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I worked
as a 'Sally' - a front shop sales person -
at a Lyons teashop in the Strand, for 9
months from September of 1952.
I would
get to work in the morning, the van driver
would arrive and deliver long van trays
full of bread and cakes and buns. I would
place some of the goods in the window so
that passers-by could see what we were
selling. Before the end of the day,
usually, most everything had been sold.
Rationing
was still in effect to some degree. For
some reason all I can recall selling was
bread both brown and white, small bread
rolls that were quite hard on the outside.
We sold buns and cakes and fruit cake.
Lots of Swiss Roll and Victoria Cream
Sandwiches which were very popular
At times I
would be asked if I would like to do some
extra work on a weekend and if I did this
would usually be at a different teashop.
One was almost at Trafalgar Square. I
noticed the place is still there but of
course is now a different business. One
day I was asked to go and work at The
Strand Corner House and I thought that
this was the most exciting thing to do. it
was a fabulous place. They had a salad bar
there that was out of this world. I had
never in my life seen so many good things
to eat.
One of
the benefits of working at the
Teashops was that we were given a really
good meal. There was a place sectioned off
for the staff where we could eat. I think
had it not been for getting fed there that
I may have starved as in those days I did
not have a lot of money.
I
remember I wore a navy blue one piece sort
of jacket I also wore some sort of a
headpiece. We were inspected to make sure
our hands were clean before we started
work. There was an old fashioned cash
register at the counter. We had to add up
in our heads in those days. No such thing
as calculators.
I only
worked there about 9 months but it is a
job I fondly recall.
Orchard
House was amazing. We were trained in
classrooms and had to go through some
rigorous classes. When we left there we
felt like we were something
special.
I do
recall that one day Googie Withers the
film star came in and bought a small
brown loaf from me. She was appearing
close by in a play, think it was The
Aldwych Theatre. One day Derrick De Marney
came also.
All the
staff at the teashop in the Strand were
wonderful people. Most of them were
Londoners with a few Irish. I was from the
North of England (Yorkshirre)
The only
reason I left Lyons was because I managed
to get a job in a glass factory closer to
where I lived. Otherwise goodness knows I
might have still been working there when
the store closed. I did not work in the
glass factory very long as I did not like
it. I found it very boring and decided to
move back home to Bradford in Yorkshire in
about August of 1953. I took a job in a
Textile Mill where I trained to be a
Warper.
Then in
1959 New Zealand were seeking skilled
workers to go down to NZ free passage and
I was chosen by this Mill who interviewed
me in Bradford for the job. I left
Bradford on the 18th May and sailed the
next day from Glasgow in Scotland arriving
down there in June of 1959. I stayed down
there until July of 1961 when I came to
California. Never really intended staying
but I am there still. Got married to an
American whose father was born in Haydock
Lancashire. I had two children, a
daughter, Gloria, who is 41 and a son,
Erick, who will be 39 in April. My
daughter is married and my son is engaged
and getting married next year. That is
about the story of my life.
©
Elizabeth Jolley 2005
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