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Marking chocolates by hand
Marking chocolates by hand
Listen to Lillian explain why she enjoyed working at Rowntrees (17 seconds)
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Enjoying It

"but I enjoyed the years working — I enjoyed the women and the singing and the outings — and I enjoyed the work" (Gladys)

Women had many reasons for enjoying their work at Rowntrees. Sometimes it was simply because they were able to do it or were “used to it.” For instance, Alice remembered how she loved ‘cupping,’ putting the Black Magic sweets into separate paper cups, because she could “just…do them very quick.”

Many women, including Lily, also enjoyed the artistic side of the work – hand-piping patterns on the chocolates and packing them into beautifully designed boxes. Lily remembers, “it was a lovely presentation with hand-piping to what it is now with the machines.” Box-making, particularly in the days before ‘flat-pack’ boxes, was another area in which the women could be creative.

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