I WAS very interested in your articles re Dubarry’s.

I started work there in 1938 and my job was labelling the talcum powder bottles – all by hand.

I remember we did a gross at a time and then they were checked by the manageress. If one label was slightly crooked, we had to go through them all again.

I also remember hand pleating each tablet of soap with a damp sponge and cellophane (quite an art) then sticking the label on the centre of the pleats.

My first wage was seven shillings and six pence (37 and a half pence) but the next week was 10 shillings (50p).

We were graded, so the more work you managed in a certain time, the more wages you got, i.e. 10 shillings, 12 shillings and 6 pence or 15 shillings the top grade.

They were very strict there, but happy days and, of course, we did smell good. I was just 14 at the time.

J Bodle, Ingram Crescent, Hove