Departmental News

Clicking Room

The latest sporting interest in the clicking room is now taking shape in the form of a Bowls’ Team and the recent practice match ended in a draw. A challenge is hereby issued to any other department any takers!!

R. Hodgkins spends quite a bit of his leisure travelling up and down the country studying the railways and recently travelled up to Glasgow and spent an interesting day around the engine sheds. He also visited the marshalling yards at March quite recently.

Our latest recruit, Brian Slack, has a transport hobby of a different nature and is busy at the moment with a 10ft. rowing boat.

Rough Stuff dept.

During the time of writing these notes, we learn that Mr. Harry Brierley, who has been absent through illness for several weeks, is now undergoing treatment at Kettering General Hospital and we all wish him a speedy recovery. We welcome back too, Mrs. Jenny Dawson who has also spent the last few weeks absent through illness. And finally our last casualty, Mr. Don Denny, is now back on the Press minus a finger, but full of enthusiasm.

As this is the Summer issue and no doubt all of us are looking forward to the August holidays, most of us having already made preparations for a complete change of scenery during the holidays, we trust that one and all, whether they are travelling or not, have a restful and carefree holiday.

Shoe Room

Mrs. Dolly Neville, who next month flies out to America to see her daughter, is eagerly looking forward to the trip and we all wish her a pleasant and comfortable journey.

Arrivals  

Mrs. Baker, takes up the position of telephonist vacated by Miss Susan Wright, who is now working as Order Clerk to Mr. Knowles. Mr. Fred Hardwick, who has joined our staff management level, and who for the past few months has been working on the development of ‘Dateliners’ and other Oral shoes, will be taking over the production of the making-up side of ‘Dateliners’ at least for the initial period, until the production line is in full swing.

Departures

On 13^th May Mr. Don Denton left us to take up a position with the Coles Group at Burton Latimer after ten years at Oral. Members of the staff presented him with a Parker pen and pencil set, suitably inscribed.

Weddings

On 14^th May Miss Marion Clark (Office Staff) became Mrs. Lucas when she married Mr. Jerome Lucas of West Virginia, U.S.A. at the Park Road Baptist Church. Among the presents was a vase of Stewart Crystal, a present from the Staff.   Unfortunately we shall be losing Marion in July when she leaves for the States but we all wish her every happiness for the future.

Factory Profile

Ralph Jolley (1923) and Dan Tomlin (1922) Dan Tomlin the oldest serving member in the room joined Oral in 1922 and has worked in the Closing Room cutting samples and specials during that time. Served in France during World War 1 in the Royal Fusiliers and in the Home Guard during the 1939-1945 campaign. A good footballer who played for Rushden Town between the two wars. Ralph Jolley, a close second, joined us in 1923 and he too served in France with the Royal Artillery in World War 1and with the N.F.S. in the last campaign. An enthusiastic amateur footballer in local circles during his younger days he now watches when he gets the time. Both incidentally work on adjoining boards and are responsible for all the samples and specials that are cut out.

Bob Banks	Floss Banks	Jean Ballard

Around The Factory

Stockroom and despatch

This is the end of the line. In this series ‘Around the factory’ we have covered (we think) every department at Oral. We have followed the shoe manufacturing process from the raw material stage right through to this, our last article in this series. We now have nowhere else to go but if, as a retailer of Oral shoes, or as a member of the various departments visited, you have found this series interesting, then our work has not been in vain. It is perhaps nice to know how the ‘other half’ live. 

Drawing shoes from stock against packing notes	Shoes in boxes into packing cases	Shoes in half dozens. Shoes in dozens. Shoes in dozen dozens.	Shoes for export. Shoes for America.

Social Club News

Interest from various sections of the Company and consultation with the Management has resulted in the formation of the C.W. Horrell Social Club, whose activities will be to promote social activities consistent with the wishes of its members.

Your committee members are the following:

A Membership Card which will entitle members to participate in the Tote, will be issued at the cost of 3d, and the membership will be for the whole of that member’s service with the Company with no further contributions being made. Tote charge 6d per entry. 1/- Reversed Numbers.

Several suggestions were brought forward from departments by the committee members one of which was a proposed trip to London in the early autumn, involving lunch and a show. Further details of this and other activities will be published in our next News Sheet. The Committee wish to express their thanks to the Management for a grant to cover initial expenses.

Master of a Dying Craft     It was my good fortune recently to interview a very spritely 86 year old in the form of Mr. Horace Phillips who for the past 15 years has been doing hand-sewn work for Oral. The eldest of ten of a well known Ringstead family he had an early baptism to the boot trade, as owing to a bereavement in the family he found himself hand-billing boots at the tender age of 5 ½!!! Obviously his remarks at the time could have been ‘I never had it so rough so early’. By the age of 13 he had already made his first shoe all through and at 15 was making the best type of army boot at the rate of one pair per day. The price 1/6 per pair. He took part in the march to London from Raunds in 1905 when Trade Unions were in their infancy and things were not so good. For some years he was a foreman at the firm of Adams Bros. Raunds and later took a job as a Government Inspector and it was upon his retirement that he was asked by ‘Oral’ if he would use his skill by doing hand-sewn work for us. Never happier then when at work, he says this is the reason he feels so healthy. Boots and shoes may come and go but Mr. P looks like going on forever. I left him after he had firmly convinced me that it wasn’t him that cut the strings for the sandals worn by Julius Caesar.

More automation

Automatic control of customer accounts for the first time

In a recent article we extolled the virtues of our Powers Samas I.C.T. punched card system. We waxed lyrical on how it controlled our in-stock service, how it did the invoices and analysis, etc. But now we have a new machine which is even better, for quite apart from being able to subtract as well as add, it can control customers’ account records and statements automatically for the first time.

When an order is received a card for each pair of shoes on that order goes through the machine and is correspondingly punched with holes. The rest, from then on, is entirely automatic (apart from pulling a few levers here and there). The machine will do the invoice and, after sorting, the analysis of the sale, planning for restocking and account records and statements.

On the left the machine at work checking weekly sales figures and on the right the stock-card storage files

‘Bobby’ Austin retires Ernest ‘Bobby’ Austin (pictured left), has retired after 56 years service with ‘Oral’. We never thought that we could carry on without him but although we are managing we miss him and wish him many more years of peace and happiness in his retirement.