Many Processes

Q: Yes. So how many people would Booths have employed there?

A: Oh Booths would have employed, at that time, er.. 150 to 250.

Q: As large as that?

A: And er.. I suppose it was quite a large er..private owned..privately owned business at that time...

Q: Would this be mainly men?

A: No! Of course the, er..processing of the er..hose er..required a lot of ancillary work which was done by women and young girls. There was linking and er.. linking the toes and heels and that and er..seaming down the sides and er..mending and er..pairing and folding and countering we called it er..boxing them or put 'em into bags at that time er..for presentation on the store counters. Er there were far more women employed in full fashioned hose factories than there were men. I think the ratio was about just as much as er..7 women to 1 man, there were many processes after the knitter had knitted the garment.

Q: So the garment was totally made at the one factory it didn't go to a finishers?

A: No it wasn't totally made in one factory um there were very few knitting plants..factories at that time er.. that had their own dye houses or even had mastered the technique of dying and finishing the hose and so they were knitted and seamed and er..partly finished and then they were sent to the dyehouses and trimshops as we called them in er.. mostly in the Basford and er..Derbyshire areas to be dyed and trimmed and returned to the knitting factory for pairing and folding and boxing.

Source: Nottingham Central Library Local History Section (Recording A19/a-b/1)