enterprise. Unlike modern business biographies, Jones wrote without a ghost-writer, giving the voice an authentic, plain-spoken charm that resonates with both young adults looking for career inspiration and older readers who remember the iconic “Fletcher Jones” label inside every quality pair of slacks. Topics span everything from wartime fabric rationing and post-war migration to the design decisions that created the famous pleated “FJ” trouser—insights fashion students still cite today.
This copy arrives with its original dust jacket and tight, square binding, making it ideal for display or research. A single 3 cm tear on the jacket is noted; the pages are clean, unmarked and free of dog-ears, so the text block reads like new. For anyone interested in Australian history, fashion entrepreneurship, or motivational memoirs rooted in real outcomes rather than hype, Not By Myself remains the go-to vintage biography that proves profit and principle can indeed walk hand-in-hand.
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