Description:This white cap is one of a number of items donated by Amelia Drew, an employee at Cadbury’s Bournville Works during the early twentieth century. This particular cap dates from 1941 and, therefore, it contains the Utility Mark CC41. Utility clothing was introduced during World War Two as part of the clothing rationing initiative. Utility products were mass produced essential items of clothing, including uniforms.
During the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, female employees at Cadbury were required to make and maintain their own uniforms. Pamela Horn states in her article 'Women Workers in the 1920s: Cadbury’s of Bournville' that each female employee was allocated a quantity of fabric by their forewoman to make two uniforms.<small><sup>1</sup></small> Classes at the Day Continuation School also taught girls how to make their uniforms. Strict rules applied to the use of the Cadbury’s uniform, particularly that it was not to be worn outside the factory grounds. Changing rooms and showers were provided early on so that girls, who often walked the four miles from the city centre, could change on arrival. Laundry facilities were also provided, for which, <a href="http://www.search.suburbanbirmingham.org.uk/engine/resource/default.asp?resource=1805">laundry tokens</a> could be purchased.
Whilst the uniform was an established part of the company’s visual image, it also related an important element of its food production – hygiene. The white uniform represented an attempt to limit the levels of external contamination within the factory. Other forms of monitoring included standards of personal hygiene. In the minutes of the Women’s Works Council the white uniform is discussed in some detail, particularly in reference to the upkeep of cleanliness and repair expected by the company. High standards of health and hygiene not only represented the moral standing of the employee, but also help Cadbury promote its healthy workforce as a refection of the quality and care that went into producing their goods.
Whilst the majority of the female workforce on the factory floor wore white uniforms, there were some examples where the uniform deviated from this, for example, the women working in the cocoa workrooms wore brown uniforms and the forewomen wore a green blouse with a white pinafore.
<font color="#666633"><small><sup>1</sup> Pamela Horn, ‘Women Workers in the 1920s: Cadbury’s of Bournville’, Genealogists’ Magazine (March 1994), p.400</small></font>