A rare glimpse back in time…
Life at Tods Murray almost 100 years ago
It is difficult to imagine what office life was like in the days when a liveried doorman sat in the leather porter’s chair in the Queen Street office hallway tending the hall fire between callers. A fascinating insight into life at No. 66 in those days was provided to us by Miss Jenny Logan in 1990, a retired secretary who joined the firm in July 1917.
This is a fascinating insight into life at No. 66 Queen Street in 1917Miss Logan began as a typist working the then usual office hours of 10am to 6pm and enjoying the princely salary of £1 per week. She recalled that the staff numbered around 100 at a time when the number of partners was 4! The ratio of female members of staff to male however was small and, to minimise the perceived distraction, the typists were accommodated in the attic up a wooden stair, approachable only by an elderly clerk. While the office was not the comfortable, fully carpeted, air-conditioned and serviced buildings of today, roaring fires were provided in every room to keep grumbles at bay.
Male members of staff traditionally enjoyed an annual golf outing, while the ladies were treated to a tennis party at the North Berwick home of one of the partners, Mr Esson. In the “Roaring Twenties” things changed and Miss Logan remembered ladies being admitted to the golf outings to enjoy mixed foursomes.
Miss Logan recalled that those were the days when the caretaker wore a frock coat and a maid brought the partners afternoon tea in the boardroom in a silver teapot upon a silver tray.
How things have changed!