Life in the 20th century office

the managers in the offices were still addressed as “Mr” or “Sir”.

By the 1970s, Jackson’s (formerly Parnalls) managers began to make changes to relax the formal atmosphere within their offices - with mixed results.

Joan Groves recalls these changes, as younger managers asked older office staff to address them by their first names.

Although it was well intentioned, it could engender suspicion from staff used to more clear-cut formalities and divides. It was, however, the sign of things to come.

In larger industrial organisations there was often an office and shop floor divide.

Newman Industries was no exception. Although the offices in the factory were far from plush, some office staff still saw themselves as a cut above the shop floor workers toiling in more extreme conditions.

The divide was accentuated by wholly different cultures. As Pam Withers recalls, you were surrounded by women in the typing pool one minute and then the next, you had to run the gauntlet of wolf-whistling men as you walked past the different factory shops along the main factory driveway.

Office technology in our local offices has undergone immense changes even during the last 20 years, let alone the last 50.

Pam Withers recalled using a manual typewriter in the typing pool at Newmans in the late 1960s. At the same time, Newmans Industries had installed an enormous computer, taking up much of a side room, in order to calculate staff wages.

In 1969, very few employees would have reflected on the significance of this machine, but that would soon change.

With historic office technology objects, we hope in our exhibition

Diary dates

March 14-23: The History and Culture of Ukraine, with histories and fine art displayed and created by our local Ukrainian group.

March 18: Ukrainian choral and traditional music, and historic talk. Noon-1pm.

March 21: Yate Lecture Series – Atkyns Gloucestershire. Alan Pilbeam looks at how the Gloucestershire landscape has changed over time since Atkyns survey in 1700, starting at 7.30pm.

March 25-May 10: Exhibition - The Office.

to tell the story of the everchanging office. Should anyone have any office technology from the pre-1990s, we would