VSW043 Margaret Morris, Addis, Swansea;Mettoys, Fforestfach

Margaret left school at 15 (1964) and started in Addis, until her son was born in 1971. She made plastic pegs but had many accidents – cuts on her hands. She was moved to work in the mill – coating - dipping wood. They used Bostick to stick bristles – fumes made you high. Heavy work to lift trays. She also made eyelash brushes. Socialising at weekends. You put in an order if you wanted any factory goods. The factory also made Xmas trees. The paint place was outside the main buildings because of safety. Ten minutes only to have a smoke in the toilet. Paid through the bank. After this she went to Mettoys. She liked making garages – her first job, then she was moved to the conveyor belt. She worked with two hands putting wheels on toy cars. She stayed there c. 2 years. Had to keep going in Mettoys, The girls would send sweets down the line to one another. Or a note – SMILE! They learned to lip-read. At Xmas they could buy bags of toys – rejects. They had a pedal to push to note how many cars were done. If you were fast – earned a bonus. Men fetched and carried the components (windows / doors etc) to them.