Robert Sinclair
1999/155 Robert Sinclair interviewed at his home by Dr Heather Holmes on 21 October 1999
000 Training on casting on monotype; evening class attendance; technical nature of caster; molten metal and dangers from it; burns
051 Working with the caster; working out height of letters; checking type
089 Calculating type space; altering space of type face; ways of altering type face
118 Working on corrections; checking corrections
128 Making changes; working out spacing; ensuring exact width of text
167 Spacing and working with spaces; orphan lines; widow lines; changing spaces
186 Unwritten rules
194 Competitions among the apprentices; status of some jobs; working with journeymen; jobs for apprentices; work of journeymen and apprentices in making pages; knocking up the quoins; watching the journeymen
233 Relations between journeymen and apprentices; support of journeymen
239 Some journeymen better at teaching than others; competitions between the journeymen
252 Working in composing; roles of other companies
256 Work on the stone; chatting; subjects for discussion
265 Few machines in composing room; work location of readers; number of readers; number of key board operators; separate spaces; noise in department
282 Lighting
300 Social activities; range and extent; like of dances; caseroom a thoroughfare and could meet workers there; bets to take girls from the office out to dances
328 Canteen declined
331 Miss Parks were personnel officers; marital status; home address; factory doctor; annual medical inspection; medical inspection; dodging the factory doctor; smoking in the toilets; filling bags of water and pouring it on men sitting on the toilet
378 Pranks; ignorance of printers’ inks
387 Pranks in department; strength competitions; strong men; reducing strong men onto their knees; character of the men; national service and calling up; deferment; calling up; avoidance of national service; other apprentices taking national service; views of national service
476 Disruption from national service; number of apprentices; changes in apprentices who went on national service; strong language; homosexuality
504 Community with good atmosphere
508 Head of caseroom; playing bowls
524 Assistant foremen; married women in office
532 Marriages in Nelsons; numbers; long term friendships; lot of family relationships
544 Number of people employed in Nelsons; holidays; work on Christmas day
558 Celebration of Christmas; work on Christmas day
565 Annual trip; closure of canteen; starting up a social club for the apprentices; activities in the social club
600 Old age pensioners’ club; bowling club; bowling league
630 Splitting of printing and publishing side; technological standards; reaction to closure of Nelsons; knowledge of Nelson
656 Health and safety; working with particular founders type; collection of milk
683 Lead poisoning; proofing and work on proofing presses; work with naptha; medical inspection till aged 18 years; guards and lifts
736 Lifting formes; storage of formes; lifting
768 Clothing; overall jackets
780 Status of compositors; ways viewed by other departments; retention of apprentices; loss of apprentices
858 Job choices before entering Nelsons
867 Reasons for choosing to work at Nelsons; regard of printing trade; visiting different print companies; attitudes of smaller companies to training; apprenticeship available at Nelsons
898 Employment of father
907 Reaction of father to start at Nelsons; walking to work
919 Award of a Scottish Typographical Association prize; training to move off factory floor; undertaking further classes; subjects in evening class; dancing class; getting away early from evening class; reasons for keep fit class
END