1930's Women vs Men At Work

Following somewhat along the lines of yesterday's theme of the changing roles of women over the years, I couldn't help myself. I had to go through another old book we have had for many years. The Story of The World in Pictures, printed by Odhams Press Ltd in 1936.

It is in fact a fascinating read and is probably the kind of book we should be encouraging our newer generations to read.

In this book, the World at large is wrapped up in 605 pages. Of course though, I was struck somewhat by the chapter on The Machinery of Business.

In the description of office life in the 30's  ".......The clash and ping of fifty typewriters assail our ears. Hand-writing in the business world is rapidly becoming obsolete. The office boy or girl who can write a good hand is a rarity. The short-hand typist, notebook in hand, and capable of  "taking down" 180 words per minute may yet be superseded by the dictaphone, into which, the departmental chief dictates his letters and instructions , without troubling his lady secretary, to go into his office."

"The genius, to whom the adding-up of columns of figures was "as easy as winking an eye" is out of date. We will watch this young gentleman listing and casting hundreds of bills and invoices on an adding machine. The last item being entered, he pulls the lever and lo! behold, there is the total , and the marvel of it, is the machine never makes a mistake!"


Further on ".....Let us show you another machine, the Addressograph, which will address a thousand envelopes in an hour "  and "...ingenious filing cabinets have been invented, and by means of indexes and cross-indexes, the assistant in charge of the filing department, is able to produce the required letter at the shotest notice"

Obviously the changes in the workforce are extreme since then. The assumptions regarding the dissemination of labour are long gone and in fact if I don't finish writing this article shortly, Ms SaidbyNed will be grumpy, because after all I did promise to mow the grass today, a chore she prefers to leave to me.

This article has been written on my (adored) I Mac computer in half and hour, photo's downloaded from my ( beloved ) I Phone in an instant. It can be potentially viewed by millions of people around the world instantly without printing it. And will be filed away forever without ever needing a filing cabinet.

And I promise, no Female labour has been used in the making of this article, at all!  And on that note, I had also better go hang out the laundry and prepare dinner, before She gets home!

Ned Hoskin
www.WedByNed.com.au