Long before Nick Knowles, William Percival Matthew was the media darling of DIY. WP Matthew was a TV, Radio and Newspaper Handyman, whose methods and unique charm were shared with the nation during the 1930s when over a million listeners crowded around wireless sets to hear’ Your House in Order’ – DIY being taught on the radio.
He also presented a popular programme from 1946 – ‘About the Home’ – a DIY show aimed at women that went out ‘live’ as everything did on a Saturday afternoon on commercial television.
Matthew was to have fronted his own TV show ‘Practical Household Suggestions’ which was scheduled for September the 3rd 1939, but it had to be postponed due to World War II.
He endorsed products, appeared on the 100th Woman’s Hourand wrote over twenty books. His 1947 book ‘The Practical Home Handyman’ – was reprinted many times, though it was an earlier 1939 book ‘ How to be a Handyman’ that endeared me to its writer – an unsung rung on the DIY presenter’s ladder.
‘How to be a Handyman’ isn’t a tutorial on cultivating a builders crack and learning how to take a large intake of breath before giving a quote. It’s an earnest book written to home owners in Britain between the wars, when many thousands of homes were built for the owner occupier. He suggests to his readers on the first page;
“I believe there is nothing more pleasant than settling down to a job with the right tools, decent materials, and a good idea of how to do it.”
It is full of insights into life in the thirties. He suggests patience when learning how to repoint mortar in a wall;
“Don’t despair – go in and have a cup of tea and a smoke, and come out like a giant refreshed and have another go.” Splendid advice.
William Percival Matthew died in March 1956, at the height of his success. Barry Bucknall replaced WP Matthew on the show to complete the series and went on to become a popular household name, where as Matthew has, sadly, faded into relative obscurity. But WP Matthew’s methods, manner and advice are as relevant and rewarding to a homeowner and DIY enthusiast today as they were to a nation 80 years ago.
I suppose we might call him the original DIY influencer.
