Behind the Wireless (eBook)

Kate Murphy is Senior Lecturer at Bournemouth University, UK, where she leads the BA (Hons) History programme. Prior to this, she worked at the BBC for twenty-four years, predominantly as a Senior Producer on Radio 4’s Woman’s Hour. She is the author of Firsts: British Women Achievers.

Dedication 6
Acknowledgements 8
Contents 10
List of Abbreviations 14
Chapter 1: Introduction 15
1.1 Reconstructing BBC Women’s Lives 22
1.2 Notes 26
Photographs 26
BBC Terminology 27
Money and Earnings 27
Chapter 2: ‘Growing Like a Young Giant’: The BBC as a Place to Work 28
2.1 From Magnet House to Broadcasting House 31
2.2 BBC Hierarchies 36
2.3 Being Waged, Being Salaried 39
2.4 Being Younger, Being Older 43
2.5 High Heels, Low Heels 46
2.6 Perks, Clubs and Associations 50
2.7 John Reith and BBC Women 54
2.8 Conclusion 58
Chapter 3: ‘Women Who Oil the Wheels’: Waged Women at the BBC 60
3.1 Getting an Office Job at the BBC 64
3.2 The Women’s Staff Administrator 66
3.3 The General Office 71
3.4 The BBC ‘Secretary’ 73
3.5 The Telephone Exchange and  Duplicating Office 78
3.6 The BBC Clerk 81
3.7 Women House Staff 83
3.8 Promotion to the Salaried Grades 87
3.9 Conclusion 92
Chapter 4: ‘Only an Exceptional Woman’: Married Women at the BBC 95
4.1 The Marriage Bar in Interwar Britain 96
4.2 Married Women at the BBC: Before the Bar 100
4.3 Married Women at the BBC: A Change in Attitude 103
4.4 Married Women at the BBC: The Introduction of the Marriage Bar 108
4.5 The BBC Marriage Tribunal 110
4.6 Married Women at the BBC Post-1932 117
4.7 The Abolition of the BBC Marriage Bar 119
4.8 Conclusion 125
Chapter 5: ‘New and Important Careers’: Salaried Women at the BBC 127
5.1 Being Salaried at the BBC 131
Librarian 135
Accompanist 138
Children’s Hour Organiser 140
Advertising Representative 142
Drama Producer 144
School Broadcaster 147
Assistant Editor 149
Social Documentary Maker 151
5.2 ‘On the same footing as men?’ Recruitment, Mobility and Pay 153
Inequality in Recruitment 154
Inequality in Promotion 156
Inequality in Pay 157
The Case of Mary Candler 160
5.3 Conclusion 162
Chapter 6: ‘Women Who Rule at the BBC’: Four Elite Women 164
6.1 Being Elite at the BBC 167
6.2 Mary Somerville (1897–1963) 170
6.3 Hilda Matheson (1888–1940) 179
6.4 Isa Benzie (1902–1988) 186
6.5 Mary Adams (1898–1984) 192
6.6 Conclusion 198
Chapter 7: ‘When They Have Their Cup of Tea’: Making Programmes for Women 200
7.1 Being a Talks Assistant at the BBC 202
7.2 Ella Fitzgerald, ‘Women’s Hour’ 206
7.3 Elise Sprott and Hilda Matheson, ‘Household Talks’/‘Morning Talks’ 211
7.4 Margery Wace, ‘At Home Today’ 218
7.5 Janet Quigley, ‘Tea Time Talks’ 224
7.6 Conclusion 228
Chapter 8: ‘You Feel Their Personal Touch’: Women Broadcasters 231
8.1 Being a Woman Broadcaster on the BBC 233
8.2 Marion Cran, Celebrity Gardener 237
8.3 Ray Strachey, Daytime All-Rounder 240
8.4 Beatrice Webb, Evening Grandee 243
8.5 Mrs Edna Thorpe, ‘Ordinary’, ‘Average’ Housewife 246
8.6 ‘Men Talking’ and ‘The Woman’s Point of View’ 248
8.7 Women Announcers, the Sheila Borrett Experiment 251
8.8 Women Commentators, the Triumph of Olga Collett 255
8.9 Conclusion 259
Chapter 9: Conclusion 261
Epilogue: A Brief Encounter with 90 Further Years 267
Appendix 1 277
Grades and Wage Bands: Weekly Paid Staff 277
Appendix 2 278
Grades and Salary Bands: Salaried Staff 278
Appendix 3 280
Women Who Earned £500 or more per Annum (1939) 280
Bibliography 282
Books 282
Book Chapters, Journal Articles, Thesis, Unpublished memoirs 288
Index 290