Finding Out About YZ
YZ information tends to be well-hidden and somewhat sparse but, if you're interested in learning more , there are resources available.
- Read the information for YZ items for sale.
Many sellers are not particularly knowledgeable about their offerings but, occasionally, there is a nugget of useful information within the description. Ebay is an obvious choice for a search (though be careful with your search terms if you want to avoid having to sift through pages of motorbike-related offerings).
Henry Howell & Co Ltd was only one of many producers of similar novelties - though the YZ products were usually better crafted than the rest. Be aware that the current YZ prices encourage the use of YZ, Henry Howell or Dunhill references in the descriptions of non-YZ pieces. The phrase "probably made for Dunhill by Henry Howell & Co Ltd" is not uncommon. One advantage of searching for sale items is that a study of the accompanying photographs will quickly give you a 'feel' for the quality of YZ so that you can more easily identify the genuine article. The presence of the 
trademark stamped into the base of the piece may be a guarantee of authenticity - 
I have never come across a non-YZ item which has been stamped with the YZ mark - but there are pieces around of clear YZ quality which aren't stamped. Very rarely, there may be a Dunhill badge on the base.
(More about trademarks)
As well as Ebay, many online antique shops carry YZ items from time to time - there are links to four on the left.
And, of course, there's always garage sales, jumble sales, boot fairs, antique fairs or your local antique shop or auction house.
The National Archives (the modern incarnation of the old Public Record Office) is the UK government's official archive, containing over 1,000 years of history. It houses a collection of over 20 million historical government and public records.
Within the National Archives are the original YZ registered design drawings and company paperwork relating to Henry Howell & Co Ltd.
Some initial searches can be carried out online but, ultimately, the only way to find the information is in person. There are staff available to give advice and support if needed. To see original documents, you will need a reader's ticket.
Don't expect to find much YZ-related in the museum but the archive does hold some interesting information. An appointment will be needed.
This is a resource I've rarely used because I've always found the process a bit daunting. There are good online search facilities these days though so it's worth a look.
For Henry Howell/YZ research, British Library Newspapers at Colindale is likely to prove a more useful starting point. The bad news (at least, for those of us in the south of England) is that Colindale's collection is about to be moved to the British Library's Additional Storage Building at Boston Spa. The Colindale Reading Room will finally close in the autumn of 2013. Details of the impending move can be found on the British Library's website.
Online access to the newspaper archive is encouraging though - much of the archive has been digitised and can be searched from home for free, though page views are by subscription. The site – which now includes more than 6 million searchable pages – can be accessed and viewed for free in the British Library’s Reading Rooms in London and Boston Spa.
There's only one book available which deals specifically with Henry Howell and the YZ novelties - 'YZ', written by Ian Holdsworth. Painstakingly researched, it's an excellent, informative read, with the added bonus of a large number of stunning (often drool-inducing) colour plates. Unfortunately, few copies were printed and it's extremely unlikely that you'll be lucky enough to come across one for sale. The good news though is that the British Library holds a copy, as does the library at Kew Gardens.
There are pitifully few books available containing photographs of examples of the YZ range but there is one which has enough YZ content (11 spectacular colour plates) to make its purchase a, possibly, justifiable outlay: 'Plastics Passion' by Steve Nankervis. As an added incentive, even if your only interest in vintage plastics is the YZ connection, I doubt you'll fail to be impressed by the other images in the book too. Amazon currently has it for sale at a very reasonable £24.93 (+ p&p) but, if you can't justify spending that, it's worth checking in Amazon's Marketplace for a secondhand copy in good condition.
For a useful overview of early plastics and their uses, Sylvia Katz's little paperback in the Shire Album series, entitled 'Early Plastics', is a good easy-read introduction to the subject. Not too expensive either - my copy cost me £1.25 in 1986. But they've no doubt gone up a bit since then.
This is the place to go to get information about the raw materials used in YZ manufacture. As well as the human experts, there is a well-stocked library and comfortable reading room. The Economic Botany Collection includes a large collection of wood samples, with many (including finished and unfinished walking sticks) donated by Henry Howell.
- Even The Imperial War Museum has an item in its collection - a First World War trench stick - presented to the Museum in 1917 by Henry Howell & Co Ltd.
