Penny Black’s Insurance Week - 25 September

The literature included helpful tips for females in the industry, though some may question if the advice was more Stone Age than Summer of Love! “Girls who have a good general education, show initiative and common sense, and are proficient at shorthand and typing can progress to… interesting work as private secretaries to senior officials,” the CII advised. “Those who possess leadership and can exercise authority wisely may become heads of typing departments.” Such exciting prospects! On a similar topic of times a-changin’, Penny was amused to hear Adrian Brown reveal that when he joined the top table at RSA in the 1990s, “management dining” was a regular occurrence. Such soirées would see senior staff holed up in a private dining room for most of every Friday, with champagne free flowing. The impoverished masses, of course, munched their sandwiches in the staff canteen. Spoilsport Brown ended the practice within three weeks.

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