More stories of summer jobs to share this week.

Tony remembers working on the deck chairs on Douglas Promenade over the long, hot summer months.

There were sections at the Villiers, Broadway, the Arches, and Queen’s Promenade, and of course, a stand in the Villa Marina Gardens.

He told me that the best ‘pegs’ were the Villa and Broadway, with more punters and more chairs.

These were saved for the ‘chosen ones’, the only downfall being that they were close to the inspector’s office.

Tony said that he would build a den in the chairs, covering up with the tarpaulin shelter on the wet days for a smoke and a game of cards.

But when the sun was up, it was all go - pushing out the chairs. Sometimes, he thinks they may have forgotten to give out the tickets!

The punters needed their tickets to hand in when they returned their chairs at the end of the session to get a refund. Also, the number of tickets through the machine informed the inspector, Bob, how much cash the lads had to pay over at the close of play.

Tony still remembers when the shout went out from the ‘pegs’ further down the promenade that Bob was checking the beach to ensure punters had been given tickets - there would be a mad dash to push out tickets to those they had forgotten.

A little politically incorrect, but Tony says that ‘health and safety’ had not killed the fun back then, and many a thumb was crushed during the season.

The attendants were all warned not to lie on top of the stacks, as they could slide and you could be hurt. So, guess what? Tony lay on the stack, and very soon after, he was in an ambulance with his neck, legs, and feet immobilised until he had an X-ray.

All turned out fine, but Bob did give him serious grief the next day.

From this high-powered job, it was on to running ‘shotgun’ on TD Lowey’s food delivery vans, operating out of what has more recently been the Talbot Blinds premises in Derby Square. The warehouse could also be reached via Green Lane behind the main building.

Tony has reminded me, by raising this employment, that I also, for a very short time, worked for Mr Lowey in these premises when he opened it up as the first proper discount store, ‘Savewell’. Anyone else remember it? Stocked with everything you could think of - from transistor radios to alarm clocks and much more.

Tony told me that, once again, health and safety was forgotten, as he, along with a good mate, tied three or four ladders together with rope so they could paint the outside of the building - all for a few extra shillings.

I remember later, the store became a premises for paint materials and so on for John J. Bell. What fun, Tony! And don’t worry, your secrets are safe with me!

Would anyone like to join Tony in organising a petition to bring back Spangles?

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It was really nice to hear from Henry Christian, an Examiner subscription holder who presently lives in Hampshire and left his island home some 60 or so years ago. He was born and brought up at 2 Poplar Road in Douglas.

Like myself, he attended Murray’s Road Junior School, followed by Ballakermeen and the Douglas High School for Boys.

After studying at London University, he took up a career in teaching - firstly at Liverpool Collegiate School and then later at the International School in Hamburg and the European Schools in Brussels and Munich.

This experience chimes with my own family, with my dad’s brothers, Godfrey, Ron, and Harry, and sister, Margaret, all following a career in education, some of whom remained in the UK.

His first job, during the time when he was still at school, was working at S.R. Keig’s, the photographer on Circular Road.

This entailed going around Douglas, especially along the promenade, on a bicycle with a box over the handlebars to collect films from a number of photo and chemist shops to bring back to Keig’s for developing and printing.

During his university years in the early 1960s, his summer job was working as a bus conductor on the distinctive yellow Douglas Corporation Transport buses.

His father, Tommy Christian, worked for Douglas Corporation Transport as a joiner but, in the busy summer holiday season, was required to drive buses instead. So, on occasions, they worked on the same bus!

Henry’s father had two weeks' holiday a year, which was normal in those days, and was only allowed to take it at the end of the holiday season—September if he was lucky or October if he wasn’t. Thus, having a family holiday together in the summer was virtually impossible, as Henry was back at school when his dad was on holiday.

During the relatively short but very busy summer season, the hours were long and the leisure time short. They worked a seven-day week with only two evenings off.

A typical day might start at 11.30am, with a meal break between 3.30pm and 5pm, and could continue through to the late evening and the last bus.

On only two days a week did they have evenings off, starting at 7am and finishing at 5 or 6pm.

Despite the hours, Henry enjoyed the work, and for a student, it paid well.

At a time when the average weekly wage would have been £10 or £12, they earned - if he remembers correctly - with overtime, about £20.

As a bus conductor, there was a different driver every day, and in nearly all cases, they were very friendly and helpful. With the short turnaround times on the corporation buses, an ability to drink tea quickly was certainly an advantage, and Henry remembers some took to drinking their tea out of a saucer to speed up the process - something I remember my own grandad doing.

Quite a number of the drivers were keen on the horses, initially using bookies’ runners before the arrival of the betting shops.

From what he remembers, studying racing form whilst at work was made much easier by the fact that the racing page of the Daily Mirror seemed to fit perfectly into the large, fairly flat steering wheel of a double-decker bus!

The visiting passengers were generally happy, as they were on holiday and, for the most part, came from Glasgow or Lancashire during the Wakes Weeks.

However, the job could be much more challenging in the late evenings when the pubs closed. Entertainment in Douglas in the early 1960s was considerable and varied, with quite a number of theatres, cinemas, and ballrooms for both visitors and locals to choose from.

It was not uncommon to see ladies on the bus in the daytime wearing curlers so as to look their finest for the evening’s dancing to the big bands at the Villa Marina, Palace, or Derby Castle Ballroom!

Henry has shared a little information about some shops at the time, which I will pass on in a future piece. But for now, a sincere thanks to Tony and Henry for your colourful insight into times past!