SOME 50 young, go-ahead women in the Glasgow area had applied by February 1960 to work as couriers with the Royal Automobile Club in the city - having decided, in the judgment of the Evening Times’s ‘Young Look’ page, that mere office desks and shop counters were not for them. Every last one of them, it was said, wanted to ride a scooter, wear a smart uniform and talk cars for a living.
There was, however, only one vacancy; and the lucky applicant would be joining Molly Robertson, who for the last couple of years, said the paper, “has been the pioneer ‘Patrolette’ (just another name for courier in the Glasgow and district area.”
“Specialised mechanical knowledge is something you don’t need for this job - you can easily learn all you require.” Patience, personality, and the ability to talk to people were what the successful courier needed, she added.
The dress uniform consisted of jacket, skirt and cap, complete with club badges, but when out on the scooter the uniform was much more practical: blue oilskin, crash helmet, heavy gloves. “For this job,” Molly added, “you’ve just got to be weather-proof, because you must be prepared to stop at any minute to give advice of a helping hand to a passing motorist.”
Read more:
Herald DiaryIf the job sounded like too much hard work, the Evening Times counselled, then the successful new applicant would come summer, be working in a nearby holiday resort with a little mobile office as her headquarters,
The starting wage for a courier’s job was around £7 per week, but with subsistence bonus and commission added (to say nothing of the free uniform) - well, then, “the smart girl can find herself earning £10 quite easily.”
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