The Stepney Doorstep Society by Kate Thompson

Author:Kate Thompson
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780718189877
Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd
Published: 2018-07-15T16:00:00+00:00

As Sally scribbled her secret poem, she felt a lightness take hold and the grey factory walls melted away.

Louis London was geared to win the war,

Just one tiny cog in a world gone mad,

The sweatshop had nothing on this one-way system

No one stopped or dared to breathe …

‘All right, girls, pull out! I said pull out!’

The voice of the factory foreman tore through her thoughts and Sally realised he was nearly upon her. Hastily, she tore up her composition and stuffed it under the bench.

‘I said, break time’s over, girl. What you doing?’

‘Nothing.’

‘Good, look lively, these uniforms won’t sew themselves.’

Fifty or so Singer sewing machines rumbled into life and the war machine began once more. Poetry would have to wait. Another thirty-five years, in fact. There was a crust to earn. A family to help feed. A war to win.

Girls like Sally, Minksy, Dolly and Pat were cogs in a machine, but they were important nonetheless, clothing the British Army and contributing to the family income.

Actress and EastEnders legend Anita Dobson speaks with nostalgia of a childhood woven through with rich memories of the rag trade.

‘Growing up in the East End of London was something to be proud of,’ she told me. ‘There was never going to be an abundance of money, but there was an overwhelming abundance of love and sense of community. My dad worked for a big firm called Blanes, where he was a dress cutter. He worked long hours, often doing overtime to make a bit extra, and Mum raised me and my sister.’

Like so many others brought up in the East End, Anita was poor, but thanks to the thrift and imagination of her parents, she was never aware of that fact. All the money that came into her house went on the table and on their backs so she and her sister never went hungry.

At school, Anita was nicknamed Chocolate Box by the school nurse because she was always turned out well, and often wore a big bow in her hair. Like most East End mums, Anita’s was a gifted seamstress and she ran up her daughters’ clothes on her trusty Singer sewing machine.

‘I can still remember the pretty outfits Mum would make my sister and I, but the moment that stands out like a beacon was the Red Coat!’ Anita laughs. ‘It was coming up to Christmas and Mum had been machining like a demon, so that we all looked good for the holiday season. It was my first grown up coat, because I wanted to look like the women in the Blanes catalogue. Well, when she finished I couldn’t believe my eyes. It was red and black, with shiny black buttons. Oh, it was so smart and elegant. I felt like a film star.

‘We scoured the Roman Road market for the right pair of shoes, and Mum found a pair of black patent high heels with bows on the front, and a pair of black gloves. When I put it on to show the family, my eyes were shining as I turned away from the mirror to look at them.

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