The Wonder of Woolies by Derek Phillips & Paul Atterbury

Author:Derek Phillips & Paul Atterbury
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: F W Woolworth, retail, high streets, shopping, nostalgia, British shops, Wellworths, Winfield, Embassy records, Ladybird clothes, Melba chocolate, Homemaker china, 3d and 6d stores
ISBN: 9781911105084
Publisher: Andrews UK Limited 2016
Published: 2016-08-10T00:00:00+00:00

A superior range of Saturday girls

‘When I reached the age of 15 and became eligible for a Saturday job, shop work appealed. But the headmistress of the girls’ grammar school I attended did not like us having jobs: she thought that we had enough schoolwork to occupy us. Most shops in the area knew this but still asked her for references –Woolworth’s was the only one which did not enquire. Consequently the Twickenham branch had a very superior range of Saturday girls! I was put to work on the sweet counter and I remember that after my first day I had a sleepless night, my head whirling as I tried to count up how much a handful of chocolate should be when all the pieces were priced variously at 1d, 11/2d, 21/2d, and so on. Everything had to be worked out in your head, including the giving of change, as there were no automatic tills.

At the end of the sweet counter was a cross-counter selling cake, which was cut to order. This was the preserve of an older, full-time member of staff who liked to guard it very jealously. I remember the sense of pride when she decided that I was a suitable person to train to take over from her at tea breaks and lunchtimes.

Towards the end of my time there they introduced the first automatic tills on the self-service grocery section. Sometimes I was put there, although I don’t remember enjoying it very much as you didn’t get the opportunity to chat to the customers, and you were marooned in one place, away from other staff.

We had a management team of three: the manager, his deputy and a floorwalker, who was considered to be very ‘dishy’ by us young girls. Under them was a staff supervisor and a number of section supervisors. As I recall, all the senior managers were men, while the supervisors were women.

One thing I do acknowledge as a result of those three years is that my knowledge of the hit parade was never as extensive again. All day long the current hits were playing - it’s lucky that I was a fan of the Mersey Sound!

Being in Twickenham meant that rugby home internationals brought a surge of customers stocking up with sweets as they made their way to the ground; then there would be a lull until after the match.

When I began work in 1962 I was paid 15 shillings for the day. I think it had risen to one pound by the time I left. If I worked for a whole week, I took home seven pounds, which seemed riches indeed. We were paid in cash at the end of each Saturday. We had to go up to the staff supervisor’s office, where she gave us our little brown envelopes, from which was deducted any money we had spent on drinks or food in the staff canteen. There was always the opportunity of holiday work and some overtime.

One other thing I remember was Sir Winston Churchill’s funeral, which happened in January 1965.

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