“Very strict but very good …”: Women’s memories of rules and regulations at the Rowntree factory, York
Uniform
The wearing of uniform could also be a highly gendered, and gendering, activity. Women on the shop floor had to wear an overall and cap (known as a turban) to work. A note following the rule on uniform in the works rule book of 1947 advised them:
“A Clean Cap and Overall Properly Worn Make An Attractive Uniform. A Workmanlike Appearance Is The Best Of Styles For The Workroom.”
There is a definite appeal to a perceived “feminine” concern with “attractiveness” and “style” rather than an awareness of the practicalities of working with food,
although the irony of referring to an archetypal “male” worker is striking. It was not until 1953 that the same rules were applied to men. It is telling that clothing
from this point was provided and renewed by the firm, whereas previously the responsibility and expense of wearing a uniform rested entirely with the women themselves.
Women’s attitudes towards uniform wavered between acceptance of the rationale behind clothing rules within a food industry and small subversive acts which reasserted control over their own bodies. Photographs from the factory magazine in the 1960s are highly suggestive of how women (particularly young girls) would continue to follow the fashions of the day, with beehive hairstyles scarcely covered by the regulation headscarves.
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