Vintage Southern Railway film - Ladies only - 1943

[@markjosephbudgieridgard]

What a little gem of a film so enjoyable..... I little snapshot of life in wartime Britain.... Great stuff 👍

[@phaasch]

This narration could easily be a Cholmondley- Warner spoof "But wait a minute- this woman is about to offer a disastrous and foolhardy opinion of her own!" My mother worked for DeHavillands during the war, but this film, interesting as it is, grates. "A Canterbury Tale" from 1943 is one of the finest records of women at war, because it incorporates their roles into the narrative without the least hint of fanfare or virtue signalling. Running the land, driving buses, working in signal boxes. It deals with it as matter of factly as it does with the mysogynistic central character of the film. Worth a watch, if you haven't seen it.

[@direktorpresident]

"...serving somebody else's joint and two veg..."

[@grantbeerling4396]

Superb film, and yes very matter of fact about the land army/post/bus driver/train signal women Though the village idiot scene is a bit uncomfortable in 2021.

[@phaasch]

@@grantbeerling4396 Agreed. It's the one scene which grates in an otherwise marvellous film.

[@xr6lad]

@@phaasch the entire thing grates. It’s condescending. And I’m not the most PC person in the world (in fact not at all) but geez, recognise it for what it is. Don’t try to fluff it.

[@luislaplume8261]

Oh that Southern Railway! I was thinking of the Southern Railway of America which ran south to Florida and other Southern states. 😊

[@robertweissman4850]

Excellent little film. Interesting to see that Brighton Station appears in it quite a lot.

[@johnd8892]

At 10:45 some sensible eye protection in use. Should have been more of it given the high rate of eye injuries in industry back then.

[@guytruth5598]

Very general life video, with the feel of tranquillity of the yesteryear, watching it makes oneself nostalgic and de-stress. 👍👍👍🙏🙏☕

[@timwebster8122]

Victoria on the capston lathe. Could be my grandma Ivy. Respect to you all. Xx

[@RHR-221b]

Excellent insight, Be Bro Ra. To reverse an old saying: 'When women were women, and men were glad of it.' Thank you. R 🍻😎

[@RUOKH]

Wonderful annunciation by the narrator - this is the way all women should speak today. Oh, happy days! 😀

[@althejazzman]

He had to make sure to roll his R's when asking the women to "strip trees". Such brilliant little puns in this.

[@3xfaster]

…all right, where’s Rosie?! I wanna see some hot rivets driven home! 5:55 there we go!

[@lawrencelewis2592]

Rosie worked in Willow Run, Michigan building B-24s. She died about 10 years ago.

[@jfchonors8873]

10:00. Love the composing stick and California job case

[@sgtg4600]

God help us. They’ll be giving them the vote next!

[@jimeditorial]

At this rate, we'll have to give them the same pay for the same work!

[@simonf8902]

The UK only gave all women the vote in the 1920s. Bad show there Britain.

[@xr6lad]

@@simonf8902 1894 it started in the Colony of South Australia when they were given the vote and allowed to stand for Parliament then spread to the other Australian colonies and the Commonwealthi. 1902.

[@wealdhurstmodelrailway9666]

There are hundreds of countries in 2022 where no one votes, regardless of genitalia.

[@davids8449]

AT LEAST THE MILK MAN CAME WITH THE MILK FOR THE HOUSE WIFE. Just a joke a very interesting public information film, thank you for posting. My father was German soldier ww2 so I am familiar with both sides. Living in Britain

[@jimmeltonbradley1497]

This is priceless. "Women know your limits", say Grayson and Mr Chalmondley-Warner.

[@Coltnz1]

Those compartments were for ladies only. Women had to rough it with the men.

[@joanchka5067]

That has to be the poshest voice ever

[@dennisroyhall121]

Don’t tell her your compliment’ll go her head! But she’s speaking Standard English and no less desirable than correct rendering of the spoken word should be! It is the slang, easy and lazy lack of grammatical respect for language which is at fault like for example the American version of the command term “ enjoy “ which is a transitive verb and just saying Enjoy to English ears begs the riposte or retort “Enjoy what?!” But too late and too bad the damage is done....bad seeds sewn they no longer want to know.... why make life difficult said Blair, let’s abolish grammar and all the illiterates with votes jeered “Right!” adding “ Ole Blare eez aw rite, ‘’ee eez! Oi vo’edd fur ‘eem, oi deed! An’ ain’ Oi grate?“.

[@johnlunnun9769]

And isn’t it lovely to hear it!

[@simonf8902]

Deliciously received English. Not standard English.

[@johnlunnun9769]

@@simonf8902, and as the other person remarked, I don’t think it was excessively posh, there was nothing excruciating about it! We just heard decent English spoken in a decent way, and I might add, totally understandable!

[@simonf8902]

@@johnlunnun9769 I think it was a lovely voice. Very natural and clear. Not posh or plummy.

[@simontaylor2319]

What a backward country we seemed to be in those days. Scraping tree trunks to make telegraph poles, manually sawing, girls lifting concrete channels, without gloves and precious few overalls. Luv the comment "whatever a container contains is as much a mystery to us as a sausage or shephers pie" - still true!

[@Daytona2]

+12:13 efficient container handling 😁👍

[@laurenceskinnerton73]

Interesting.

[@jozefbubez6116]

Railways aside, in her book, "The privelige of being a Woman", the late Alice von Hildebrand writes, not of the supremacy of woman over man, but an ascendancy. A woman is capable of reaching a higher degree of perfection than a man, but, can also sink to a lower level of depravity as witnessed, for example, in some of the Nazi concentration camps.

[@xr6lad]

Bllcks as they say in Britain. Was that just to absolve your self esteem? Not only are they both as equally bad - when I last checked the entire idea, system, transport, build and supervision was generally by men.

[@jozefbubez6116]

@@xr6lad My comment relates to what the late Alice von Hildebrand wrote - absolution of self-esteem is not my concern. You might care to look up this book, the work of an intellect of unusual perception. In passing, I might just mention that her husband Dietrich's claim to fame was to publish an anti-Nazi newspaper a week after Hitler came to power. For this, Hitler condemned him to death but he managed to escape from Germany so the sentence was never carried out. We might also abstain from 'prosaic' lamguage in these online discussions!

[@grantbeerling4396]

Thank god we have moved on from such patronising RP scripts, but then there is still is Love Island.... Great everyday scenes, the soot and grime of the steam age.

[@norbertnedsworth7172]

Not sure. At least every word could be heard and understood back then. I don't know what they'd have made of (some) rap music with its liberal sprinkling of the n-word and mofo.

[@paulreilly3904]

It's a pity there's not more of it

[@billpugh58]

The dirt, I can remember london before the Goddamn commie socialist labour woke clean air act. It was s$&t, black filthy and smog laden. But let’s still attack those woke greens who wanted to change it! We hate the. We hate them we hate them!!!!

[@guidocrimes542]

Not patronising at all, clear concise narration

[@xr6lad]

@@norbertnedsworth7172 yes and not even 5% of the population even spoke like that.

[@donreed]

"Scenario: Hugh Farrar." "You Go Far," get it, yuk yuk. The writer wanted "Hugo Farr," but the RR PR worms said, no, that's too obvious.

[@simontaylor2319]

Luv the commentary.....very dry. But wouldn't many of these women rather preferred to have joined the forces at home, so that they could meet American GIs perchance?

[@nikerailfanningttm9046]

we had a Southern here in the states, but they are almost alike both the UK Southern and US Southern, one this is true for the both of them: "SOUTHERN SERVES THE SOUTH!"

[@kiwitrainguy]

Both Britain and the US each had a Great Northern Railway as well.

[@markgoddard2560]

British jovial war propaganda, taken over by advertising after the war and still patronising women today.

[@xr6lad]

The entire last two years was propaganda to with the public was not allowed to make comments in the media, and now it’s happening with the war. Living in the west and a history buff I’ve never seen such contrived written propaganda articles in my life. It reminds me of the news I’ve read between 39-45. No one allowed to comment or deviate or question what has been decided.

[@perkinscrane]

Bay bay!

[@glynwelshkarelian3489]

Britain conscripted women from late 1941. Germany not only never did, but actively encouraged women to stay at home. You could argue that the UK, and the USA, in WWII were models of Socialism. Direction of labour; state control of the economy; equal distribution of food; and all done better than the Nazis or the Soviets.

[@xr6lad]

I thought they did aka total war but it was far too late to mean anything - like the last 10 months. Plus I believe they continued to make some consumer goods to keep up moral rather than converting all factories to war or food production as H didn’t want to damage moral on the home front.

[@glynwelshkarelian3489]

@@xr6lad You are correct, and the Nazis used slave labour, which partly made up for not having total mobilisation. Like everything else: when one man's decisions overrides a whole nation's, things are going to go bad. It's just a shame for the World that it happened in Germany, a country so efficient it took Hitler and 6 years of war to break it.

[@stuarthall6631]

Oh, oh, oh...... in the happy days before wokery!

[@robertarobot8046]

I thought the opposite... the patronising script could easily be a 2021 woke script for other minorities... "plucky, significant importance played during history by you minority types.." We haven't changed when it comes to PR.

[@dennisroyhall121]

@@robertarobot8046 : I agree, in fact for an uncomfortable five or so minutes I was expecting the narrator - or ought that to be ‘ narratress ‘ ye gods - would come up with something like ‘ how women and women alone won the war and did everything else and without even a penny payment into the bargain ! But that said, I hasten to add that nothing she says is untrue only perhaps a) the way ie the tone she says it and b) that she speaks for her own lot/band/group or sex as though no one else was doing anything. Equality? she might say you bet and/but with a Menu! No, but seriously tasteless is always that near narcistic harping of praising your own lot....let others do it when and where they think fit, otherwise she sounds like a salesperson on the doorstep or a football crowd bragging for their own side! The film “Millions Like Us” was / is and ever will be truly magnificent as were the Women of England then and always! I know ‘cos I’m an Oldie and I saw, knew and met many of them during the War and they were all really wonderful - and far better than this person yakking on in this film! In fact am certain they would have told her where to get off an’ no messin’ !

[@simonf8902]

Not for middle class ladies please !

[@Irena_Posner]

I kind of don't see it. By 1950, one of my grandmothers was an industrial chemist ordering workers around a chemical plant. The other at that time was an engineer designing bridges and steel constructions. Both came from urban middle class homes. 🤷

[@usvalve]

Fortunately, patronising women and writing excruciating puns were reserved occupations, so plucky women wearing berets but no eye or ear protection were not needed for that.

[@simonf8902]

Working class only need apply. British class system.

[@simonf8902]

Aimed purely at working class females.

[@kiwitrainguy]

But spoken in a manner that they would barely understand.

[@simonf8902]

@@kiwitrainguy true. So true.

[@Vortigan07]

Had it not been for the war, we may never have known the benefits of multi-purpose lesbians!

[@steveluckhurst2350]

Woman - know your place!

[@williamscott2703]

The,women,and,children,first

[@InCAdocumentaries]

Just who was a film like this targeted at? Women, to encourage them to join the War Effort? Hearing such a posh lady patronising them like this must have put some backs up. All the stuff about "a modern Boadicea..." It's a really snooty script, with references to a "bridge party" which turns out to be a group of women painting a bridge: such an elegant little joke, my dear! And the climb up to the crane being "good for the figure." The final few sentences are prize-winning. Somehow, I get the feeling that a committee of self-important men put this little film together, script and all. Look at the credits: Hugh Farrar did the 'Scenario'. Hal Morey did the camerawork and editing. Margaret Simpson is the cut-glass accented "commentator" (voice over). And the Director? Given no credit. It was all just "produced" out of the ether by the Southern Railway. It feels like a Party Political Broadcast for the Conservatives, but the net effect would have been to drive me to vote Labour, as so many people did in 1945.

[@lawrencelewis2592]

Yes, but you have to consider the times. That was the way it was for women back then.

[@xr6lad]

Those would be the same reactionary Conservatives that have had 3 females PM’s and an Indian? Meanwhile Labour has had…..white men. And you were saying? And it was Labour unions that resisted woman in many ‘male’ jobs…..

[@xr6lad]

Jesus even as a middle aged man who is hardly PC - even I find the commentary condescending in the extreme. Probably the worse I’ve watched from this period. You’d think woman couldn’t wipe their bck sides watching this without a guy guiding them.

[@meganbreeze763]

And most of the images of war about the men who fought on the front lines and the women at home waiting, and baking for them to come home. So far from the truth.

[@kenhunt9434]

It was a pity that women were paid less than men for doing the same job

[@richardscathouse]

Bullshit

[@jacobmoss6830]

@@richardscathouse It’s historical fact during the war that this was the case. Though the reasoning was surprisingly more economical rather than gender based. As Britannia’s financial reserves got lower and lower so when women came into the workforce their wages where lower.

[@donreed]

@@jacobmoss6830 Why in the world would an economic decision forced on payrolls be a result considered to be "surprising"?

[@jacobmoss6830]

@@donreed It's more the fact that with gender stereotypes of the time it's easy to see it as Women = Lower Wages, when in fact the gender didn't factor into it for the most part. It's less surprising to those in the know but more surprising to those not.

[@tomkent4656]

What an awful script.

[@Flubbydubbydoodoo]

Let’s see how your script has aged 80 years from now. Idiot.

[@LordTantrums007]

This was when Britain was truly British and women were put to work LOL!

[@stephenholmes1036]

A woman signalling !!!

[@davidreed9671]

And what about the trans and bi community ?

[@donreed]

Baggage cars.

[@lawrencelewis2592]

Yes, and the LGB2S+MGBGTwhatever? The love that dare not speak it's name is now the love that won't shut the fuck up for five minutes.

[@xr6lad]

@@donreed I’m sorry about your father. Was it quick or did he manage to slip on that frock?

[@xr6lad]

@@lawrencelewis2592 sounds like your wife’s legs…

[@lawrencelewis2592]

@@xr6lad My ex-wife.