Embarrassing Work Experiences, 1953.
In my class of 42 girls’, 41 went to work at Montague Burton’s Clothing Factory.
I was the odd one out, I had offers of three jobs because I like books and reading, I chose the job in the Children’s Department of W.H.Smith’s in Leeds City Centre.
My mum said I could have some new clothes to start work. Oh good! I thought, thinking of nylon stocking and smart shoes. Then she said
‘Uncle Billy (a Master tailor) will cut out a new coat for you, I will sew it up and Auntie Madge will do the finishing off’.
I had no choice in the fabric, colour or style, it was ‘something Uncle Billy had in stock’.
When the finished coat was shown to me to try it on, I was horrified, it was pretty rose pink coloured, with a scalloped collar, cuffs and pocket edges. I felt I would die, I didn’t want to be seen in it!
I left school on Friday, starting work on Monday. I’d bought for myself some nylon stocking and a suspender belt. Mum had other ideas. ‘No! Definitely no! You will wear your white ankle socks’.
‘Mum, I’m a working girl, fifteen years old, I’m not wearing those’. But I did.
On my first working morning, mum accompanied me on the tram to work, handing me over to the Women’s Manageress. Who said in future I would call her
‘Madam’, the Men’s Manager would be called ‘Sir’.
There was I, all grown up, saying ‘Good Morning Madam’, wearing a pretty rose pink home made woollen coat, white ankle socks and sensible flat black shoes
What a shock my first day at work was. My job outlined to me. I was the Junior Sales Assistant. I was working under the Children’s Department head, Miss Parsons. She was the first Sales, she too had to be called ‘Madam or, in front of customers, I could say Miss Parsons’. Our second Sales was Miss Sedgwick, who I could call by her name. I would be called Miss Hope.
We were on the first floor if I heard someone coming up, I was to go to the top of the stairs and say
‘Good Morning Sir’, or ‘Good Morning Madam’, then enquire what it was they required. When they told me I had to say
‘Miss Parsons, are you free?’
If she was, she served. If she was not free, I had to ask Miss Sedgwick if she was free. If she was not free, I was allowed to serve the customer.
My other duties were to empty a book shelf, ‘bang the books’, to get rid of dust, clean the shelf and replace the books. After the staff had had their coffee break, I was to tidy the staff room and make tea for the Manager and Manageress. After they had finished and exited the staff room. I washed their crockery and put it away. Then I had to prepare the cat's food - there was a rat problem in the cellars, the firm kept several cats.
Another of my responsibilities was to properly wrap books in brown paper and tie with string, getting them ready for posting. Or wrap purchased books, then to carry them out to waiting for cars and hand them to Madam’s Chauffeur.
The worst job by far was that I should go down three flights of stairs and bring the stock back up, it could be anything from a few books or boxes to children’s Triang red Racing Cars. I turned from Junior Sales to dogsbody doing donkey work.
The staff all called me ‘Miss Soap’, a play on my name of Miss Hope. Then they would add, ‘ You can always tell when Miss Soap comes down the stairs, her bum bangs on every step’.
This then, was my embarrassing first experience of the world of work the realisation that ‘Junior Sales’ also meant I was also the ‘lowest of the low!
