Jean, while we've been chatting we've heard that you lived in the Harwich area and that you had a mum, Florence and a dad, Edward.
My name is Gem, they call me Gem.
I want to take you back to when you left school and you tell me what you can remember about the times and so on.
I left school at 14 and went to work in a big furnishing store, hardware and furnishing. It was called Saunders. It was a big firm at Harwich. It had a big ironmongery store and then it had a china and glass store, and then it had a furnishing place and it had a wallpaper shop. I used to be in the wallpaper shop sometimes. I was 16 when I left Saunders. I went to work at Woolworths. Woolworths opened, so they paid more money, so I went there (laughs).
Can you remember what you were paid when you were at the first place?
12/6d I think, 12/6d a week. And then at Woolworths, you got a pound extra so I went there.
And how did you spend that 12/6d? Did you have to contribute at home?
I used to give my mother some, because I was living at home then. I used to give my mother 1/6d, I think or something like that. Not very much.
And what sort of work were you doing?
I had to stand behind a counter, and serve people. I had to get there at half past eight in the morning and I finished at 6 o'clock or half past seven. 7.30 at weekends and 6 o'clock during the week. You worked all week, Monday to Saturday.
Were there lots of people working there?
Oh yes, it was a great big store, it was the biggest store in Harwich.
So after two years you heard that Woolworths was opening . . .?
That's right, so I left and went to Woolworths, but I didn't stay long. I was only there a little while. I went to be on the hardware store, but another girl came. She wasn't a proper assistant, but she got on with the manager very well and so she stayed on and I got the sack. Well, I left because they didn't want two girls on the store.
So she had preferential treatment?
Yes, that's right. I was a bit annoyed because she wasn't a proper shop assistant and she didn't know the job really. I was rather annoyed about it. Mother didn't mind. I soon got another job. It was easy. There were lots of jobs about. I went and worked in a fish and chip shop. I served fish and chips, salt fish and chips.
Was that a day job or an evening job?
Evenings. And I used to go in the mornings ‘cos we had to clean the place out and get the stuff all ready for the evening. Used to work all day, didn't you?
What did they use to fry in, in those days?
Oil, I think it was oil.
Did you have lots of customers?
Yes, it was a popular meal, very popular.
Can you remember how much a fish and chip supper would cost?
Not very much, would it? Fish would cost 2d and the chips would cost 1d. Wrapped in greaseproof paper and then newspaper. I was there quite a while.
Was it a happy place to work?
Places weren't happy in those days, were they? ‘Cos you had to work. You weren't there to be amused.
Could you have a laugh with people while you were working?
Well, you could have a laugh with the people who came in the shop, yes, but the people who owned the shop didn't laugh very much. They weren't there to laugh at you.
Did they pay you at the end of each week?
Yes. In a little envelope. Can't remember how much. I think it'd be about 12/6d or something like that.
How long did you stay doing the fish and chips?
I was there quite a while. I was there all one winter, I remember, ‘cos it used to be dark when I went home. On my bike. It was about a mile. Did it in all weathers.
What made you leave the fish and chip shop?
I went on holiday, I think, and went up to Durham. Yes, that's right. Well, my boyfriend was Durham, so we went up to Durham.
How did you meet him?
Got introduced to him. He was on the seafront. The seafront was a sort of parade then, and you paraded around and met people. His name was Thomas. He was a Customs Officer. That was a very posh job in those days, a very good job.
So you went on holiday to Durham with Thomas . . .?
Yes, and I stayed up there because the War started.
Did you have a job when you moved to Durham?
I was in the Fire Service then. I was a telephonist. Thomas' parents had the telephone exchange in their front room and I worked that.
So you got on well with his parents? They let you move in?
Oh yes. I married Thomas. I think that was in 1941. Can't really remember. The War started in 1939 and got married I think in 1941. I was in the Fire Service all the time till I got married, and then when I got married I went down to live at Scarborough, because Tom was at Scarborough. He was stationed at Scarborough.
Did you then have a job there?
I don't think so. It was a bit tough, wasn't it then? A bit rough and tough. Well, there weren't any pleasant things, were there? There was a dance at the Royal Hotel on a Saturday. I went to that. Always there on a Saturday. Went to the Saturday night dance. That was nice. I used to like that. And that was about it for the week.
Did it cost a lot to go there?
I don't think it did or else I wouldn't have gone.
You went with Thomas?
Well, I went by myself first.
Did you make friends around that time?
Yes, I'd got a girlfriend. I was friendly with some girls and we went to the dances.
How did you keep in touch with your parents and your brothers and sisters?
I didn't keep in touch. Only just an odd letter now and then. I don't think you bothered, did you? You never missed anybody, you never bothered about it. You just got on with it.
They didn't visit you in Scarborough and you didn't visit them in Harwich?
No. They were all older than me in any case. They had their own families. They were very much older than me. Except my sister wasn't, of course.
Did you have children?
One girl, that's all. Didn't want any more.
Who would come and help you when you had your little girl?
Nobody. What do you mean "help me"?
Well, when she was born did you have her at hospital or did you have her at home?
I didn't go to a hospital. I must have had her at home.
Was there anybody who came to be with you, to show you how to look after the baby? It's a long time ago. I think you just got on with it, didn't you?
Did you ever go back to work?
I stayed at home, stayed at home. We used to go on the beach every day when she was little.
And when she got older, when she left home, did you return to work then?
You know, I can't remember.
How would you describe your life?
Hard, but happy, happy enough. You just got on with things those days. You didn't sort out whether you were happy or not. You just got on with it.
Would you change things if you had the time over again?
I don't think so. I was happy enough with my husband. He was a very good man. No I wouldn't change anything, I don't think. I might have had another child because I don't like only children. That's about all.
Did your child ever see her grandparents down in Harwich?
Well, my daughter went and lived with the grandparents. When I went to Scarborough she went and lived with the grandparents up in Durham. She didn't come to Scarborough. She went to school up in Durham.
Was that Tom's parents that she went to live with? Why did she choose to go and live with the grandparents?
I sent her there. It was a better life. A fixed life, wasn't it?
Were you ever lonely?
I don't think it ever came into the question - whether you were lonely.
How did you come to be in Norfolk?
I was living at Taverham.
Did your husband's work bring him to Norfolk?
He was in the Air Force. We went to Africa. They sent him to Aden to work, so I went to see him. I flew first to Aden, but when we were in Aden we went on holiday to Africa. That was nice. Went on safari. That was nice. Had a very nice time. That was a good life because there were all the Sergeants' Messes and all the big occasions when they had big Messes. That was very nice.
Was that a special highlight in your life?
Yes, I think it was really. And then we had a house, we had a house at Cormaxer Beach, where all the houses were built, all the RAF houses, and I lived in one of those. Then I got bronchitis and I was ill.
Did you go to hospital?
No, I was at home. Didn't go to hospital those days. I don't think there was room for you in any case. I lived at Cormax Beach for quite a while. Had Abdul, a servant, a little black servant. He had a little house out the back. He lived on his own out the back.
What country was Cormax Beach?
It was Aden and then there was the beach and there were our houses.
