ABSTRACT
In the early days of industrial development the meaning of this word wasbarely discussed. If it was thought of at all, ‘quality’ probably would havereferred to items that the gentry would buy, with other items seen as being of inferior quality. A gentleman, for example, would have bought a finely tailored coat, whilst his manservant would have a durable but otherwise basic outer garment. Using more modern equivalents, this relates to the Bentley being described as ‘quality’ while the Morris 1000 was the more basic commodity.
