26 replies to this topic

[Saint Billinge]

bare-chested men at work. In the 1960s, Pilkington Brothers operated a policy of barring young ladies from entering an area where bare-chested men worked. How times have changed.

Do you have any interesting snippets from the past?

[Wolford6]

When I came to Bradford in the early 1970's: -

- many (most?) pubs wouldn't allow any women in the tap room, other than barmaids and the landlady.
- most pubs wouldn't let a woman have a pint glass and most women were offended if theirs wasn't served in a ladies half-pint glass (i.e. one with a bowl a stem and a foot).
- no-one outside West Indian bars was allowed to drink direct from a bottle or can.
- women couldn't be full members of most working men's clubs.They could be social members but weren't allowed to vote on administrative issues or stand for election to the committee.

Obviously,not everything has changed for the better since

[Saint Billinge]

When I came to Bradford in the early 1970's: -

- many (most?) pubs wouldn't allow any women in the tap room, other than barmaids and the landlady.
- most pubs wouldn't let a woman have a pint glass and most women were offended if theirs wasn't served in a ladies half-pint glass (i.e. one with a bowl a stem and a foot).
- no-one outside West Indian bars was allowed to drink direct from a bottle or can.
- women couldn't be full members of most working men's clubs.They could be social members but weren't allowed to vote on administrative issues or stand for election to the committee.

Obviously,not everything has changed for the better since

Those women who did frequent taprooms in years gone by were looked down upon as lower life.

Edited by Saint Billinge, 23 January 2013 - 03:01 PM.

[ckn]

A number of posts removed. Please do not derail threads that bluntly.

[Saint Billinge]

With pubs in St Helens once closing at 2.30pm, regulars would pop over to Widnes for an extra half-hour drinking, where the opening/closing times differed. I seem to recall a pub on the Lancs/Yorks border having different opening/closing times in the bar and lounge.

Edited by Saint Billinge, 23 January 2013 - 05:30 PM.

[JohnM]

1. When I started work as a graduate computer hardware engineer in 1968 we had to clock in, were quarter-houred if more than five mins late. we had to clock off and on at lunchtime, too.
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2. My first trip in a company car was to Milford Haven in one of these:
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3.. Prior to going to Leningrad in 1975 to fix a broken system, I was called in to see our Head of Security and warned not to let any "ladies" into my hotel room at night. I waited up all night, but none came knocking.

[Johnoco]

John M re: point 1. What's unusual about that? Its still commonplace.

[timtum]

When I first started as a civil servant in 1989 there was still one bloke who came to work in Victoria Street wearing a pin striped suit and a bowler hat. On my first day at work I was given the codes for the secret files, and a copy of "Their Trade is Treachery" by Chapman Pincher. I also used to smoke throughout the day at my desk.

[Severus]

John M re: point 1. What's unusual about that? Its still commonplace.

I worked in a hinge factory in 1999 and that was also the practice.

My father tells me of the good old days when you would have three pints at lunchtime and be operating heavy machinery all afternoon.

[JohnM]

John M re: point 1. What's unusual about that? Its still commonplace.

Really? It lasted for a year and then we didn't have to do it and I've never clocked in since.

[JohnM]

I worked in a hinge factory in 1999 and that was also the practice.

My father tells me of the good old days when you would have three pints at lunchtime and be operating heavy machinery all afternoon.

The thing was , we were not shop floor, who still clocked on and off for years after. we were graduates with an inflated sense of our worth and intellectual capacity.

[ckn]

A number of posts deleted. The point has been made before, I have sympathy with it, but it's getting in the way of other uninvolved people enjoying threads now.

[Bedford Roughyed]

Young ladies are now allowed to be killed on the front line in the USA military from today. How we have progressed.

[Johnoco]

Young ladies are now allowed to be killed on the front line in the USA military from today. How we have progressed.

That's equality for you.

[Saint Billinge]

John M re: point 1. What's unusual about that? Its still commonplace.

One company not so long ago made the workers clock off just for a visit to the toilet.

[Griff9of13]

One company not so long ago made the workers clock off just for a visit to the toilet.

I believe it is still common in call centres. When I worked in one, briefly, in 2000 you had to put your hand up and ask permission if you wanted to leave the room to go to the toilet! I was like being back at school.

When I first started work in 1979 as a labourer in a builders merchants we used to go to the pub every Thursday (pay day) lunch time and consume a (under age) liquid lunch. We would often return to find a 10 ton wagon load of cement waiting for us to 'hand ball' into the cement shed. Lugging a couple of hundred 1 cwt (50kg for the youngsters out there ) bags of cement soon sobered you up.

[Severus]

One company not so long ago made the workers clock off just for a visit to the toilet.

Surely that is illegal?

[Saint Billinge]

Surely that is illegal?

Whether illegal or not, that's what happened. You have to be 'relieved' if you want to go to the toilet whilst working on a production line. You simply cannot just walk off.

One factory where I once worked turned a blind eye to illegal operations! With jobs under threat, many workers don't complain.

Edited by Saint Billinge, 24 January 2013 - 09:23 AM.

[gingerjon]

I believe it is still common in call centres.

Yup. Friend who worked for British Gas until a couple of weeks ago had to clock out for bog breaks.

[Derwent]

At one place i worked in the early 80's there used to be a pecking order for morning toilet breaks (ie reading the paper). Time served had priority over apprentices and would disappear for up to an hour.

Apprentices used to get their own back because the toilet was basically a trough of running water and they made paper boats and set fire to them and sent them floating down the trough burning various arses as they went.