F E B R U A R Y 1964

House Magazine of J. Sainsbury Ltd

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contents c.o,

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13 18 19 20 22 26 31 32 33 34

Basingstoke Launched Streatham New Offices Jubilees Work Study Ice Cold in London Architectural Awards Live Stock Awards Shopping Day Blackcurrant Drink A Matter of Taste Puzzle Picture Griffin Report Congratulations Staff News

Basingstoke On Monday, 20th January the first dispatch of goods to the south­west began with an optimistic and sociable send-off. Waving out the first lorry (above) are Mr C. G. Wright the Manager, and Mr N. C. Turner. Basingstoke is the first of the major depots that have become necessary as a result of the growth of the firm. It will serve about a third of our branches which are in an area to the south and west of London. It stands in Houndsmill Estate on a twenty-five acre site of which eight acres are buildings, making a floor space of 350,000 square feet. Six acres of our site are taken up by roads and parking areas, the other eleven will be landscaped. The main structure of the building is L-shaped and houses the perishable and non-perishable warehouses, production areas, bacon kilns and cold stores.

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launched The main building incorporates an office block, a service station, cloakrooms, a boiler house, a weighbridge, a gatehouse and a reception area. The service station will do all spray painting of our lorries and includes accommodation for mechanical and electrical repairs. T h e staff res­taurant will seat 300 people. By the end of the year when the depot is in full operation there will be two tennis courts, cricket pitches and indoor facilities for table tennis and badminton.

Cheerful send off from Mr jV. C. Turner to Driver F. Brown who took the first van out from Basingstoke at 8.22 am on 20th January.

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Strea tham new offices for some departments Our new offices at Norwich House in Streatham High Street have been in use for several months now. J.S. have four floors of the building and part of them can be seen in the picture at the top of the page. On the left Chief Accountant Mr A. Jones, on the main staircase. Pictures opposite show girls at work in the Mechanised Department tapping out cards at the automatic key punches. They will be fed into the tabulators on the right later. Below is the Staff Dining Room

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Below left is a section of the Printing Room where many of the forms and stationery items used by the firm are produced. On the right a section of the pneumatic document conveyor which moves internal post around the offices. Documents are placed in a container, and by setting a disc at one end the sender ensures their arrival at the proper destination. At the foot of the page is the new S.S.A. Office. From I. to r. are Len Starling, Jean Richmond and Mr Alan Kettley the secretary

At the top of the page on the left is the recording apparatus used in the typing pool for letters which are dictated by telephone. They are recorded on a plastic disc and identified by a paper slip. The typist {right) plays the recorded letter on her own desk apparatus, types the letter and it is then sent off to the office from which it originated. Centre picture is the Depot Stock Office on the fourth floor. Communications with Stamford House are by minivan at regular intervals through the day.

'How was I

Jubilees 1964 is not a year rich in jubilee dates. Going through the records we find only seven branches who celebrate birthdays. This is probably be­cause the golden and silver jubilees date from years which saw the outbreak of two world wars and the economic uncertainty of the times must have made traders step with caution.

1894 O u r Blackfriars branch a t 13-15 Stamford Street was first opened in 1894. The shop was opened following the firm's move to Blackfriar's in 1891 when they bought Wakefield House. The head­quarters of J .S . was before that at Queen's Crescent in Kentish Town. 1894 was the year in which we opened 51 Broadway, Ealing, and also our branch at 140 Finchley Road which closed

Reproduced by permission of Punch

know it was Lord Sainsbury'

m ' 959 when the Swiss Cottage self-service branch opened not far from that site.

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In this year our branch in Terminus Road, Eastbourne, opened. It was converted into a self-service branch in 1952. Forest Hill at 6 and 8 London Road also opened in 1904, was exten­ded in 1927 and will be replaced by a self-service branch during this year.

'9'4 This was a lean year by J . S . s tandards. We opened only one branch ; the one at 10 Cornfield Road, Eastbourne.

'93.9 Twenty-five years ago on the brink of another war we opened only a single branch; the one at 15 Goring Road, West Worthing.

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Courses in Work Study Appreciation for self-service managers have been held at

Blackfriars during the past year. The purpose and scope of the

courses is discussed in this article.

work study

Work Study is applied to the planning, manu­facturing, distribution and retailing sides of the firm; on the retailing side it operates through the Branch Staff Planning Department, whose manager is Mr J. G. Dearlove.

So far nearly all the work on the retailing side has been connected with existing and future self-service branches. As the scope of this work has increased it has become desirable to give managers an appreciation of the aims and ob­jects of Work Study.

As a result a Work Study Appreciation Course for self-service managers was introduced at the beginning of last year. Since then, courses have been held at approximately two monthly inter­vals and nearly 40 branch management person­nel have so far attended. These have come from two main sources: firstly, managers moving from service into self-service and from one self-service branch to another; and secondly, newly

Continued on page 12 9

Opposite page: Mr D.A.J. Foster {leader of the Branch Staff Planning Work Study Team) explains how the staff allowance for individual branches is calculated. In the lower picture Mr J. G. Dearlove, Manager of the Branch Staff Planning Department, talking about 'Organising the Branch Staff'.

Above: Mr 0. Randell {Branch Staff Planning Department) explains the use of method study symbols. Mr J. R. Fraser of the same department looks on. Below: a short break between lectures - Messrs S. K. Saunders, A. Tamlyn, C. J. Smith, D. Billings, R. J. Richens, A. J. Mott, W. J. Butcher, A. Squires, F. W. Gillam. Mrs J. Johnston (right) is the only woman employed on work study in the firm. She spends much of her time on planning the preparation areas of new branches.

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STAFF ALLOWANCE

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appointed managers who are on the spare list. In addition, some Training Centre personnel and instructors have been on the course.

Each course is of three days' duration, com­prising two days' appreciation of the techniques of Work Study and one day at the Haverhill factory. Members of all the work study sections at Blackfriars give lectures and show films, and managers participate in practical demonstra­tions and exercises.

The object during the first two days is to give branch management an understanding of the purpose and aims of Work Study and of the effects that its applications have on branch methods, layouts, organization and staffing. Whilst the emphasis is mostly on the branch, and many of the examples given are taken from actual branch work, the overall application of Work Study in J.S. is stressed since the basic procedure is the same wherever Work Study is applied. During the course managers are encouraged to take an active part, both in the form of questions and discussion and during the several practical periods that are now included. In addition to covering Work Study techniques, attention is also paid to the associated subjects of staff allowances and staff organization which has resulted in much fruitful discussion.

The visit to Haverhill is used as a practical example of the results which can be achieved when Work Study principles are applied to a department or process. The advantages of good layout, organized production, bulk material handling and other features are illustrated under actual working conditions. The visit provides an opportunity to see at first hand the preparation of Tendersweet bacon and J.S. cooked meats, and ends with discussion between the branch managers and the management at Haverhill.

The aims of the course are firstly, to give an insight into the techniques used by the Work Study officer during his visits to branches; secondly, to show how the information that is obtained is used in evolving better, more econo­mic methods, and accurate staff allowances; and thirdly, to give an overall picture of the appli­cation of Work Study in J.S.

The course provides an invaluable oppor­tunity for the managers and the work study staff to discuss and comment on the implications of the use of Work Study, and the result, as the number and scope of these courses grow, is a better understanding and quicker solution of any problems which may arise.

ICE COLD in LONDON The story of the Gatti family

who came to London to sell

ice-cream and stayed to build

up a cold-storage business

One of the famous Gatti ice-carts which became such a

well-known feature of the London streets.

At the beginning of the last century a Swiss-Italian called Carlo Gatti arrived in London. The youngest of a family of 13, he had made his way from the Italian part of Switzerland, the Ticino, to Paris following perhaps, in the foot­steps of a relative who had owned a restaurant fashionable among aristocrats before the revo­lution - an enterprise which cost him his head and earned him a plaque in the Tuileries. Possibly it was this that made our Gatti move on to London with a cousin whom he took into partnership. Together, they bought a site on what is now Charing Cross Station and opened a restaurant that proved a great success. With a tradition of ice-cream making behind them, the two Gattis introduced what was then a novelty for a small London cafe, home made ice-cream. Perhaps they brought the idea from Paris where ice-cream had been made popular by an Italian cafe proprietor called Tortoni.

The building of Charing Cross Station forced them to move and they dissolved the partner­ship, after receiving, it is said, compensation of £54,000, from the South Eastern Railway Co. Carlo Gatti used his portion to buy another

property in Villiers Street off the Strand, a restaurant and two houses. His interests, like those of his brothers Agostino and Giovanni, lay also in music-hall entertainment and the name of the Gatti brothers is an important one in the history of the music-hall. He opened a new Music-Hall under Charing Cross Arches and another one in Westminster Bridge Road, known as the Westminster Palace of Varieties. It was in one of these theatres that Marie Lloyd, Harry Lauder and Dan Leno made their first London appearances.

Giovanni and Agostino, his two brothers, had in the meanwhile opened another Gatti restau­rant in Adelaide Street and had bought the famous Adelphi theatre. In 1883 they installed in the basement of Adelaide Gallery a small generating plant which brought electricity into the cafe. Two years later they took the novel step of extending electric light to the Adelphi -a task made difficult, indeed illegal, by a new regulation that had come into force forbidding the opening of streets. The Gatti Brothers carried the work out without a hitch - at night. This small venture grew to what is today the

major part of the western sub-area of the London Electricity Board and there is still a member of the Gatti family working with the Board.

Serving ice-cream in his cafe was not enough for Carlo - he put onto the London streets the ' Ice-Cream Jacks'. These were gaudily painted barrows pushed by Italians who were unable to speak anything but their native tongue. They would call out 'Ecco un poco'- here is a little free - today our word hokey pokey. They became a familiar and welcome feature in London.

Most far-reaching, however, of all Gatti's activities was the sale of ice. He bought at Kings Cross deep ice-wells, which are still there, made a catering contract with the L.C.C. for several of their parks, and stored the winter ice from the ponds in his wells. As the demand both for his own restaurants and the retail trade grew, he collected ice from sources on the London perimeter.

Cutting ice on a Norwegian lake in the early 1 goo's.

The ice was scarred on the surface by an ice-plough,

then sawn through by hand.

Trade increased and it became impossible to keep up an all-the-year-round supply of solid ice, which was important both for making ice­cream and keeping fresh the food in the restau­rants during the summer months. Typically and decisively Gatti decided to import. The best natural ice comes from Norway as the waters of its lakes are clean and uncontaminated and from there Gatti brought his ice. The Nor­wegian ice harvest began in late winter and was a highly organized operation. Skill and speed were (and still are) essential with a com­modity that literally runs away under anything but ideal conditions. The first step was for the virgin ice to be cut. Horses drew deeply-toothed blades over the lake, rather like a plough in a field, marking out huge sixty-foot slabs. They were followed by men with hand saws who cut into the grooves until the lake was a mass of ice slabs. As the lakes lie above the fjords where the ships were waiting a simple method of transport

Men with 'ice-dogs' moved the blocks to the top of a long wooden slide.

was invented. The slope between lake and fjord was lined with wooden runners and down these the blocks slid at high speed, helped by the steep incline and their own weight. Sometimes as many as twenty ships were waiting below and when these had been loaded and had set sail, the remaining blocks were stored in 'ice­houses', constructions of pine poles and tree branches sometimes packed with saw-dust. The biggest of these could hold as much as 30,000 tons.

On arrival in London the ice was unloaded either into river barges or horse-drawn vans. A journalist watching the unloading writes in 1897 in The Harmsworth Magazine - ' The novice who attempts to scramble about in a hold full of ice will find the task more conducive to bruises and profanity than aught else! We tried the effect of placing our foot boldly on one of the lumps of ice and sat down with startling suddenness'. Most of the ice was loaded into barges and taken up­stream, either to Battersea or Westminster where the firm's ice wells were.

The ice that was loaded into the vans was weighed first, each block varying between one to

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four hundredweight each. T h e vans then went, either direct to customers or to ice wells. A Carlo Gatt i van, trailing a thin line of water, was a very familiar London sight.

Carlo Gatt i had no sons but his two daughters, Rosa and Agostina, showed great apt i tude for business. When the firm eventually came into their hands they ran it with verve and efficiency. Rosa the eldest, marr ied a Gat t i cousin bu t he left her a childless widow. She re-married Simon Corazza and Agostina marr ied his brother, Luigi. Thei r son Carlo Corazza was for many years a Director and the present Managing Director is a direct descendant of theirs. In their capable hands the firm prospered and when in 1921 artificial refrigeration h a d become a com­mercial proposition they gave up importing natural ice, went into the artificial ice business and into cold storage.

In 1950 Uni ted Carlo Gatt i , Stevenson & Slaters entered the ice-lollie t rade with a trial out-put of 500 gross per week. They did not advertise bu t the sale of 'Snow Boy' lollies rose to 1,000 gross per week in the London area and the output of their factory is virtually unlimited.

O n e story tells that when Gatti 's first started making lollies a customer telephoned for a sub­stantial delivery. Within a few hours he found outside his door a van filled with 3cwt ice blocks. ' I ' l l take them, ' he said coldly, ' if you pu t them on sticks'.

Today the commercial ice industry has a competitor in the home refrigerator but the demand for loose ice is by no means exhausted. I t is used in great quanti ty by the Atomic Energy Authorities - for what purpose is not known. Hotels such as the Savoy use up to four tons a day, much of it in cubes: hospitals need it for controlling oxygen tents and cooling body temperature ; our fishing ports would freeze up without it - Grimsby alone is estimated as using a total quant i ty of 1,000 tons a day. Two years ago Gatti 's delivered 150 tons of ice for the Ski R u n at the Internat ional Ski J u m p i n g Competi­tion at Wembley Stadium, where it was turned to snow on the spot by an American ice crushing slinger.

Down the mountainside went the ice blocks and straight on to the quay.

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As patterns of demand have changed, Gatti's have channelled their activities to modern needs. Besides their very large ice plant producing well over a hundred tons every day they have many large cold-storage chambers where frozen meat, fish, butter, poultry and vegetables are stored by Importers, Producers and Wholesalers. Some are still on the site that used to hold the imported ice from Norway. In 10,62 a second cold store was completed in Hackney. Its capacity is 250,000 cub. ft. and the firm is anticipating doubling this on a site next door.

Carlo Gatti could have had little idea of the size his ice-venture would grow to.

A celebrated comedy ' O u r Boys' was being performed the evening of this programme. The Adelphi, owned by the two Gatti Brothers was the first London theatre to have electricity.

Mander and Mitchenson Collection Picture ' A U S G M T I .

The blocks are pulled along a gangplank into the ship's hold.

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Architectural Awards

Selected by the West Suffolk Assessor appointed by the Royal Institute of British Architects for work best deserving recognition in the period from ig$8 to ig6i were these two buildings. Above, the Meat Products Factory at Haverhill and below, the firm's Poultry Processing Plant at Bury St Edmunds.

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Our Herd Manager

Mr Charles Edward

and his son George,

from Kinermony Farm

preparing our pure bred

Aberdeen-Angus steer

for the judging ring.

This animal subse­

quently won the Breed

Championship at the

Royal Smithfield Show.

Live Stock Awards Cattle which are entered for shows fall broadly into two categories, firstly breeding stock, which are exhibited at the open-air summer shows, or in shows immediately prior to sales timed to fit in with the breeding season, and secondly, so-called 'fatstock' i.e. fed for slaughter, which usually appear in December.

Not so many years ago, in the case of cham­pion cattle at the Royal Smithfield Show, for example - and this is the premier event of its kind in Britain - the emphasis was distinctly on jfestock and although the flesh of such animals would in all probability be of exceptional eating qualities, the ratio of fat to lean bore little relation to the requirements of even the most affluent consumer. Today, the judging at such shows is much more realistic and although quality requirements demand that the prize-winning animals need to be well finished, much of the excessively wasteful fat acquired at great cost in feeding, has been eliminated. It follows that there is increasing interest in the Carcase Competition; this provides for the placing of animals by a 'live'judge, the carcases being plac­ed in order of merit after slaughter. These carcase

classes take account of age and sex and there is an overall championship. A further 'combined' prize is awarded on a points score, the basis of which is the placings of both judges, average daily weight gain and dressing-out percentage. It is interesting to note that the Carcase supreme championship is usually won by a pure-bred Aberdeen-Angus animal. At the 1962 show our own such entry won the reserve cham­pionship, whilst in 1963, a pure Aberdeen-Angus heifer from Kinermony narrowly missed the combined prize.

In the live classes, a 22-months steer from Kinermony was made champion of the Aber­deen-Angus breed. As the rules provided that all champions must go through the sale ring, we had to purchase the animal from ourselves, so to speak, through the medium of the auctioneers. After slaughter the quarters of the carcase were displayed at branches with suitable facilities.

A three parts Aberdeen-Angus, one part Shorthorn, cross-bred steer from Kinermony also won the reserve championship for steers under fifteen months, all breeds.

F. W . SALISBURY

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Shopping Day A Film about JS

There is no commentary to this film, nor any actors, only our staff going about their normal duties on a normal Sainsbury day. It starts with Driver George Nunn taking his van out in the early hours and finishes at J pm when the night gang loads up for the morning's deliveries. In half an hour it has covered most aspects of the firm, at Blackfriars, at the docks, and at the branches. Watching it here are members of the British Legion at South Norwood. Mr J. L. Woods, our Advertising Manager came along to talk to them and answer questions.

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Since the first showing of Shopping

Day on January gth we have made

three hundred bookings. If you

belong to an organisation which is

interested write to

J. Sainsbury Ltd. Dept JL W,

Stamford House,

Stamford Street,

London SE.i.

Blackcurrant Drink The blackcurrants arrive in the factory from the farms in July and the picking and processing season normally lasts for three to four weeks. The fruit is examined and substandard fruit rejected, and it is then pulped. An enzyme is then mixed with the pulp which breaks down the pectin present in the fruit and enables the juice to be expressed. This is carried out by pressing the pulp in a large hydraulic press. By this means the raw juice is obtained, the solid part of the fruit, called the pomace, being rejected.

The raw juice is then clarified, after which stage, the necessary sugar is added to produce the syrup. The sugar dissolves in the juice in enclosed stainless steel vessels. It is of the greatest importance that Blackcurrant Syrup should be manufactured entirely in stainless steel vessels, as contact with other metals results in the rapid loss of the Vitamin C content of the product. Exposure to air at all stages of the manufacture of the product is also kept to a minimum to retain the Vitamin C content.

The fully sweetened product is filtered until it is brilliant and then bottled in a vacuum filler. After filling, the bottles are capped and trans­ferred to a heating cabinet for pasteurisation. This part of the process is essential to ensure shelf life.

After pasteurisation, the bottles are cooled, the labels applied and then transferred to the cartons ready for despatch.

As the finished product has a guaranteed Vitamin C content, control by analysis is carried out at all stages of manufacture.

Blackcurrants were first acknowledged as rich in Vitamin C back in 1936 and during the war years the Ministry of Food recognized Black­currant Syrup as being of high nutritional value. It was therefore made available for sale for chil­dren and others in need of extra Vitamin C.

1 The hydraulic press used to express the juice from the fruit pulp.

2 Sugar is being added to the juice which is held in this stainless steel vessel.

3 Before going up to the storage tanks the Blackcurrant

Syrup is clarified bypassing it through this filter

4 The filling assembly line showing Vacuum Filling in process.

83

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1 Blackcurrant Syrup being conveyed to the Pilferproof

Sealing machine.

2 The filled bottles of Blackcurrant Syrup are seen here being loaded into the heating cabinet for pasteurisation.

3 At all stages chemists carry out laboratory tests to maintain the high quality of the product.

4 The automatic labelling machine. The labelled bottles are being packed into cartons for despatch toJ.S.

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A Matter of Taste

Our habits, preferences and prejudices about diet are formed in early life and change with difficulty. Recently, changes have begun to speed up. This article surveys some trends and takes a quick look at some habits.

Alas! What various tastes in food, Divide the human brotherhood! Birds in their little nests agree With Chinamen, but not with me.

Hilaire Belloc

There is no one ideal diet. We all know that what determines our food choice is food preference; what determines the other man's choice is food prejudice. Man can and does eat an enormous variety of foods for reasons as varied as the food itself. The first and most obvious is avail­ability and this generally depends on geography, climate and season. In most parts of the world cheap foods, rich in starch, form the bulk of the diet; wheat and potatoes in Europe, maize in South Africa, cassava in South India and rice in

26

much of South East Asia. The chief protein con­taining foods differ as much, beef in Britain, mutton in the Middle East, fish in Japan, spider and insects in Thailand, snake, lizard and frog for the aborigines in Australia.

Religions impose their own taboos on eating habits. Pork is prohibited among the Jews, beef among the Hindus and all animal foods among the Jains. In our own culture food preferences may be due to class consciousness - chips with everything is the symbol of one class, caviar of another. One can climb the social ladder by the choice of food as well as the choice of company. Attitudes between mother and child may deter­mine food preferences, children who turn into sugar addicts do so for profounder reasons than a sweet tooth.

Research into social nutrition has so far been very limited. One fact, however, does emerge clearly. Although most of us eat a diet suffi­ciently varied to supply the necessary calories, proteins and vitamins, our food preferences are not dictated by physiological need. The much quoted story of the pregnant woman's craving after sardines to fulfil her need for protein or the child biting lumps of plaster out of the wall to give him his fill of calcium loses point when one realizes that pregnant women crave just as often for petrol or moth-balls and children will and do eat coal or mother's lip-stick. A tragic example of the lack of co-ordination between need and craving is the fate of William Stark, an eighteenth century doctor who did nutrition­al experiments on himself and finally died of scurvy, his body having totally failed to signal to him that vegetables and fruit would have saved his life. The history of scurvy illustrates this point beyond doubt. There is on record a ship's captain who, in Elizabethan times ordered his crew to bring aboard and drink, in the course of a long voyage one or two ounces of lemon juice a day - an experiment repeated by Captain Cook in 1772. On neither occasion did the crew suffer from scurvy but it took twenty-three more years and many deaths before the Admiralty ruled that every ship on the high seas must carry one ounce of lime juice per man per day, a step which many historians believe helped us to win the Napoleonic wars at a time when the French Navy was still riddled with scurvy. It took another seventy years before the Board of Trade made the same law for the Merchant Navy and it was not until this century that the

various vitamins were recognized and their specific action understood.

The Benefits ? of Education It would be logical to presume from this that in communities where food is short education can bridge the gap between making it available and getting it eaten. In a recent pamphlet the U N Food and Agricultural Organization ex­pressed this view with great conviction, yet eminent nutritionists such as Professors Yudkin and McKenzie are sceptical whether education can overcome social factors which influence food choice. A case in point is that of Peru where villagers ate or avoided foods according to a complex and, nutrition-wise, meaningless classi­fication of hot, cold, heavy and light. The effect of an intensive educational campaign which in­troduced concepts such as vitamins was to reshuffle the food into a completely mythical order beginning with Vitamin A for the best food, Vitamin B for the next best and so on down the alphabet. Even in a country as highly educa­ted as England knowledge and practise bear little relation to one another. A small survey among housewives recently showed that they believed that brown bread is healthier than white, canned food inferior to fresh and sweets bad for the teeth. Right or wrong, these opinions had little influence on food choice. Ninety-two percent of bread consumed is white, the sale of canned food is rapidly increasing and the consumption of sweets in Britain is the highest in the world, averaging half a pound for every man, woman and child per week.

Ours is a comparatively wealthy country and

27

with the rapid advance in food preservation, transport and technology, availability has be­come the least influential factor in our choice of food. Whereas two hundred years ago the diet in late spring was made up almost entirely of salted meat, potatoes, dried peas, beer, cheese and bread the housewife today can buy almost any food she likes in and out of season either in a tin or in a packet. Her main concern when she does her weekly shopping is price and con­venience in cooking.

Records of Change The British Association began estimates of food consumption per head in 1880 and it is from then on that one can examine in detail the changing patterns of food consumption. Exami­ning first a basic food such as milk one sees that it remained stable until the last war when the government pursued a policy of making fresh milk cheap to make up for the shortage of other food. From then on liquid milk has risen steadily. Meat, which we began importing at the end of the last century and the beginning of this, rose steadily until the war years when a high standard of protein food could not be maintained. It is only lately that we are again eating as much as before the war with the difference that today the wealthy classes who were the main meat consumers are eating less, while the poorer sections of the community are eating more. Housewives are buying different kinds of meat -a decrease in the sale of beef has been offset

by increases in pork and poultry both of which have become cheaper while beef is comparatively dearer. The dramatic increase in the consump­tion of poultry is due to the enormous develop­ment of the broiler industry in which Sainsbury's have taken such an active part . Chicken has become instead of a luxury, an everyday dish. Lamb, although relatively cheaper than before the war has retained a fairly even level.

In the eighteenth century ' the great Dealers in Flesh-meat in Southwark and White-chapel have justly complained of late years that they can have no Purchasers for the coarser Parts of Meat, which used formerly to be Sold to the Poor at Low Price, but must now be buried or thrown upon a Dunghil l ' . They are still justly complaining for the expensive cuts are the cuts that arc selling. Housewives are willing to pay extra for a joint or cut that looks appetising, is simple to prepare and has no wastage in fat, this despite the fact that marbled meat has a much better flavour.

Prices and Prejudices With the rise of incomes the consumption of cheap, satisfying food has gone down. Potatoes declined steadily until the war years and even in today's affluent society expenditure on them increases as one moves down the social scale; ordinary potatoes that is. New potatoes which arc a delicate and expensive food come into a different category; so do potato crisps the sale of which has doubled over the past five years and will continue to rise as additional flavours are brought onto the market. Potato chips on the other hand, al though they can be bought ready prepared, have strong working class associations and arc not selling so rapidly. Flour and bread show the same basic pattern - as incomes have grown, bread, which was a fre­quent substitute for cooked meals, is now being replaced by more expensive foods. Bread and j a m are inseparable. As the sale of bread has gone down, j a m has gone down too, although it is one of our oldest manufactured foods, having first been sold ready made in 1880.

Labour Saving Foods The place for the Victorian housewife was in the home and one has only to leaf through Mrs Beaton to sec that no preparat ion of a meal was too lengthy or elaborate. Since the emanci­pation of women and particularly since the last war when most wives were working as well

as running their households, there has been a strong trend for women to favour not only labour-saving devices which cut down house­work, but labour-saving foods which can be quickly cooked after a day a t work and will still be appetising and attractive. This has meant an enormous increase in manufactured foods of all kinds, particularly tinned goods. Domestic purchase of these began in the second half of the last century and when canning was used as a means of importing cheap Australian meat before the days of refrigeration. T h e main items imported before the war were fruit, corned beef, salmon, sardines and condensed milk —the latter has of course gone down as fresh milk has become cheaper. Tinned vegetables however, show a rapid increase. Not only do they save the chore of washing, scraping, cutting muddy vegetables but arc an all-thc-ycar-round pur­chase of what is inherently a seasonal food.

Tinned soup is perhaps the most representa­tive of the convenience foods bought to save the housewife time and add a variety to her menu. Unlike the early canned meat or manufactured j am today's tinned soup, indeed any tinned food, is of uniformly good quality. Sainsbury's now stock sixty lines of soup - over double the number we carried five years ago. This has been made possible not only by manufacturers ' sales cam­paigns but by modern methods of retailing. T h e self-service store is such a large unit that even relatively slow-moving lines have a worthwhile sale. There is moreover, room to display a mul­titude of varieties. Customers who tend to be diffident are more likely to help themselves to a brand they have seen advertised than to ask an assistant for it.

New or Old Tastes A third of today's housewives are considered progressive. Due to advertising campaigns and increased travel facilities families are more will­ing to try food from abroad, al though some­times they have to be disguised with English names; Cheese Flaps, for instance. Nevertheless more and more pre-cooked dishes are based on pasta. The sale of spaghetti has gone up, the sale of tinned Italian tomatoes with it. Herbs and seasonings are once again coming into their own. For many years they were thought a lot of foreign nonsense, yet during the Middle Ages they were used in abundance. Garlic and saffron antedate our English turnip by several hundred years. Continental meats which before the war

29

could only be bought at a specialized shop cater­ing for foreign trade have a place of their own at many new self-service Sainsbury's; salamis, frankfurters, pat6 de foie are becoming part of the national diet.

What's in the can can be bought in the packet. Frozen foods have the same virtues as tinned, they are easy to prepare, attractive, varied - and you don't have to fight with a tin opener. The sale of fresh fish has gone down, but frozen fish is up, with good reason. It is ready prepared, more economical in cases such as plaice where smaller fillets are used and there are conse­quently more portions per pound, and one can buy it along with the rest of the meat and gro­ceries. No doubt products frozen by accelerated freeze drying will have similar success, such AFD items as are already in the shops are selling well.

We are still a nation of tea-drinkers but one of the most marked changes in our habits is reflected in the sale of coffee. Since instant coffee came onto the market consumption has increased from 0-7 lbs per head before the war to P3 lbs in 1955 and 2-1 lbs in 1961. The value of this trade in the Home Counties is now equal to one-third of the tea trade and is far in excess of ground roast coffee. Tea drinking has re­mained fairly constant and attempts at selling instant tea have resulted in failure - the pot of tea and the ritual of making it are deeply in­grained in our way of life. Cocoa which used to be a popular drink is no longer selling so well but soft drinks, squashes, mineral drinks, are

very much on the increase following as so often happens, the American pattern. An iced soft drink or cocktail are a regular feature of Ameri­can life both when eating out or at home.

An Exception Most food has been made more attractive and easier to prepare, incomes are higher and customers are willing to pay extra money for extra convenience. Under such circumstances the sale of fresh fruit and vegetables should have gone up, but they have proved to be the excep­tion to the rule. The horticultural industry which has received no subsidies from the government has had to raise its prices and more could be done to raise sales by means of grading, cleaning, cutting and pre-packing. Before the war the upper income groups bought a lot of vegetables. Only a relatively small increase in consumption has taken place since then, so one is forced to conclude that this is a field which has not been fully explored.

Today's housewife is tempted, cajoled, per­suaded and pampered as never before. Even in the suburbs she can serve a meal of foreign and out-of-season food that would do justice to a restaurateur-and appear at dinner as though she had not been near her kitchen. We think we are traditional in the matter of food. We are nothing of the sort. The speed with which the British have given themselves over to bananas or cus­tard powder, scampi or fish fingers, shows that on the contrary they are as adaptable as a great trading nation should be.

*##f ot£

30

Whatsit No 1 J.S. Journal Puzzle Picture for February. See our next issue for the answer and more Whatsits.

31

Griffin Report

Since the last report, the Club tennis team has retained the Premier Division Championship in the London Business Houses League, when in November it defeated North Thames Gas Board in a play-off. The fact that owing to holidays and other commitments, in no match did we field our strongest side, shows the high standard of play within the Club.

The Golfing Society ended 1963 at Worthing, when the annual Branches v Depot match was played. An enjoyable day's play resulted in the first victory for the Depot.

Table Tennis In the L.B.H. Table Tennis Leagues, the Men's 1st team, in spite of being promoted, arc having a fruitful season and are within a chance of winning their division. The 2nd team and the Ladies' team are holding their own in their res­pective divisions. For the first time, a side has also been playing in the Southwark League and although at present more matches have been lost than won, there is the opportunity for new­comers to have a taste of competitive play. There is a strong entry for the Club Competitions, with past winners of the Men's Singles in C. Hora, B. Gilham, T . Harris and T . Kinchen all enter­ing as well as last year's runner-up, M. Kalb .

The support for Badminton continues and although the Club has not entered a League this season, several friendly matches are being arranged. The American Tournament is again being organized in February and we are hopeful that there will be a good entry.

Darts Netball and Judo The Club Darts Competitions, which still attracts a large entry, are now well under way and will culminate in the Grand Finals Day at the end of April.

The Depot Netball team which competes in the L.B.H. League are finding the going much harder now that they have been promoted but there is keen competition for places in the team.

J u d o classes arc being held again at Black-

32

friars this winter under the direction of Driver J . Gowland, Black belt. New members are always welcome to come along.

Football Prospects In the football sphere, we are having a quiet season during mid-week. ' H ' Section, which had such a successful season last season have been opposed to much stronger teams now that they are in a higher division of the Croydon League and have suffered some heavy defeats. An amal­gamated team from the Thursday sections have formed themselves into a workmanlike side and look like having a long run in the Beckenham Hospital Cup. In the Depot, where there has been a reverting back to Section Football, the Factory has produced a very fine side, one of the strongest Griffin teams for many years and they arc at present leading the Intermediate League in the West End Association. Their and X I , after two initial defeats, has settled down into a competent team. The Warehouse has lost a little ground after a great start, but they are doing very well in view of the fact they only have a limited number of players to select from. T h e combined ' P ' , ' O ' and ' V team have also been more than holding their own and are still in two Cup Competitions at the time of writing. The annual 6-a-Side Tournament is again being held on Good Friday and we would like to see a few more teams playing than last year.

I.ES P O T T E R

Dates to Note Sunday 23rd February - Blackfriars — Badminlon

American Tournament Sunday 8th March — Blackfriars — Table Tennis

Finals Good Friday, 2ylh March - Dulwich - Six-a-Side

Football Tournament Sunday, 12II1 April — Godalming — Golfing Society

Meeting Sunday, 2G1I1 April - Blackfriars - Darts Finals

Congratulations

Miss Muriel Bugdale of our Magdalen Street Branch, Norwich, and Mr Richard Butler who were married on 5th October at St Luke's Church, Norwich.

Miss Yvonne Reece and Mr Leslie Williams who were married on 17th August ig6$ at St Saviour's Church, Lambeth Road, when they were both working at our branch at iy6Streatham Hill They have since transferred to North London.

Film Show

The S.S.A. Cine Club will hold its first public film show on Wednesday, 26th February at J.jo p.m. It will be shown at the Christchurch Industrial Centre — the hall of Christchurch in Blackfriars Road.

Films to be shown include three made by the club: The Calais Trip of the S.S.A. in June last year. The Dulwich Fete - August 1963 am/The Brighton Saga, a film record of the London Brighton Walk. Private films to be shown in the programme are two by Mr J. Bond, Julia and Christmas, and also Bedtime undone by MrR. Maggs Bubble Trouble. Admission to the showing will be by programme only.

33

Staff News

Movements and Promotions

Managers

C. GRIGSON

E. NEWMAN

S. PARTRIDGE

Spare Managers E. SPRIGGS

From 50 Goodmayes to Dagenham From 176 Streatham to Grocery self-service training From Dagenham to 50 Goodmayes

From Spare assisting Mr Hedges to Spare at Southgate

Assistant Managers c. BAYLEY From further training

to Leicester c. BODMAN From 24 Croydon

to 9/11 Croydon p. CARR From Norbury

to 176 Streatham w. COLE From 176 Streatham

to Grocery self-service training

s. COOPER From Tottenham to self-service training

c. A. DOLMAN From further training to Leicester

R. HOPKINS From self-service training to Richmond

R. QJOEMARD From 250 Kentish Town to Bedford

D. SILVERMAN From Seven Kings to Barking

A. J . WARD From Edmonton to Tottenham

T. WILSON From Boreham Wood to Stevenage

Head Butchers F. ELLIS

W. GIBSON

C. MCQUEEN

D. THOMAS

From Eastcote to Hatch End From Pinner to Berkhamsted From Spare to Eastcote From Hatch End to Pinner

Promoted to Spare Head Butcher j . R. PRATT Caterham

40 Years' Service G. H. BATTY Basket Issuer, Paddington w. c. CUDD Manager, Hanwell w. c. HOY Salesman, Northwood w. c. HUNT Assistant Head Butcher,

Chelmsford G. RIDGWAY Manager, Kenton L. G. ROBINSON Manager, St Helier R. SPARROW Head Butcher, Chelsea

Retirements We send our best ivishes to the following colleagues who have just retired.

M r F. Jeyes re t i r - I ed on 31st January. For almost 30 years he had been re­sponsible to Mr Turner for not only the maintenance of our fleet but also for the design and development of the vehicles. Mr Jeyes joined the firm in the summer of 1933 following some 15 years at sea, and held a Master Mariner's Certificate. His first year with the firm was spent in staff engaging and he took over the management of the Motor Engineers at Sail Street in the late summer of 1934. Being a mem­ber of the Royal Naval Reserve he was recalled to service just prior to September 1939 and his service during the war took him to many distant places and included special duties in connection with convoys. He was promoted to Commander during the war which was a rare distinction for a member of the R.N.R. On his release from National Service he resumed his appointment at Sail Street and since that time, of course, his responsibilities have been extended beyond the confines of Sail Street to the fleet maintenance depots at Haverhill and Bunting-ford, and he has been directly concerned in the planning of the new fleet maintenance section at Basingstoke.

A. W. Osborne who originally joined the staff of the factory in 1920, but who was sub­sequently transferred to the Warehouse where he worked until 1947. He returned to the factory in that year. In 1955 he was transferred to the Post Department in Stamford House where he was em­ployed until his retirement on 27th September 1963.

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1955 n e w a s transferred to the Post Department in Stamford House where he was employed until his retirement on 27th September 1963.

G. E. Blackie, who joined the firm as alabourer in the factory in June 1940. At the time of his retirement on 1 st December 1963 he was a special rate labourer in the Sausage Department.

A. C. J o y n e s , who retired from the staff of the factory on 1st December 1963 was engaged in 1938 as a stoker, and was a boilerhouse engineer at the time of his retirement.

An appreciation of the late Mr A. Galpin by Mr F. A. Pagden

The sudden death of A. Galpin came as a very great shock to his family and his very large circle of friends and business colleagues. He started his career with J. S. as a learner in 1930 working at Watney Street and Seven Kings. His training was interrupted by the war when he was on National Service from 1940 to 1946, but on his return he went to Lewisham and Peckham. He was pro­moted to Manager of Catford Hill in 1949, from there to Oxted in 1953, and finally to Haywards Heath in November 1958. His very pleasant manner, and keen sense of humour made him very popular with his colleagues and staff, many of whom will remember him for the very kind and helpful advice he gave them. It seems quite impossible to think that one who in his younger days took such an active interest in outdoor games and enjoyed good health should have passed away so suddenly. He will be sadly missed by all who knew him, and the firm has lost a loyal and trustworthy servant.

MrG.E. Blackie Mr A.C. Joynes

A. B r o w n , who joined the firm in 1953 as a stockman at the abattoir at Haverhill. He died on the 25th November 1963 as a result of an accident whilst cycling to work.

M r s I. L. Fuen t i s , who was engaged as a sales­woman in September 1939 at 176 Streatham. She transferred in 1940 to our branch in Stamford Street and was working here until her death on 20th December 1963. She was a leading saleswoman in charge of the Grocery Department.

C. E. Fuller who retired from the factory, where he was a chargehand, in 1949. He had joined the staff of the factory in 1910 and was promoted to chargehand in 1937. He died on 1st December 1963.

C. R. H o w e s , who was engaged as a day service cleaner for the factory in 1956. He was carrying out the duties of a special rate labourer at the time of his death on 12th November 1963.

C. A. Kenny, who joined the firm in 1954 when our poultry packing station was at East Harling. He transferred to Bury St Edmunds when the processing station opened At the time of his death on 27th December 1963 he was a fully skilled tradesman.

Obituaries We regret to record the death of the following colleagues and send our deepest sympathy to all relatives.

Mr A. Galpin Mrs I. L. Fuentis Mr C. E. Fuller Mr C. R. Howes

WESTERHAM PRESS 35

May 1/2/3/4 The first four May days will be SSA days at Butlin's Bognor Holiday Camp. You'll have seen the details on your notice board by now. Whether you want a fabulous or a family week-end—there's room for both—this is the SSA week-end you'll never ever forget. Swimming, dancing, billiards, eating, bingo, whist drives, more eating, films, theatre, more dancing, more eating still, three bars—one a hundred yards long, big bands, small combos, children's playgrounds, table tennis, more eating and prizes and—in fact the mostest.

BOGNOR BOGNOR BOGNOR BOGNOR BOGNOR BOGNOR