Company Magazines

Hope very much people are enjoying all this stuff about the local cable making industry .... there is a lot more to come.  Every day we are being sent editions of the Telcon works magazine from the 1950s which are packed full with articles about the works and the industry - and we will try to let you see them all.

I did think however that we ought to vary this a bit.  I remembered that we had some Harvey's works magazines (Harvey's were a big metal working company in the Woolwich Road - they made, well, holes).   I got them out to see what we could use - some great pictures, most of which have appeared here, way back, But - oh dear - the editorial content is almost entirely sports, wedding, outings, bigwigs and the like.

I also have a lot of stuff from the early 1900s from the gas works Copartnership Journal - again full of stuff about the works, lots of pictures, and interestingly articles about other local works and institutions where gas was being used as a fuel. However, I scanned all these from flimsy photocopies in days when scanners were dodgy, OCR was terrible and pdfs didn't exist. I could try and rescue some of them but the amount of work would be phenomenal.

So, anyway, I thought I would give you a little taste of the Harvey Magazines - after all it was the 1950s! and if you are lucky sometime I will add in Telcon's 'Hints to Women' (I had forgotten how we had to wear gloves all the time in the '50s. - and my terrible confession is that I rather liked that). They also think people who worked at Harvey's were well off enough to afford cream with their puddings!! - which is more than my family was, Cream came in tins at Christmas, only.

If you go down still further I have put some pictures of women in the gasworks during the Great War.


"The Summer seems to be a very slow starter again this year, but the Shops are full of lovely summer dresses, and the new line makes us take a second look at our figures and wish we had not had so many in-between meal snacks during the 'Winter months. 

I think you will all agree we must have trim waist lines if we are to look our best in an " A " line dress. One very good exercise to do if the tummy muscles have become slack, is to stand flat against a wall without shoes on, pull your tummy muscles taut then relax. Repeat this twenty times. You 
can do this at any odd time during the day, after a little while the desired effect should soon be obtained. Another very good thing for us all to do, is deep breathing exercises. Place your hands on hips, and take a deep breath, making your hands rise and fall as you do so. This makes for improvement in our health, which after all IS the main thing, for whatever pretty clothes we may wear, if the face is tired and the figure drooping, nothing will look at its best advantage. 

Here is a tip for a girl who may get a surprise invitation out and her hair is not just as she would like it : 'Wring out a towel in hot water and rub your hair very hard. Repeat this twice, then set with setting lotion. When dry it should comb out quite fresh. . . . . and those spots . . . . Whatever you do don't start squeezing them or the whole evening will be miserable, because you know you have a beautiful red blemish showing. Cover them with Calomine Lotion beneath foundation cream, or- if very angry cover with a flesh coloured round plaster and make up over it . . . . and don't forget a bathing with Boracic Crystals (1 teaspoonful to pint of water warm) is a grand reviver for tired eyes. 

Just a word to the girls with long slim backs, who always seem to have trouble in making a blouse and skirt stay together neatly. Wear a broad tight elastic belt and you will find this will prevent the blouse slipping apart. 

Something refreshing for a sweet during the brighter days :- 


1 Sponge Filling :-any medium size jar of fruit. 
1 round teaspoon arrowroot.
3 ozs. Castor sugar 
3 ozs. Selfraising Flour 
2 eggs 
Beat eggs lightly, then add sugar beating all the time, for at least 5 minutes. Gradually add the flour and beat to a smooth cream. Pour in a tin about eight inches round, and bake in a moderate oven for twenty minutes. Remove and leave to cool, then place on a tray until cold. Drain your fruit, putting aside the juice, and arrange in the flan. Now blend the arrowroot with a little juice, bring the rest of the juice to the boil and then stir in to the blended mixture, return all . to the saucepan and cook for four minutes stirring continuously. 
Let the mixture cool a little then pour over the fruit, leave to set. Serve cold with cream."

Meanwhile in the gasworks: