CURIOUS JOBS

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 69, Issue 159, 18 April 1949, Page 6

CURIOUS JOBS

SHOE TESTING T^SK One of the most famous BBC comedians is Jack Warner, who gained much of his hold over listeners by his songs about people with funny occupations. The first one was the “bunger-up of rat holes,” then came the “shaveroff of hairs from gooseberries,” the “cutter-up of codheads” and the “chopper-up of chilis for the chutney.”

There were dozens of them and to date Mr Warner —now more of a film than radio star, although he still likes to broadcast when he can—has recounted the histories of well over a hundred of these people with funny occupations. Most of Warner’s funny bceupatrons are mythical but Peggy Robertshaw, who broadcast in the BBC’s Radio Newsreel recently, is real enough and sire has a very funny occupation—she is a shoe tester. Every day she presents herself at the office of a wellknown firm in the North of England which specialises in rubber footwear. There she puts on a pair of,their shoes and sets off to walk twelve miles.

If it is a wet day she can tramp round art galleries or museums, if it is fine and lovely weather she probably takes a train out into the country and does her twelves miles there. She knows when she has .done her daily dozen by the pedometer on her leg, -which is checked when she'goes back to the office.

1 Peggy wears the same pair of shoes eve’ry day until a fault develops. Then she reports this to the technical manager and is given a new pair. Times vary but the average pair of shoes goes about three hundred miles before it becomes faulty. Peggy finds shoe testing much more to her liking than office work, and healthier too. She loves walking and has done 42,000 miles in her arduous job. In all those miles her feet have never ached and she has never had a corn, which is a pretty high compliment to the shoes she has worn.