Hunters’ service with a smile

Stanley Gordon’s memories of Dundee’s old Wellgate have prompted a nostalgic response from Craigie reader Eveline Davies.

The Invergowrie resident has been fondly looking back almost 60 years to her first paid employment as a wet-behind-the-ears teenager starting out part-time at one of the long-gone thoroughfare’s iconic retailers of the day.

Eveline says her eyes were certainly opened on entering the world of work, although the sometimes tricky situations she found herself in eventually proved worth putting up with on account of the pay packet she picked up!

She remembers: “In 1964 I was 16 and found a Saturday job in Hunters department store with the help of my uncle’s father Bob Bell, manager of the carpet department.

“I started in the gents department, which was across two floors, and it was quite daunting for me – and the men – leading them to the basement to measure their inside leg.

“I then moved to ladies lingerie where my most vivid memory was extricating Playtex rubber girdles from tubes and rolling them into a tight circle on the floor for the lady to step into. They were then rolled up the legs and forcibly manoeuvred to cover all the lumps and bumps of buxom ladies.

“Next came the hardware department but selling pot scourers was not so memorable!

“Money was tight and most purchases were with Provident cheques. My wage was 10/6d (52.5p), but with that I bought all my own clothes and still had money to go to the cinema, coffee shops, buy sweets and save. Happy days!”

Craigie’s thanks go to Eveline for passing on her great story. If you have any Wellgate memories worth sharing we’d love to hear from you.