Thomas Enterkin
1999/144 Thomas Enterkin interviewed in his own home by Dr Heather Holmes on 4 October 1999
000 Jim Henderson’s father was bindery manager; names of workers in reproduction; character of workers
057 Names of managers; character of Mr Leckie
070 Character of Ronnie Nelson; his little knowledge of printing
077 Artist; Dennis Carribine and his work on foil
093 Numbers of artists; posters for Nigeria
107 Types of work; work for Ghana; changes in work for west of Africa; decline in African work; work at quiet times
135 School material; types of books; titles
148 Date of starting; work before start of apprenticeship
155 Work as gopher on Daily Mail
159 Seeking work; visiting print companies; vacancies available
167 Approach to Nelsons
172 No recollection of exam
177 Do not remember anything about interview
188 Went to union office; finding work through union office
196 No other family member in printing trade
201 Father’s employment; attitudes towards going into printing industry
210 Went straight into apprenticeship
214 Length of apprenticeship; extent of knowledge of trade; separation of trades
223 Hierarchy of departments; status of litho
234 Growth of litho; status of bindery
238 Rivalry; unwritten hierarchy
242 Apprenticeship; first jobs; cleaning film
258 Peter Grieve; personality
268 Work in platemaking; people who worked there; names
280 Time spent on platemaking; attitudes towards machines and work on platemaking ; given full litho training
296 Structure of apprenticeship
301 Relations between apprentices and journeymen
304 Character of workers; dirty habits
321 No standards for cleanliness
323 Nelsons an old firm; running old ways; rationale for undertaking work
325 Laid back working patterns
328 Litho foreman; character
340 Gaffers get apprentices to do jobs for them; character of Willie Hayes, an assistant and his wife; stupid things
355 Camaraderie
357 Hearing about what had gone on in the company; difficult relations between people; holding onto knowledge about running machines
372 Apprentices on one of the machines
375 Type and nature of litho machines
379 Types of jobs on machines
386 Changing machines; printing of jobs
394 Comparison of technological advances between time at Nelsons and today
402 Technical standards; produced good work
408 Use of good paper
412 Cacti book; printing
423 Strike in 1959; heard of work going abroad
426 1959 strike; apprentices not on strike; talking to girls; office staff working in bindery
438 Strike; no work undertaken
443 Activities during strike; playing around factory
453 Number of apprentices
455 Work of Ronnie Nelson during strike; work at guillotine
460 Hours of work during strike; apprentices at Thins and activities during strike
467 Activities during strike; ploys
470 End of strike; reactions of workforce
472 Status of bindery; reputation; culture of women; avoidance of going to the bindery
488 Numbers in litho department; one woman employed
497 Tasks and machine allocation
507 Apprentices; names; characters
526 Dick Gough and his moped; coming off his moped
533 Later apprentices
539 Pranks; no one up for a disciplinary
546 No initiation; customs in other places
555 Lot of old companies; platemaking located in dirty dark places
562 Litho well established when went into Nelsons; shift patterns
573 Platemaking; length of time to make plates; processes
648 Changes in platemaking processes; changes in light source; exposure times
563 Size of plates
671 Handling plates; methods
679 Protective clothing
684 Awareness of health and safety
691 Occupational hazards
696 Time taken to learn platemaking; supervision
705 Litho stones and their use
714 Plate storage; methods
724 Continued use of same basic techniques in platemaking
738 Changes in work; reproducing work; change in emphasis away from quality
751 Pride in work; attitude towards work
759 Buying of books; discounted books
765 Clubs and societies; not a member; few clubs operating; bowling club
772 Clubs; football, bowling and badminton
783 Annual trip not running
793 Christmas dances; location
805 Socialising; drinking and drinking habits
812 Institute; badminton held in Institute
818 Provision for canteen, hot meals; canteen place in department
830 Location of litho department and its canteen
836 Facilities for coffee and tea in litho department
843 Two litho departments; location; movement of departments
861 Joiners; engineers; ages of engineers; numbers
876 Development of new machinery; method of repairing machines
889 Joiner
890 Electricians located with engineers
896 Breakdowns; little went wrong with machines
902 Social activities; drink at New Year; procuring drink; drunk printers
935 Holidays at Christmas and New Year
938 Holidays at summer
941 Trades week; Edinburgh deserted
954 Hours of work; breaks
End