Hilda Soutar
1999/75 Mrs Hilda (Tait) Soutar, interviewed in her home in Edinburgh, by Heather Holmes on 4 May 1999. Mr Soutar sitting in on interview.
000 Start of work at Nelsons in 1948; reasons for going to work in Nelsons
END
012 Employment in general clerical work undertaken before going to Nelsons; work of power samus accounting machines.
038 Relations of power samus to stock taking and work of accounting machines
065 Training
073 Size of power samus department and ages of the women employed
085 Marriages and work after marriage; method of obtaining work after marriage
097 Applying for the job at Nelsons; status of the job
103 Wages and wage rate
107 Skills in working with power samus
120 Book stocktaking in the warehouse by the women in power samus department; length of the stocktakes; method of stocktaking; men from the warehouse assisting in the stocktaking
152 Promotion within the department
158 Description of Miss Logan, supervisor
160 Respect for supervisors
164 Nicknames in the department
173 Social events after work - dances and pictures
181 Flannel dance and Christmas dance at Nelsons - their character and nature
202 Relations between office and factory floor - status
210 Women in the factory
215 Flannel dance as an informal event
218 Annual trip not used by office staff
223 Clubs and societies - badminton club and its activities
239 Canteen and provision of tea breaks
248 Welfare and welfare provision including provision of a welfare room
257 Union membership for office staff
262 Complaints over employment conditions - tradition of employment conditions
273 Holiday leave in the summer
277 Christmas and New Year holidays; Saturday morning working
282 Contact with upper management; Ronnie Nelson passing through the office
288 Layout of office - open plan; size of office
304 War memorial at Nelsons at the entrance; going into and out of the offices
311 Office departments and their relations with one another in the office layout; contact between power samus and the wages department; size of typing area; size of the typing area
330 Size of wages
335 Export department had its own branch
336 Relationships between workers of different departments in the open-plan office
347 Contact with staff in Nelsons after Mrs Tait had left the firm
353 Customs for women leaving Nelsons to get married
366 Camadarie and joking in Nelsons
382 Leaving the factory at meal times - rush of people out of the factory
392 Lunch time breaks - factory shut down for lunch; leaving the factory
412 Royal visit in 1948; office staff not allowed out
439 Father’s employment in Nelsons as a stereotyper
453 Relations with father in Nelsons; father did not discuss his work
471 Father served his apprenticeship in Nelsons
474 Long term service in Nelsons and gifts; pension scheme
484 Grandfather as a labourer in Nelsons
489 Brothers and sisters did not go to work in Nelsons; their career paths
503 Catchment area of workers in Nelsons; addresses of her friends
525 Marriages in Nelsons of work colleagues
528 Football team colours
535 Bowling club and activities; father a regular bowler; husband still bowls at Parkside
559 Pride of working in Nelsons
567 Employment of women was always full-time
572 Contact with Ronnie Nelson; staff rarely talked to him
587 Death of Ian Nelson; does not remember it
591 Career path and work in City Chambers and other jobs
598 Perks given; does not remember buying books in Nelsons
604 Comparison of conditions in Nelsons to other firms
612 Importance of family contacts in Nelsons to obtain employment
616 Recollections of interview to get into Nelsons
620 Husband’s attempts to get employment in Nelsons and tests to be passed
630 Contact between Nelsons and Ushers
638 Clothing worn in the office area
658 Methods of working with power samus