13.48
Q: How did you choose the job?
13.50
A: Me grandma chose it for me. "While you're sewing, Florence, you'll always
have a trade in your fingers and you'll never be out of work, so you're going
to be a machinist." "I don't want to be a machinist, gran." "Well,
all right then, you can go in the mill." "Oh, all right then, I'll
be a machinist." [Laughs].
14.13
Q: So, how did you choose where to go as a machinist?
14.16
A: Me grandma chose it. "Right, come on; get your coat on, Florence."
14.21
Q: So, she took you along, did she?
14.22
A: Oh, she took me along as well.
14.26
Q: And it was never suggested that you should go to the Employment Agency or
anything like that? Hmmm.
14.28
A: No. I had that job before me 15th birthday.
14.33
Q: Hmmm, so really during the summer holidays, was it, yes?
14.37
A: No, it was Christmas holidays. I was coming up to 15 near Christmas, December,
and me grandma had already been looking out and putting the feelers out, because
when that family allowance stopped, she wanted me working and bringing some
money in. So, she'd found this place where they wanted a learner machinist and
so we went along, and me gran dragged me with me and there was the forelady.
Oh, it was terrible.
15.16
Q: So, did your gran do all the talking with this forelady?
15.20
A: Oh, yes. "And if she does anything wrong, Mrs Leather, you tell me,
all right, just write to me."
15.31
Q: And so how did you train?
15.34
A: We were put on--, we had, like, in our room there was three floors of machinists
and each bench I think there was two--, I think there was eight machinists on
each bench, and one was a learner. So, all these machinists on the bench taught
us. Of course, they were on piecework and they couldn't stop, so what they did,
they--, one'd teach me how to do a collar, so when I'd got that off perfect,
I'd being doing the collars for all the machinists. Then they'd teach me how
to do the cuffs, or--, well, at first you started straight sewing obviously,
and then you started on the more intricate things. So you did, like, sections
of dresses and then all of a sudden the fore lady said, "Well, I think
it's about time you started doing a dress all the way through, or a suit, or"--,
"I don't know whether I'm ready for this." But they were hard taskmasters.
She used to throw it at you to--, "Get that unpicked; that is a disgrace",
with a few chosen words in-between [laughs]. And we had to pay for our needles.
I think it was a penny.
17.02
Q: And you wouldn't be paid very much; can you remember how much your first
wages were?
17.07
A: I was quite well paid actually. Three pound 65 and 11.
17.13
Q: It was, yeah.
17.15
A: For a learner machinist it wasn't bad money, actually.
17.17
Q: No. And were they long hours?
17.21
A: Eight 'til five. So really, no, it wasn't--, no, it wasn't too bad really,
by those days.