Short skirts and shorthand

A record of office life as it was experienced by secretaries in the 1970s, the last decade before computers began to change ways of working forever.

Based on the reminiscences of more than 60 women, the book vividly recreates that world of typewriters, telephones and Tippex, and is packed with anecdotes that will surprise, amuse, and horrify!

Amazon

ebook (multiple formats)

 

Contents

 

Something you just became

Why girls became secretaries, choice or chance; learning the skills of shorthand, typing and office practice, getting the first job.

 

A day in the life

The secretarial hierarchy and the daily routine, taking dictation and typing, lunch and tea breaks, and the many 'extra duties' peculiar to each post.

Temperatures, typewriters and subversive trousers

Office buildings, from house conversions to new open-plan, smokey rooms and trilling phones; office equipment such as typewriters, telex machines, Tippex, photocopiers and Gestetners; and what what clothes were considered suitable for office staff, from uniforms to hotpants.

A wife without the love

How accurately were secretaries depicted in the media?  A look at the 'office wife' leads us to consider what their real relationships were like with their bosses, good and bad.

The sexy secretary

Another popular image is of the secretary as sexy, a dolly bird.  How true was it?  What was the level of sexual harassment in 1970s' offices, and how did women deal with it?

 

The secretarial trap

Secretarial work was often seen as a dead end, especially by feminist writers, but was this true? It was for some, but others 'escaped' to achieve stellar careers while many were happy to stay in the role as it changed over the years.

 

 

The job carousel

What were the pay and conditions for seventies' secretaries? How did they find work and was there any discrimination? Working abroad or as a temp, leaving a job and redundancy. 

 

A history of the future

How automation, first with word processing and then with computers, first demeaned the work of secretaries and then changed it forever - and a look at what has been gained and lost. in the process.