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03-01-2019, 10:12
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I come across some odd stuff in the newspaper archives. Sometimes seemingly mundane items that say much about how the world has changed.

This one is a simple job advertisement. Nothing very exciting about that. But on closer inspection it tells us more.


https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-POBdfrgNUwo/XCyYAO0pvxI/AAAAAAAAfyw/vh4bUATBuxM2Kzhca79pmdUt2fkEE8JLgCLcBGAs/s640/Fuller_job_advert_1943_2.jpg (https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-POBdfrgNUwo/XCyYAO0pvxI/AAAAAAAAfyw/vh4bUATBuxM2Kzhca79pmdUt2fkEE8JLgCLcBGAs/s1600/Fuller_job_advert_1943_2.jpg)

Here's the plain text:


"Owing to the greatly increased demand for their bottled beers-

FULLER, SMITH & TURNER LTD,
GRIFFIN BREWERY,
CHISWICK, W. 4.

require additional assistance in their bottling department.

1. Good wages and long service grant.
2. Annual holiday with pay.
3. No Saturday afternoon or Sunday work.
4. Excellent Air Raid Shelter and "Music While You Work."
5. Overalls and footwear provided.

Women over 33 and girls under 17 should apply either for whole or part-time employment as above."
West London Observer - Friday 12 February 1943, page 8.I can imagine that a good air raid shelter was a big attraction during the war years. My guess is that it was a cellar somewhere in the brewery complex.

But a couple of the other points speak volumes about how the world of work has changed since the 1940s.

"No Saturday afternoon or Sunday work", for example, refers obliquely to the fact that the standard working week included Saturday morning. Though I remember my mum telling me that at one point in the war she was working up to twelve hours a day, seven days a week.

That "Annual holiday with pay" was included as one of the perks reveals that paid holiday wasn't yet obligatory.

Until fairly recently there were only two areas of brewery work open to women: as clerical staff or in the bottling department. The latter mostly gave employment to either women or boys.

Wondering about the weird age restrictions of over 33 or under 17? I was, too. Then I twigged. It's probably because women between those ages were required to do some form of national service, either in auxiliary roles in the military or working the land.

There's one aspect of the advert which does leave me puzzled: "Owing to the greatly increased demand for their bottled beers". Most breweries had to restrict their production of bottled beers due to shortages of bottles and crates.

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