DOOT: 449.—Other Workers

A Dictionary of Occupational Terms Based on the Classification of Occupations used in the Census of Population, 1921.

Sub-order 1.—Makers of Foods

449.—Other Workers

acid man, acid pot man (sugar refining)

pours standard strength sulphuric or phosphoric acid from carboys into open wooden or lead-lined vats under direction of inversion man (448) q.v.

assistant (char house-sugar refining)

assists leading hand (char house) (448) q.v.; stands by tanks and skims scum from glucose liquor; takes sample and reports to leading hand if he considers that liquor is badly filtered, etc., and watches to see that liquor in tanks does not overflow; runs water into, and out of cleaning tanks through the char filters for charcoal washing.

assistant ovenman ; oven assistant, oven feeder

assists ovenman (433) q.v. by placing and removing bread, cakes, biscuits, etc., in and from fixed or rotary oven.

blancher, almond

immerses almonds (or other nuts) in hot water until skins are loosened; shakes in wire baskets to detach skins, and runs cold water through contents of baskets until skins are washed away.

bleacher, ginger

(i) places ginger in revolving drums; sets drums in motion by moving a lever or switch; ignites sulphur beneath drums to bleach it; removes ginger from drums when process is complete; usually spends part time in other work, e.g. in filling and emptying, or shifting barrels of ginger;

(ii) fills tumbler with ginger; mixes liquid bleacher, according to recipe, and pours over ginger; closes tumbler and turns wheel which, by means of gears, causes tumbler to rotate; after specific interval, turns up tumbler, allowing bleacher to drain from ginger, and shovels or tips out ginger, removing it in trays to drying room; may regulate temperature of drying room by steam, hot air, valves, etc.

bleaching tank attendant (margarine) ; fuller's earth attendant (margarine)

attends to bleaching tanks, in which oils intended for manufacture of margarine are treated with fuller's earth to take away any impurity in colour; weighs or measures and adds bleaching agent to oil which flows into tanks from washing tanks, see washing tank attendant; engages or disengages pulley to start or to stop stirrers; runs off the solution to filter presses

see filter press attendant (margarine).

blender (cereal foods and starches)

see mixer (cereal foods and starches).

blender, egg

see mixer, egg.

blender (margarine)

(i) kneader; tips materials into blending machine, by hand unless machine has an automatic feeding apparatus, and sees that machine, which kneads salt, etc., into margarine, is working properly;

(ii) attends mixing machine which, by means of a number of knives revolving at high speed, blends correct quantity of water, colouring matter, etc. required for saleable product.

blender (meat preserving)

opens, by hand, tins of meat weighing from ½ to 1 cwt., under supervision of assistant chemist; opens lid of vacuum or steam-heated pan and, with help of another labourer, tips contents of tins into pan; may also, under instruction, open a valve, allowing ingredients when mixed to flow to vats on next floor below for further treatment.

blender's assistant (margarine)

assists blender (margarine) q.v. by filling and removing margarine from blending or mixing machine.

blow-up man's assistant

opens and closes valves of blow-up, i.e. sugar melting pan, under direction of blow-up man (448) q.v.; extracts samples with dipper, for blow-up man to test.

boiler, bean

places split beans in bags, and boils them in a copper until they are soft.

boiler, biscuit

throws paste biscuits, of cracknel type, into a cauldron where they are boiled, in preparation for baking; removes biscuits from cauldron with a net when they are cooked.

boiler, fruit (flour confectionery)

in large establishments, prepares and cleans fruit for tarts, etc., and boils until cooked.

boiler, sauce

see sauce maker.

boiler, spice

puts given quantity of spice into a steam-jacketted pan, in which it is boiled in vinegar; ladles it out, after boiling.

bottler, milk

fills glass bottles with milk, from tap of churn, according to quantities ordered; seals, by pressing cardboard disc into mouth of bottle; adds label if required.

bottler, pickle ; pickle filler

fills, by means of spouted ladle or guiding stick, bottles with salted and cut-up vegetables, etc., adding spiced vinegar, or vegetables which have previously been pickled in bulk.

boxer, starch

fills boxes with starch paste intended for moulding into blocks.

box hand, box man (sugar refining)

fills monorail bogies with masse cuite (dense mass of sugar crystals mixed with mother liquor) from chute mouth; pushes bogies along rail and tips contents down chute hopper to centrifugal machines, where crystals are dried.

breaker, cake (cocoa)

receives cakes of cocoa, measuring about 17 or 16 inches in diameter, and 3 to 4 inches in depth, from cocoa pressman (448) q.v. and throws them into hopper of mill, which contains two rollers, usually made of steel and fitted with teeth; moves lever to set mill in motion and opens valve to allow broken cocoa, in pieces about size of an apple, to be ejected mechanically.

breaker, cocoa bean

see nibber.

breaker, egg

in food preparing trades, breaks shells of eggs and empties contents into a vessel for whisking; if required, places white and yolk of eggs in separate vessels.

breaker, starch

attends a number of breaking machines, e.g. six, used both before and after filtering, to break up starch and to mix it with water by means of mechanical stirrers; regulates, by slide, hopper feeds, and starts and stops stirrers by means of pulley levers; regulates valves controlling water flow into tubs and also regulates outlet valves; sometimes tips starch from starch shovellers q.v. (before filtering) into tubs, in cases where hoppers are not used; work sometimes done by foreman as an incidental duty.

breaker-up, caramel

takes from cutting machine, sheets of caramel paste marked into cubes, and divides into separate cubes.

briner, peel

fills vats with orange or lemon peel, which is allowed to steep therein for long periods; goes round continually from vat to vat, examining condition of peel and testing strength of liquor, and adding salt thereto from time to time, if required; judges when process is complete and empties vats.

briner vegetable

receives and examines fresh vegetables on arrival at works; cleans and cuts them up as required, and immerses in brine in tanks; cf. vegetable preserver (448).

butter roller and printer

forms rolls or pats of butter of specified weight, by hand, with wooden butter "hands"; imprints on top of pat, firm's characteristic design.

butter rolling and printing attendant, butter rolling machine attendant

operates and controls machine which moulds bulk of butter into rolls, bricks, or fancy shapes of specified weight, imprints or embosses firm's characteristic design thereon, and delivers butter ready for wrapping; duties as for moulding machine attendant (margarine).

butter worker's assistant

assists butter maker (448) q.v. by filling churns with cream, removing plug of churn to allow butter milk to escape, etc.; may also clean utensils, sweep floor, etc.

candler, egg

see sorter, egg.

catsup maker

as for sauce maker.

chaffman (colliery)

see granary labourer ('colliery).

charcoal house man (sugar refining) ; char end man, kiln charger (sugar refining), kiln charging man (sugar refining)

a labourer employed at a sugar refinery, in the "arrival" charcoal house, wherein spent charcoal is re-charred to restore its power of absorbing colouring matters and other impurities from sugar; empties spent charcoal over kiln heads into charring kiln or spreads or trims it over heated pipes through which it passes automatically and emerges revivified.

char elevator attendant, wet ; wet char man (sugar refining)

(i) pushes bogies loaded with wet char, i.e. charcoal which has been used in filters, from filters to elevator;

(ii) shovels wet charcoal direct into boot of elevator.

char end man

(i) see filler, char cistern;

(ii) see charcoal house man.

charger, centrifugal machine charger

see machine man.

charger, kiln (sugar refining)

see charcoal house man.

charging man, centrifugal machine charging man

see machine man.

charging man, kiln (sugar refining)

see charcoal house man.

char man, wet (sugar refining)

see char elevator attendant, wet.

checker (sweets)

see weigher (sweets).

cheese maker's assistant

stirs milk, if required, to prevent cream from settling on top; cleans and scalds utensils; places curds in moulds; grinds and mills curds; works under supervision and instruction of cheesemaker (448) q.v. and assists him generally.

chipper, orange

see cutter, peel.

chop house boy, choppie girl, chop place hand

(Lancs, and N. England terms) a chaff cutter q.v. working in a colliery, cutting hay, etc. for pit ponies.

chopper, sugar ; sugar cutter

places slabs of sugar in machine, which cuts sugar into cubes; starts and stops machine, as necessary, by loose pulley lever; empties or removes filled delivery tray, if endless conveyor is not used to convey cut sugar.

churner's assistant

assists churner (448) q.v. by helping to empty churns, solidifying emulsion by spraying with cold water, except when it is cooled in drums, and removing solid margarine in trucks.

cleaner, cocoa bean

see picker (cocoa and chocolate).

cleaner, currant

as for cleaner, fruit.

cleaner, fruit ; fruit picker (in factory)

(i) spreads on a board or on a sieve, dried or fresh fruit to be used in jam-making or preserving or in making cakes, etc.; picks it over by hand, removing damaged fruit or stones, sticks, leaves, or other foreign matter; washes fruit, if necessary, by hand, and lays it in racks to dry;

(ii) places fruit on grid or sieve, or in hopper of a shaking and sieving or other machine, which removes stalks, dust, or other foreign matter by sifting, by emotion (with a mechanical fan) or by other devices, and also, if necessary, washes them; starts and stops machine by moving a lever and regulates supply of water to machine, where process includes washing; sometimes supplements machine process by hand picking and/or hand washing; is often employed part time on other work, e.g. as lemon splitter or peel pulper q.v.

cleaner, grain

passes soiled grain into a bin; operates and controls machinery for conveying grain, in a revolving conveyor, through a tank containing water until grain is thoroughly cleansed; cf. grain cleaner (432).

cleaner, kernel

washes outside of palm kernels with hot alkaline solution, petrol, or benzol, to remove traces of palm oil.

cleaner, meat ; meat washer

washes and cleans meat, preparatory to pickling; frequently done by beef pickier (448) q.v.

cleaner of raw beans (grain milling)

(i) attends machine for pumping water over beans; regulates valves controlling supply of water to machine and regulates valves, slides or other device controlling automatic flow of beans through machine;

(ii) adjusts, according to size, succession of oscillating sieves, in which dirt or dust is removed from beans by dry process; brushes sieves at intervals to prevent clogging; starts or stops machine by lever and regulates supply of beans to machine.

cleaner, potato

(i) places potatoes in rotary drum, whose inside surface is rough, like a nutmeg grater; causes drum to revolve, by hand or power, in tank of water;

(ii) puts potatoes in tank of water and scrubs them, by hand, with a brush.

cleaner, rice ; rice polisher

feeds hopper with rice, which passes thence automatically into cleaning machine consisting of three parts, i.e. separating, polishing, and brushing, connected by spouts with worm conveyors; regulates working of machine and fixes to spouts, bags, into which cleaned rice is passed automatically; cf. rice miller (432).

cleaner, tank (sugar refining)

a labourer who cleans tanks used for lining or other purposes, and fetches, ^vcarries, and does other unskilled work, e.g. work of bag dryer q.v.

cleaner, tin (bakery)

wipes baking tins, by hand, with a cloth, to remove therefrom dust or other foreign matter; sometimes also greases tins, see greaser, tin.

cock attendant, wash-off (sugar refining)

regulates cocks, or valves, on charcoal cisterns; directs liquor and sweet water to separate tanks, and other water to main drain.

colour boy (sugar refining)

squirts liquid ultramarine blue into centrifugal machine, while machine is in motion, to intensify whiteness of sugar; or adds colour to white sugar in making yellow crystals.

confectioner's assistant

assists sugar boiler (434) q.v. in one or more of sugar boiling operations, i.e. weighing or mixing ingredients, placing "boil" in pans, turning out "boil," colouring; does not decide degree of colouring, etc., necessary, but works under direction of sugar boiler; cf. confectioner's assistant (448).

cooler attendant (milk)

see cooler, milk.

cooler, golden syrup; goldie cooler (slang)

see cooler man, syrup.

cooler hand, cooler man, vacuum cooler man (sugar refining)

see heater man (sugar refining).

cooler man, syrup; goldie cooler man (slang) ; golden syrup cooler, goldie cooler (slang)

operates valve allowing syrup to flow into a cylindrical enclosed vessel having tubes running through it, through which a stream of cold water passes continually to cool syrup quickly; fills barrels from tap, using a large funnel.

cooler, milk ; cooler attendant (milk)

(i) is responsible for seeing that tanks into which milk flows after pasteurisation and cooling, do not overflow; opens tap, by hand, as each tank becomes full, to allow milk to flow into can or other receptacle; closes tap when can or receptacle is full, and puts empty can in position under tank; or fills cans or bottles with milk as it flows direct from cooler without passing into a tank;

(ii) in small firms, cools or chills milk before distribution to consumer by placing filled utensils on ice, or in refrigerating apparatus.

corn labourer (grain milling)

general term for any unskilled worker engaged in shovelling corn or lifting and wheeling sacks in a flour mill.

coverer, biscuit; biscuit creamer ; biscuit paster, icing room worker

(i) spreads jam, cream and cheese paste on biscuits by hand, using a knife, and, when required, squeezes small pieces of icing sugar on to biscuits from a rubber bag fitted with specially-shaped nozzle;

(ii) feeds and controls machine for applying jam or paste to biscuits; places biscuits, by hand, in specially constructed grooves on a travelling hand, and regulates amount of jam or paste passing through slots to biscuits; when biscuit sandwiches are to be made, also feeds machine with biscuits for superimposing to form sandwiches.

creamery hand

general term for unskilled worker engaged in making, preparing, packing, and/ or selling products of a creamery; includes butter rolling and printing attendant, cheese maker's assistant, cooler attendant, milk cooler, milk receiver, milk separator, separator minder q.v.; in Scotland, a worker in a margarine factory.

crusher, cocoa; cocoa beau crusher

see nibber.

crystalliser hand, crystalliser man

see heater ma- sugar refining).

crystalliser's assistant (sugar confectionery)

assists crystalliser (435) q.v. by filling trays with sweets before they are dipped in pans, and by draining and spreading sweets on trays after crystallisation.

cutter, caramel (sugar confectionery)

(i) puts rolled slab of caramel paste through cutting machine, which, by means of a series of disc-shaped knives revolving on a spindle, marks off paste into cubes; starts and stops machine by moving a lever;

(ii) cuts nougat into caramels by placing slabs of nougat on a travelling band, which carries them under mechanical cutters, takes them off at other end, and places them on another travelling band set at right angles to first, which carries them under another set of cutters; stacks slabs of nougat, which are not cut quite through; starts and stops cutters and travelling bands by moving levers.

cutter, chaff

performs some or all of following operations:—carries or wheels trusses of hay, clover or straw from store room to machine; lifts trusses on to a raised platform with a hay fork; cuts strings binding hay, etc.; picks up, with a fork, required quantity of hay, etc. and places it in a horizontal chute or slot leading to a grip roller which carries it to chopping knives; feeds sifting machine with chaff which is mixed with other qualities of chaff, according to instructions of foreman; shovels chaff or "dust" into bags to be weighed; clamps bags to foot of chute connected with elevator, takes them off by hand, when full, and weighs them; ties up sacks of chaff and of "dust" after they have been weighed.

cutter, hay (not. agricultural)

as for cutter, chaff.

cutter, jelly

cuts jelly, received in trays from jelly pourer-out q.v., into cubes either by pushing tray under knife and depressing handle, or by pushing tray under cutters of machine, and operating machine by means of a lever.

cutter (oranges and lemons), lemon cutter, orange cutter

see cutter, peel.

cutter, peel; candied peel cutter ; cutter (oranges and lemons) lemon cutter, orange chipper, orange cutter, shredder

cuts orange or lemon peel for use in marmalade making (or cuts candied peel for use in cake making) by putting it in channel of a machine where it is brought in contact with revolving knives and sliced; removes sliced peel from tray at delivery end of machine; is sometimes employed part time as lemon splitter, peel pulper q.v. or in other unskilled work.

cutter, potato ; potato slicer

(i) slices potatoes, by hand, by drawing them across a flat planer fitted with sharp cutter;

(ii) puts potatoes into machine where they are sliced by revolving knives; starts and stops machine by moving a lever; removes delivery box when filled, and puts another in its place; usually employed part time on other -work, e.g. as fruit and vegetable presser q.v.

cutter, sugar

see chopper, sugar.

cutter (sweet), sweet cutter

(i) rolls confectionery paste, by hand or by machine, into slabs or sheets; cuts these into cubes or oblongs, by hand, with a knife;

(ii) cuts confectionery paste, nougat, etc., into bars, squares, or other shapes, either by moving a lever to raise and lower a knife, or with a power-driven circular saw or in a cutting machine, which he starts and stops by moving a lever; in small firms, often spends part time in other work, e.g. in work of roller (ball sweets) (435) q.v.

cutter-up, biscuit

breaks up rejected biscuits with a small metal hammer, or cuts them up with a small circular saw for sale as broken pieces; usually combines this duty with work of biscuit sorter q.v.

cutter-up (flour confectionery)

(i) cuts up paste mixture, by hand, for tins, small cakes, etc., using shaped metal stamps; fills tins with these shaped pieces of paste mixture, ready for baking;

(ii) inserts metal stamps, of required size and shape, in machine; empties dough (paste mixture) into hopper of machine; starts and stops machine by moving a lever; takes out stamped pieces of dough and helps in filling tins, etc., therewith, cutter, wafer (biscuit manufacture); collects sheets of wafers from wafer machines, and cuts them, by hand, into specified shapes and sizes, or brings them in contact with circular saw, which is set in motion by moving a lever; is usually employed part time in filling, emptying, or carrying trays, in cleaning moulds, etc.

dairyman's assistant

assists dairyman (448) q.v. in milk factory, margarine factory, or creamery, by washing and scalding churns, separators, etc.

decarboniser (sugar refining)

attends a number of steam-heated cylinders (usually four) in which animal charcoal is decarbonised after revivification in char kiln; fills cylinders, by hand, with charcoal, or more usually, fills elevators, or hoppers supplying elevators with charcoal; regulates steam valves heating cylinders, as necessary; sometimes also trucks, stacks, etc., charcoal.

decorticating machine minder (pepper)

places pepper, in bulk, in decorticating machine, which automatically removes husk; regulates machine by means of a lever; removes decorticated pepper from machine.

drawer-off (sugar confectionery)

draws or pulls out by hand, one end of a thick rod of plastic boiled sugar, forming it into long sticks about three-quarters of an inch in diameter; cuts sticks into lengths and passes to hall roller (435) q.v.

dresser (cereal foods and starches)

feeds hoppers of sieving machines with mixed ingredients for food powders; starts and stops machines, as necessary, with loose pulley lever; cleans silk sieves with a hand brush and shovels out sifted powder; work usually done by mixer (cereal foods) q.v.

dresser, cocoa

keeps replenished, the hopper which feeds dressing machine elevator; attaches bags to delivery chute of dressing machine and removes filled bags from time to time; clears the silk sieves covering revolving cylinders by means of hand brush and changes and washes sieves, as necessary; starts and stops machine, as necessary, by loose pulley lever.

dresser, flour ; flour sifter

moves lever bringing dressing machine into series with mixing machine (operated by flour mixer q.v. ); flour is then automatically sifted by silk sieves, rotating brushes, or other means.

dried milk machinist, dried milk maker ; milk dryer

(i) operates and controls milk-drying machine; regulates supply of milk to rollers, and sets knives for removing dried milk from rollers;

(ii) milk powder worker; operates, under direction of engineer, the spraying plant by which condensed milk is sprayed into a special chamber and falls as fine powder.

dry char band attendant

opens slides to allow dry char, i.e. charcoal before use in filters, to run on to elevator bands for transmission to filters; operates switches to start and stop elevator bands.

dryer, bag (sugar)

dries bags, used for filtering sweet liquor, after they have been washed by bag washer q.v.; arranges wet bags on hot pipes; folds and stacks bags when dried; when dried in special drying room, regulates heat by steam, hot air valves, etc.; sometimes also washes hags.

dryer (cereal foods and starches)

spreads food powders on /trays to dry, or more usually, shovels it into steam or gas-heated revolving cylinder; stops cylinder when powder is dry and shovels out dry powder; when gas heated cylinders are used, lights and regulates gas jets, as required; work usually done by mixer (cereal foods).

dryerman (cattle cake)

attends a number of steam-heated drying cylinders through which the caked husk automatically passes; regulates amount of husk feed through hoppers, by slides, and watches to see that feeds do not become choked, in which case clears chokes; oils machines; clears run between and around the machines; reports defective running to foreman.

dryer, milk

see dried milk machinist.

drying man (sugar refining)

pushes bogies containing cube slabs to drying stoves, where they are mechanically propelled through stoves; pushes bogies, as they are mechanically ejected from stoves, to cube-cutting machines.

drying room hand (sugar confectionery)

receives wooden trays filled with lozenges or other sweets; places trays in racks in a stove room, heated with steam pipes, until lozenges, or other sweets, are dry and hard.

elevator man (flour milling)

attends elevator in flour mill, wheeling sacks of corn and flour to and from elevator, etc.

evaporator man (vacuum dryer), Lillie evaporator man

opens doors of evaporator; places article to be evaporated, i.e. milk, milk chocolate, etc., on shelves; closes door, and sets machine in motion to draw air out of compartment in which article is placed.

filler, cask

(i) runs off vinegar from vats into casks and seals for despatch to warehouse;

(ii) fills casks with pickles, spices, condiments, etc., and seals ready for export.

filler, char cistern; charcoal cistern filler, charcoal filler ; char end man

places filter sheet at bottom of char cistern; opens a chute, fed from a hopper which i's kept supplied with charcoal by a conveyor band, and moves it about, as required, so as to distribute charcoal evenly as it runs into cistern; works inside cistern, packing charcoal down level and preventing larger grains from accumulating at side of cistern; when charcoal is spent, opens door at bottom of cistern, allowing charcoal to run out; scrapes out small quantity that does not run out and removes filter sheet.

filler, jam filler

fills bottles, jars, etc., with boiling jam from receptacles; stacks filled bottles, etc., on racks to cool.

filler (liquid glucose) ; filler-out (liquid glucose)

fills casks with liquid glucose; places empty casks beneath filling vats and pulls slide to open valves and run liquor in casks.

filler (meat preserving) ; packer (meat preserving)

fills tins, jars or bottles with meat extract, potted meat or tongue.

filler, mincemeat

fills pots, jars, etc., with mincemeat.

filler, mustard

places empty tin, by hand, on automatic weighing scale attached to filling machine; releases tap of filling machine to allow mustard powder to flow into tin; closes tap when correct weight is registered, and removes tin from weighing scale.

filler-out

(i) (solid glucose) throws over loose pulley lever, as required, to start and stop stirring apparatus fitted to vats containing glucose liquor run from vacuum pan, cf. pan man (solid glucose) (448); stirrers complete the thickening process; when stirring is complete, opens outlet valve to allow glucose to flow into shallow trays;

(ii) (liquid glucose ), see filler (liquid glucose).

filler, pickle

see bottler, pickle.

filler, starch

pours liquid starch into small square tins lined with rubberlike substance, in which starch is evaporated into blocks by hot-air suction.

fill house man

see machine man.

filter man, charcoal

in conjunction with other workers, operates hopper slides to run burnt revivified charcoal from endless conveyor into top of char filter cisterns, or "joeys"; rakes out spent charcoal and opens hopper slides beneath "joeys" so that char falls into pipes and passes from top to bottom of charcoal revivification kilns, cf. kiln man (char house); regulates (at bottom of char house) the speed of band conveying revivified charcoal to the top of char house for charging "joeys."

filter man (glucose)

attends to cylinder filter machines fed with starch solution (or thin paste), pumped from storage tubs (see starch breaker) and sucked on to the revolving filter cylinders by means of vacuum, thus drawing off water containing glutinous, etc., impurities not removed by paddler (448) q.v., while residual caked starch is scraped from the cylinders and falls into hoppers feeding further break machines; removes and washes filter cloths, refits cloths (by slipping under the cylinder wires and tacking), and scraper bars periodically; watches filtered starch and reports defects in running of machines to works manager.

filter pan hand

attaches filter cloths to filter plates used in filter presses and screws plates into position in presses; removes cloths for cleaning, as necessary; or fills revolving cylinder with filter cloths for washing; starts and stops cylinder by loose pulley lever; regulates water flow in machine; removes and stacks washed cloths.

filter press attendant (margarine)

attends to filter presses, in which oils intended for manufacture of margarine are filtered, after passing through washing and bleaching tanks; regulates valves of each filter plate to control flow of bleached oil from bleaching tank; periodically stops flow of oil, opens press and pulls caked "bleacher" from the filter plates.

finisher, lozenge

see picker, lozenge.

fish worker

general term for workers, mainly semi-skilled, engaged in preparation of fish for preserving, etc.; includes fish gutter (448), hanger, fish tenterer, bobber q.v.

floor hand (sugar refining)

cleans floor of sugar refinery by sweeping up spilt crystals, shovelling up crystals and mother liquor, or washing floor with hose.

flour room hand (flour confectionery)

acts as flour mixer q.v., shifts and stacks sacks of flour, shakes and stacks empty sacks, or does any other labouring work in flour room under direction of foreman (431) q.v. or of skilled flour blender (448) q.v.

fodder man (colliery)

see granary labourer (colliery).

fuller's earth attendant (margarine)

see bleaching tank attendant.

gatherer, starch

takes charge of settling frames, into which liquor taken from macerator has previously been poured; governs rate of flow of starch liquor over frames by regulating slides; scoops or shovels starch from frames when deposited; periodically, e.g. twice a day, stops feed of starch to frame, removes frames from their setting and washes them.

goldie maker's mate (slang)

assists golden syrup maker (448) q.v. by fetching and carrying, opening and . shutting valves under his direction.

grainman, vinegar

empties, by hand, sacks of barley into tanks or cisterns of water, to steep it; removes grain after steeping from tanks or cisterns by band, with a wooden shovel, and strews it on ground, where it remains for about three weeks; during this time turns grain over with a wooden shovel, to allow air to get to it, then fills baskets with grain, and sends it to kilns.

granary labourer, granary man (colliery) ; chaff man, fodder man

a surface man who has charge of, prepares (see chaff cutter) and distributes provender required for horses and ponies.

granary labourer, granary man (grain milling)

loads and unloads grain, etc., and does other unskilled work in granary.

granary woman

cleans offices, sweeps floors of granary; cleans bins or vans; sometimes also pushes hand trucks and makes up empty sacks into bundles.

greaser (flour confectionery)

brushes or sprays liquid grease on tops of loaves before they are placed in oven, to give loaves a polished brown surface.

greaser, tin (bakery)

smears grease, or applies liquid grease with a brush, on inside of bread, cake or pastry tins, in readiness for their being filled with dough, etc.; sometimes done by tin cleaner q.v.

grinder, almond

pours blanched almonds (for making almond paste) into hopper of grinding mill, controlled by means of a lever; removes ground almonds from delivery trough from time to time.

grinder (cereal foods and starches)

pours mixed food powders into a disintegrating machine which reduces ingredients to a finer powder by means of revolving blades; or pours powder into bowl (chase) of edge runner mill; continues grinding until he judges powder to be sufficiently fine; "bags" ground powder; where a sieving attachment is fitted to machine, periodically brushes sieves; work sometimes done by mixer (cereal foods) q.v.; cf. siever (cereal foods and starches).

grinder, ginger

shovels ginger into large mill equipped with grinding stones; watches progress of grinding, and shovels out ginger when process is complete; often works part time as pepper grinder or as spice grinder q.v.

grinder, pepper

as for grinder, ginger; often employed interchangeably as .ginger grinder or as spice grinder q.v.

grinder (solid glucose)

with iron bar or other tool, knocks slabs of set glucose from the setting trays, stacks on trucks, wheels to grinding machine, breaks up slabs and throws into hopper of grinding machine; occasionally stops machine to clear chokes; ground glucose is carried away by delivery conveyor.

grinder, spice

as for grinder, ginger; often employed interchangeably as .ginger grinder or as pepper grinder q.v.

grinder, sugar ; sugar mill attendant, sugar mill worker

keeps replenished, hopper of mill for grinding sugar crystals to an even .grain, or when endless conveyor is used, watches to see, that constant feed is maintained and that delivery band collects the ground sugar effectively; starts or stops mill, as necessary, by loose pulley lever; reports faulty running to engineer or foreman; sometimes employed part time on other work, e.g. packing hags, trucking.

grinding machine minder (cocoa)

assists cocoa grinder (448) q.v. by tipping cocoa nibs into hopper of grinding machine, when not done by nibber q.v.

handyman (sugar refinery)

cleans up floors and yards; assists in loading and unloading sugar and charcoal, and does other similar unskilled jobs.

hanger (fish curing) ; towrer

places spits, or rods, on which split fish are hung, in smoke house, under direction of smoker (437) q.v.

heater man (condensed milk)

works in pasteurising room, in which temperature is high; keeps correct temperature of heat in pasteurisers, by regulating steam valves, and maintains supply of milk in pans by governing flow of milk into pans and of heated milk from pans, by means of inlet and outlet valves.

heater man (sugar refining) ; cooler hand, cooler man, crystalliser hand, crystalliser man, vacuum cooler man

adds water to heaters, receivers, coolers or crystallisers, i.e. open tanks placed under vacuum pans into which cooked sugar (masse cuite) passes after treatment in vacuum pans; scrapes sides to prevent congealing; starts and stops agitator gear, e.g. mechanical stirrers; watches process of crystallisation and reports periodically to engineer or foreman.

hoist and stove girl (sugar confectionery—liquorice)

in small liquorice factory, carries drying boards to and from stove, and also operates hoists or lifts.

holder, bag (gram milling)

assists flour packer q.v. to lift loaded bucket of grain on to hook of weighing scale; holds mouth of sack open during process of filling.

hopper attendant (margarine)

is in charge of lifting gear by which trucks of margarine are lifted, and contents tipped into hoppers supplying multiplexes, i.e. kneading machines; shovels margarine into the conveyors feeding hoppers; starts and stops conveyors, as necessary, by pulling lever; for hand feeding of multiplexes, cf. multiplex attendant.

hopper man (grain milling)

shoots grain, beans, etc., from sacks into hoppers, whence grain, etc., is automatically conveyed through spouts or by cap elevators to machines.

icing room worker

see coverer, biscuit.

intake man, grain intake man (grain milling)

at a signal from men on ship, barge, etc., alongside wharf that suction pipe is inserted in grain, starts air pump, which draws up grain through pipe by suction; grain is automatically weighed as it enters mill, and passes direct to cleaning machines; stops pump if suction pipe becomes choked; tests weighing apparatus, from time to time with standard weights.

jelly pourer-out

pours jelly mixture from large stirring pans, in which it has been boiled by jelly boiler (448) q.v., into smaller shallow trays, where jelly is allowed to solidify; takes trays of set jelly to jelly cutter q.v.

keeper-up (sugar confectionery)

takes off or collects from balling machine, ball sweets made by ball roller (435) q.v.

ketchup maker

as for sauce maker.

kibbler (cocoa)

(i) see nibber;

(ii) where work is sectionalised, fills hopper with beans; controls by means of lever or switch, nibbing machine which crushes beans and grades into different degrees of fineness; cleans sieves; attaches bags for receipt of graded crushed nibs, etc.; attends a number of such machines; sometimes does work of winnower q.v.

kibbler, spice

puts spice in hopper of grinding machine (resembling a coffee grinder), and turns crank, by hand.

kiln drawer (sugar refining)

removes charcoal, either newly made or recharred, from foot of kiln when ready for use in char filters.

kiln fireman (grain milling)

stokes furnace supplying hot air for drying kiln; when required temperature has been reached, starts fan, to drive hot air from furnace through drying kiln.

kiln fireman (sugar refining)

lights, replenishes and stokes fire under kiln, or works oil feed cocks in case of oil engine or oil-fired engine.

kiln man

supervises drying of washed peas, beans, lentils, etc., over a coke fire or by steam apparatus.

kiln man (char house-sugar refining)

has charge of a number of charcoal revivication kilns, e.g. sixteen; regulates by screw valves, heat of gas retorts, opening furnace doors from time to time to inspect state of furnaces; acting in conjunction with charcoal filter man q.v., watches to see that there is no choked charcoal in kiln pipes, by ensuring that there is a steady feed to the charcoal conveyor under the kiln; if there is a choke, signals for band to be stopped; shuts off furnace and clears stoppage.

kiln man (sugar refining)

general term for any worker at char kiln, including kiln charger, kiln drawer, kiln fireman q.v.

kiln minder (grain milling)

conveys sacks of grain from store and shoots grain into kiln; regulates supply of steam to kiln; removes grain, when dry, into sacks.

kiln trimmer (sugar refining)

levels with a shovel, charcoal in bunkers over kilns in which charcoal is reburnt after being used in sugar refining process.

kneader (margarine)

see blender (margarine).

kneading table attendant (margarine)

(i) with another worker, either attends kneading table whereon salt is kneaded into margarine on a circular chase by means of rollers, i.e. feeds rollers with salted margarine; or gathers margarine on the "chase" and works it into large balls for conveying to the multiplexes, cf. multiplex attendant; controls kneading machine by means of pulley lever;

(ii) is engaged on a kneading table whereon margarine from multiplex is kneaded by a fluted cone roller working over a circular chase; shovels margarine on to chase; cuts margarine on chase and when he considers that margarine has reached consistency, sufficient water having been expelled, stops machine by pulley lever and assists in removing margarine; refills chase with fresh margarine; or presses margarine just emptied from the kneading machine into a second machine for final kneading by means of revolving knives, tips kneaded material into trucks for conveying to moulding machine attendant q.v.

labourer, fruit canning

carries heavy trays of fruit, removes tins after filling and does other unskilled work in fruit canning factory.

labourer, kiln (miller's)

under direction of kilnman, kiln minder, oat roaster (448) q.v. or other relatively skilled worker, cleans machines, sweeps floors, bags waste products, etc., separated from grain, and assists in turning over grain in kiln with hand shovel or rake; fetches and carries for kilnman, etc., q.v. and assists him generally; sometimes specifically designated, e.g., oat kiln labourer.

labourer, sugar house

shovels sugar into and out of machines and tanks, and does other unskilled work in sugar house, e.g. trucking, spreading, etc.

leveller (sugar refining)

(i) levels charcoal in char cistern as it is shot in by char cistern filler q.v.;

(ii) a labourer spreading charcoal on the char end.

lime tank attendant (sugar refining)

regulates supply of lime and water to tanks by operating valves; stirs mixture, until it attains consistency of milk of lime; opens valve, and allows milk of lime to run off into bogies; pushes bogies about, wherever required.

liner, tin ; tin paperer

in large bakeries , lines inside of cake tins with thin greased paper, in readiness for their being filled with cake mixture.

linker, sausage

punches and twists a weighed length of filled sausage casing to form short lengths or sausages; folds and bundles up, with strip of paper, sausages ready for despatch.

liquor man's assistant, liquor man's mate

assists liquor man (sugar) (438) q.v. generally, e.g. opens and closes valves under instructions, flushes empty charcoal cisterns.

loader (flour confectionery)

conveys bread, etc., from storeroom and loads it into vans; usually done by store hand q.v.

loader (grain milling)

loads bags, boxes, barrels, etc., of flour, oatmeal, etc., on to lorries, trucks, cars, etc.

loftman (grain milling)

(i) stands at top of mill and manipulates hoisting tackle for raising empty bags, etc.;

(ii) in Scotland, general term for any man employed in a granary (i.e. loft) as a warehouseman, in loading and unloading, storing, etc.

machine assistant (biscuits)

assists, with other similar workers, biscuit machine minder (433) q.v. and performs one of following operations:— feeds rollers with dough; watches separation of cut biscuits from scrap dough, and picks off loose pieces of scrap; watches automatic placing of cut biscuits on baking tins and picks off scrap dough; feeds machine with baking tins; lifts tins of cut biscuit dough from end of machine and places them on racks for transit to ovens.

machine man, centrifugal machine man ; charger, charging man, centrifugal machine charger, centrifugal machine charging man, fill house man, scooper (centrifugal machine)

shovels wet sugar with wooden scoop into sugar container, or opens valve and allows sugar crystals in mother liquor to flow from worm trough into centrifugal machine- operates and controls, by means of loose pulley or switch, centrifugal machine which drives off syrup and so dries sugar crystals; if necessary turns on high pressure spray of water to wash sugar; discharges sugar, which is now dry, using a wooden scraper, unless machine is equipped with mechanical discharging apparatus; syrup is conducted to pans to await treatment in vacuum pans.

machine minder's assistant (grain milling)

assists machine minder (432) q.v. in labouring work, e.g. moving sacks, stoking furnace, cleaning machine, sweeping floor; cf. cleaner (grain mill) (970).

malt man, vinegar

a labourer in malt room of a vinegar factory; duties similar to those of malt room man (brewery) (459) q.v.

maltster (vinegar)

see mash house man.

margarine maker, margarine worker, oleo-margarine maker

general terms for any person employed in manufacture of margarine, including bleaching tank attendant, blender (margarine), blender's assistant, margarine churner (448) q.v.

mash house man (vinegar) ; maltster (vinegar), vat-man (vinegar)

empties sacks of grain, by hand, into hopper of grinding machine which is on next floor below; opens a valve, by hand, and allows grain to flow from hopper into grinding machine; sets machine in motion; grain, now reduced to powder, is transmitted mechanically to hopper of vat, a cylindrical iron vessel about nine feet deep, in which it is mashed by application of hot water; opens valve, and allows hot water to flow into vat; ensures that correct temperature is maintained, either by opening, by hand, lid of vat and allowing steam to escape, or by adjusting hot water valve; when process is complete, removes metal plate from bottom of vat, and pushes mash through this opening into pipe of conveyor with a long wooden rod; watches to see that grinding machine is running smoothly and cleans vat with a brush or broom when necessary.

mealman (grain milling)

in small mills, places grain in stone mill for crushing into meal; draws meal off into bins; sometimes done by stoneman (432) q.v.

melter, fat (margarine)

margarine melter, melter control man, melter man (margarine); runs known quantity of oil from storage tanks into steam-jacketted melting tanks, and tips in, by hand, measured quantities of constituent fats from barrels to liquefy them; controls temperature of tanks by steam cocks and regulates mechanical stirrers; when tested by taster (448) q.v., opens a valve which puts a steam pump in action, causing liquefied fats to now through pipes, either to refining room for further treatment, or to churns.

melter (sugar refining), melter man (sugar refining)

watches process and regulates, by means of valves, quantity, temperature and specific gravity of liquor leaving melter, i.e. a longitudinal vessel provided with a spiral conveyor, used instead of a blow-up plant.

milk room man

in margarine factories, opens valves to run skimmed milk into cold water-jacketted tank and pours in souring solution; allows milk to cool and, according to weather, turns on steam to heat water to take the lactic acid up to temperature required to sour the milk; runs soured milk through steriliser and then pumps into coolers, watching temperature of milk by using thermometer; regulates flow of valves and working of pump by pulley lever, valves, etc.

milk powder worker

see dried milk machinist.

mill attendant, starch

see mill man, starch.

mill attendant, sugar

see grinder, sugar.

miller (maize)

attends six mills for grinding maize used in making starch for liquid glucose manufacture; regulates, by slides, quantity of steeped maize flowing through channels to mills; occasionally takes a sample of milled grain flowing from mills and if he considers that machines need adjusting, stops machines, by throwing over gear lever, and reports to works manager.

mill hand (horse food)

operates and controls two or three machines for mixing ingredients used in the manufacture of oil cake, etc., for horses feeds hoppers, by hand, from sacks or more usually, regulates continuous feed by slides; watches to see that there are no "chokes," and clears such when they occur; starts and stops machines, as necessary, by pulley levers; bags mixed ingredients as they are delivered from machines through chutes.

mill hand (mustard)

assists mustard grinder q.v. by bagging ground mustard seed. i.e. mustard flour, and trucking bags of flour to mustard blender (448) q.v.

mill man, starch ; starch mill attendant

empties rice from sacks into hopper on floor above mills in which it is to be ground, and does any other labouring work in starch mill.

mill worker, sugar

see grinder sugar.

mixer boy (sugar refining)

(i) regulates, by loose pulley lever, belt carrier which conveys raw or imperfectly refined sugar to first process floor, to be mixed with other sugar in preparation for refining; sometimes assists in filling hoppers supplying belt;

(ii) attends blow-up instead of adult blow-up man's assistant q.v. or attends tanks in which sugar liquor is treated with sulphurous acid turning valves on or off and doing odd jobs for workman in charge, e.g. inversion man.

mixer (cereal foods and starches) ; blender (cereal foods and starches)

under foreman's instructions, weighs ingredients for food powders and pours into rotary mixing machine; controls machine by loose pulley lever and shovels out mixture after specific interval; adds colouring and flavouring when not done by foreman; usually also does work of dresser and dryer (cereal foods) and sometimes work of grinder (cereal foods) q.v.

mixer, egg ; egg blender

stirs and mixes ingredients for liquid egg mixture, under direction of chemist; in small establishments, also tests mixture.

mixer, flour (flour confectionery)

empties by hand, quantities of different kinds of flour, in proportions decided by flour blender (448) q.v., into machine which, by means of a rotating cylinder, thoroughly mixes flour; assists in weighing flour, trucking from store, etc.; often also assists in bakehouse, e.g. greasing tins, etc.

mixer, fruit

(i) weighs out correct proportions of fresh fruit and sugar, according to recipe; mixes and places them in large tubs to stand until required for jam boiling;

(ii) weighs out correct proportions of ingredients of mincemeat, according to recipe, chopping or mincing them (if necessary) either by hand with a knife, or by putting them in hopper of a machine which is set in motion by moving a lever; mixes ingredients, which may be done in various ways in different establishments, and stirs them together.

mixer, sugar (condensed milk)

cleans sugar syrup, and prepares solution for mixing with milk before condensing process is started; boils syrup in steam-heated tanks, regulating steam valves as necessary; skims scum from syrup, adds preservatives, colouring, flavouring agents, etc., as necessary, and runs off the mixed solution.

mixing room worker (biscuit making) ; weigher (biscuit making)

weighs out specified quantities of ingredients for the manufacture of biscuits under direction of mixer (433) q.v.

montejuice attendant, montejuice boy

stands by valves of montejus apparatus by which level of a liquid in a tank is raised by steam or air pressure.

moulding machine attendant (margarine manufacture)

with another worker, either (i) presses margarine into contact with worms which convey it through rollers and press it through moulds, delivering it in cubic or cylindrical form, or

(ii) raises and lowers a frame containing knives or wires which cut margarine into 1/2 lb., 1 lb. etc., lots as margarine emerges from moulds; works treadle to engage or disengage pulley lever; inserts moulds and sets cutting knives in frame as necessary.

multiplex attendant (margarine)

with other workers, is stationed either at feed end or delivery end of multiplexes, i.e. kneading machines in which margarine, after churning and sometimes after first kneading (cf. kneading table attendant) is pressed into a solid mass and salt added; shovels margarine into feed hoppers, or, when stationed at centre of machine, shovels salt on to passing margarine, or, when at delivery end, cuts, with hand knife, blocks of margarine as it emerges from machine.

neutraliser, neutralising man (solid glucose)

mixes whitening, lime, etc., to neutralise and clean acidified starch liquor; operations as for neutralising man (sugar refining).

neutralising man (liquid glucose)

as for neutraliser (solid glucose) ; weighs and mixes soda with water; boils and adds to vats.

neutralising man (sugar refining)

weighs, measures and mixes lime and other ingredients to neutralise acidity of sugar liquor, and to assist clarification, etc.; pours mixture into open lead-lined vats containing sugar liquor from time to time as directed by chemist or by inversion man (448) q.v.; takes samples to laboratory from time to time and fetches, carries, trucks, etc., as required; sometimes also does other unskilled work, e.g. that of tank cleaner q.v.

nibber ; cocoa bean breaker, cocoa bean crusher, kibbler, winnower, winnowing machine minder

operates and controls machine which crushes roasted cocoa beans by means of rollers, draws off husk and impurities by means of an air blast and which sifts crushed cocoa nibs into degrees of fineness and delivers them into bags via grading chutes; fills hopper with cocoa beans; starts up machine and adjusts hopper feed by regulating hopper slide; watches process through glass doors in machine and regulates intensity of air blast; if necessary, adjusts setting of crushing rollers; cleans sieves with hand brush; clamps bags beneath the grading chutes and, on the reverse side of machine, clamps bags for receipt of winnowed husks, keeps hopper full of beans and empties bags, as necessary; in works where chocolate grinding machine is placed on floor below, fills hopper of this machine; cf. chocolate grinder (448).

nut room worker (sugar confectionery)

general term for any worker preparing nuts for sweet making, including nut blancher, sheller, sorter q.v.

outflow basin attendant (margarine)

attends to crystallising vats in which ingredients of margarine, after mixing and churning to consistency of cream, are crystallised by flew cf ice-cold water; under direction of churner (448) q.v., regulates flow of cold water on to margarine and kneads water and margarine with special wooden tool, water flowing from vat as waste; crystallised margarine falls into a large wooden vat, at bottom of which is a hole, covered by a trap-door; opens trap-door when vat is full, letting margarine fall into truck beneath.

oven assistant, oven feeder

see assistant ovenman.

packer, flour packer (grain milling) ; weigher (grain milling)

fastens a sack, by hand, by a clamping arrangement to end of large circular chute, through which flour runs automatically from dressing machines; pulls lever which allows flour or bran to flow into sack; flow stops automatically when required quantity has entered sack; packs flour more closely into sack with a punch, or bumping machine, operated by a foot lever; lifts sack, by hand, from automatic weighing machine on which it has been standing, and check weighs it on an ordinary weighing machine; sews up open end of sack or ties it up with string, then either wheels it away or puts chain round it, ready to be hoisted and removed; cf. packer (grain milling) (949).

packer (meat preserving)

see filler (meat preserving).

paperer, tin

see liner, tin.

paster, biscuit

see coverer, biscuit.

peeler, onion

peels onions for pickling, see pickler (pickles), and cuts away any defective parts.

peeler, orange (jam making)

peels oranges, by hand, for marmalade making; usually done by machinery, see pulper, orange.

pepper maker

decorticates pepper, see decorticating machine minder; grinds pepper, as for grinder, pepper, also sorts pepper, by hand, into grades according to colour.

picker, almond

sorts blanched almonds, rejecting those that are faulty or discoloured.

picker, bone (preserved meat)

receives bone, removed by butcher from carcases and joints, and cuts off, for preserving, meat still adhering.

picker (cocoa and chocolate), cocoa bean picker ; cocoa bean cleaner, cocoa bean sorter

picks out inferior cocoa beans by hand, and removes other large impurities; cf. cocoa bean winnower.

picker, confectionery (sugar confectionery)

(i) examines trays of finished sweets before they are stacked for hardening; picks out broken sweets etc.;

(ii) separates gums, fondant creams, ginger fruits, etc., after crystallisation.

picker, fruit (in factory)

see cleaner, fruit.

picker, lozenge ; lozenge finisher

a confectionery picker q.v. engaged in picking out broken lozenges.

picker, melt; milch picker

in fish curing, picks over offal, removed from herrings before kippering, to collect herring roes.

picker, pea (grain milling)

sorts peas before splitting or grinding; rejects faulty peas and grades remainder according to size.

picker-out (candied peel)

under supervision of peel candier (436), picks out candied peel from boiling syrup and half fills it with thick syrup; places peel on trays and dries at a gentle heat; work sometimes done by peel candier (436) q.v.

pickler, egg

prepares a pickling solution and places eggs therein; in some establishments, assists in packing the pickled eggs.

pickler (fish curing)

makes up liquor and places in brine, herrings prepared for kippering, before they are hung on rods for curing; removes from vats when sufficiently pickled; usually done by fish curer, kipper curer (437) q.v.

pickler (pickles)

puts raw vegetables into tub of brine; runs off liquor when vegetables are saturated; removes vegetables, which are then bottled, see bottler, pickle; may also make mustard pickles, with tumeric and thickening spiced sauces.

piler (jam making ; pot stacker, stacker

piles or stacks filled jars of jam in warehouse, to await finishing operations.

plodder attendant (margarine)

attends to plodder, i.e. a machine which presses margarine into square-shaped blocks, in preparation for bulk packing; presses margarine into hoppers and removes blocks of margarine from delivery end of machine; controls machine by means of pulley levers; work is sometimes done at delivery end of multiplex machine, cf. multiplex attendant.

polisher, rice

see cleaner, rice.

preparer, pot (jams, pickles, etc.)

sets out pots or jars of appropriate size in readiness for filling.

presser, fruit and vegetable ; fruit presser, vegetable presser

(i) feeds hopper of hand compressing machine with preserved dried fruit or vegetables; places tins in position under machine, and moves a lever which sets machine in motion and fills tins with compressed fruit or vegetables;

(ii) (less usually) puts tins in position under power-driven and automatically-fed compressing machines, and removes them from delivery conveyors when filled; is usually engaged part time on other work, e.g. compressing meat, fish paste, and other comestibles, cutting potatoes, etc.

press hand (sugar refining) ; press man (sugar refining)

operates and controls hydraulic press for extracting juices from dried pulp of beetroot; fills press with bags of pulp; operates press by hand lever; removes bag of residual pulp.

press man, filter (sugar refining)

controls flow of liquor, after it has left blow-up, through filter presses to receiving tanks and thence to char cisterns, by opening or closing valves to pass liquor through particular filter bags desired, under direction of filter man (448) q.v.; screws bag filters into position in vats and removes and washes, as necessary, when this is not done by bag washer q.v.

press man (maize meal)

attends to large cylinders, into which maize meal, after being heated, is automatically discharged by means of spiral coils; inserts aluminium plates at specified levels in cylinders, which, when full, are put under hydraulic pressure, for extraction of oil from maize meal.

pressman (sugar refining)

see press hand.

pricker-on

see tenterer.

pulper, orange

presses oranges, which have been cut in half by orange splitter q.v., against revolving serrated rose head, which grinds out the pulp.

pulper, peel (lemons )

(i) for clear squash, receives cooked lemon halves from lemon cooker (448) q.v. and removes pulp therefrom with his thumb;

(ii) for cloudy squash, presses halved lemons (uncooked) against revolving serrated rose head, which grinds out pulp; starts and stops machinery by moving a lever; is sometimes employed part time as peel cutter, lemon splitter q.v. or other unskilled work.

pulveriser (cereal foods)

attends a number of pulverising machines, e.g. six; watches process, taking samples of flour from time to time, and regulating, by hopper slides, the feeds to machines; stops machines occasionally (by pulley lever, etc.), to clear chokes; cleans brushes and meshes, as necessary.

pulveriser (cocoa)

feeds pulveriser or "covered-in melanguer," with pieces of cocoa, as received from cocoa bean breaker q.v., either by hand or by means of a chute; machine crushes them between two rollers, usually made of granite; opens valve and allows cocoa, now reduced to powder, to flow into a bin or other receptacle; repeats process, if powder is not fine enough.

pumper, vinegar; vinegar pumpman ; racker (vinegar)

sets pump in motion, or opens by hand, valve allowing or forcing fermented but unclarified vinegar to flow through pipe into filtration vat, or clarification vat, i.e. wooden vessels 18 feet deep, sometimes containing wood pulp or other clarifying agent; removes wood pulp etc., from time to time, to be washed and cleaned for further use; watches glass indicator, and stops flow of vinegar, when filtration vat is full; cleans filtration vat by hand with a broom, when necessary.

racker (vinegar)

see pumper, vinegar.

receiver, milk (pasteurising, etc.)

compares milk invoices with quantity actually received; records quantity received, and source of supply; may be employed at railway station where milk is received, or at central depot of firm.

returned sugar hand

pushes truck containing sugar returned from deposit room (Customs and Excise) to melting pans.

roaster, chicory

(i) roasts chicory in coke-heated cylinder, "nibs" it, i.e. breaks into small pieces, and grinds in hand or power-driven machine;

(ii) "nibs" and grinds chicory; roasts on gas-heated open tray; usually done by coffee roaster (448) q.v.

rubber-down (fruit)

empties fruit or pulp (usually orange pulp) into hopper of machine which separates pips, etc., from pulp, by means of rollers and sieves; controls machine by means of a lever; brushes pipe from sieves and rollers and collects them; removes vat filled with pure pulp, which has run out of machine, from beneath machine, and replaces it with empty vat; sometimes treats other fruit, e.g. strawberries, plums, currants, in same way, changing sieves as required.

runner (flour confectionery)

runs sacks of flour from flour room to mixing machine, using hand barrow or run-ways; or bread, biscuits, cakes, etc., to and from oven; sometimes specifically designated, e.g. flour runner.

sample boy ; sampler (sugar refining), wash-up boy

carries samples of sugar syrup, etc., from one place to another, as directed; washes sample bottles; takes messages.

sampler (sugar refining)

(i) see sample boy;

(ii) inserts trier, i.e. an instrument resembling a cheese taster, into a certain proportion of bags of sugar as they are unloaded; puts sample contained in trier, together with others taken from same lot of bags, in a bucket, and takes them to chemist; also takes samples of refined sugar to Customs and Excise Officer, to assess duty.

sauce maker ; sauce boiler

receives ingredients, which are issued in exact proportions according to a standard recipe or formula, from store room or works laboratory; puts them, by hand, in a steam-jacketted "kettle"; sometimes turns a tap allowing vinegar and other liquid ingredients to ran into kettle; tests temperature of contents of kettle with a thermometer; stirs ingredients frequently with a long wooden paddle; judges when ingredients have been boiled sufficiently, or works in accordance with instructions given by chemist; ladles out small quantities, and passes them to another worker to sift for convenience of examination by chemist.

scaleman (bakery)

see weigher (bakery).

scooper (centrifugal machine)

see machine man.

scraper, skin

(i) scrapes, with knife, loose skin from inner side of sides of pigs' carcases in preparation for bacon curing;

(ii) a slaughterhouse worker who washes and scrapes stomachs of cattle (tripe) in a stream of water.

scraper, starch

scrapes blocks of starch prior to wrapping to remove dirt or marks from faces of block.

scum mixer attendant (sugar refining)

(i) attends open tanks or cisterns in which bags, sugar bags and sheaths are washed, thereby recovering sugar, e.g. scum, adhering thereto; cf. bag washer;

(ii) attends tanks in which scum is treated by injecting steam to extract and save any sugar juice that may remain; regulates amount of scum water and steam entering tank; drains off liquor, and digs out remaining scum.

separator, milk

operates and controls machine for separating cream from milk; pours milk from pails or churns into receiver, turns separator wheel by hand or, more usually, switches on power; watches indicator to maintain required revolutions per minute; sets pails or churns to catch flow of milk and cream from separator; sometimes also takes separator to pieces and washes parts.

sheller, nut

holds nut in one hand, and cracks shell by striking end with a wooden mallet held in other hand; removes shell from kernel.

sheller, pea

(i) removes peas from pods, by hand, for preserving in bottles, tins, etc.;

(ii) shells peas in vegetable market for sale wholesale or to hotels, etc.

shooter, wheat (grain milling)

unfastens mouth of sack of wheat and shoots grain into bin, hopper or other receptacle.

shoot lad (food or starch factory)

stands by chutes and maintains regular flow down chute by clearing away any blocks or obstructions.

shoveller, starch shoveller

in conjunction with other workers, shovels starch off starch runs into trucks (after paddling by starch paddler (448) q.v.) ready for starch breaking; when a starch breaker q.v. is not employed, pours the starch into stirring tubs or into hoppers feeding tubs.

shoveller (sugar) ; sugar trimmer

(i) a box man q.v. using a shovel to fill chute hopper feeding centrifugal machine;

(ii) uses a shovel to move or turn over sugar at any stage of manufacture, e.g. to turn it over for cooling purposes.

shredder

see cutter, peel.

siever sifter (cereal foods and starches)

empties sacks of cereals; spreads cereals on trays for examination; in powdered starch manufacture, feeds hopper of a sifting machine with starch and, where machine is not operated continuously from shafting, etc., starts and stops machine by means of levers; sifting is often done on grinding machine, see grinder (cereal foods and starches).

siever, egg

passes liquid egg through a wire sieve previous to barrelling.

sifter, flour

see dresser, flour.

sifter, lozenge

removes sugar dust, etc., from finished lozenges in a sieve in readiness for packing.

slicer, potato

see cutter, potato.

sorter, biscuit

sorts baked biscuits and rejects those that are badly baked or mis-shapen; usually combines this duty with work of biscuit cutter-up q.v.

sorter, cake (flour confectionery)

in large bakery, sorts cakes according to sizes and varieties; rejects mis-shapen or badly-baked cakes, before packing or selling.

sorter, cocoa bean

see picker (cocoa and chocolate).

sorter, egg ; egg candler

holds egg against powerful electric light and by appearance, judges age and condition of egg; sorts accordingly; also sorts according to size, preparatory to pickling or use in food manufacture.

sorter, fruit (jam making and fruit preserving)

sorts fresh fruit by hand and rejects faulty or decayed fruit.

sorter, nut (sugar confectionery)

sorts nuts received from nut blancher q.v.; removes loose skins and rejects faulty nuts.

splitter, lemon

as for splitter, orange.

splitter, orange

(i) throws oranges into inclined feed trough of machine, from which they fall into a revolving cylinder, where they are brought into contact with knives and are cut into halves, falling into delivery boxes; starts and stops machine by moving a lever; removes filled boxes, and replaces with empty boxes;

(ii) puts oranges in position on a grid, and presses a knife down, cutting them in halves; is sometimes employed part time in other work, e.g. as peel cutter or peel pulper q.v. or in other unskilled work.

spoutman (grain milling)

attends spouts for conveying stock in flour mill from one point to another by gravity; i's responsible for seeing that spout valves, slides, etc., are in proper position, and for maintaining uninterrupted flow of flour through spouts.

sprayer

sprays flavouring essences over mechanically-mixed baking powders.

spreader, lozenge

spreads newly-cut lozenges flat on wooden tray; passes tray to lozenge picker q.v.

stacker (jam making), pot stacker

see piler.

stageman (grain milling)

receives sacks of wheat or other grain into mill, at landing stages, and shoots it into bins.

starch hand (female)

assists male starch hand (434) q.v.; prepares trays or moulds by cleaning them, and lining them with starch, to prevent adhesion thereto of "boil" or "gum"; keeps male starch hand supplied with trays, and carries them when filled, to stoving room to dry.

starch worker

general term for any person engaged on any process in manufacture of starch, including grain cleaner, starch filler, grinder (cereal foods and starches), starch hand q.v.

stirrer man (sugar refining)

receives sugar from vacuum pans into mechanical stirrer; regulates stirrer by loose pulley lever; decides when operation is complete, stops stirrer and operates valve to run off liquor into other cooling trays; cf. filler-out (solid glucose).

stoner, raisin stoner

pours raisins (or similar fruit) into hopper of raisin stoning machine; is usually employed part time in carrying trays, trucking, cleaning fruit, etc.

store hand (bakery)

stacks loaves of bread, cakes, pastries, etc., as received from oven, on shelves fixed in racks mounted on wheels; runs racks to and from cooking room and store room; usually also does work of loader q.v.

stripper (liquorice), all sorts stripper, cake stripper, liquorice stripper

removes liquorice from drying boards by hand, in readiness for roller-out (435) q.v.

taker-off (sugar confectionery)

collects cut lozenges from cutting machine in wooden trays and carries them to benches.

tank man, bag (sugar)

see washer, bag.

tankman (margarine)

weighs drums containing oils and records weight; inserts flexible tube connected with cylindrical pump in casks and starts up pump to pump oil into storage tanks to await drawing of oil by melter, cf. taster (448) q.v.

tenterer, fish tenderer ; pricker-on

hangs fish on tenter hooks fixed in wooden bars to be hung in smoke house; fish is usually rived, cf. river (437).

tester, tin (preserved provisions)

judges whether sealed cans of fish, meat and other provisions are airtight, by striking the side of tin and listening to sound thus produced.

tinner, egg (food preserving)

pours liquid egg mixture into screw-topped tins; usually also labels tins after filling.

towrer

see hanger (fish curing).

traveller boy

stands by traveller or conveyor and assures proper working; removes obstructions or sets articles straight on conveyor.

trimmer, hay (not on farm)

trims sides of trusses or bales of hay with a special knife; does other labouring work at corn merchant's or grain dealer's wharf, warehouse, etc., e.g. cleaning.

trimmer, sugar

see shoveller.

truck pusher (margarine)

pushes trucks containing margarine, after mixing and churning, into maturing room.

trusser, hay (hay dealing)

as for hay trusser (024).

vacuum boiler attendant (margarine)

attends to a vacuum boiler, or steamer, in which oils intended for manufacture of margarine are deodorised, after passing through washing tanks, bleaching tanks, and filter presses, by means of high-pressure steam under vacuum; guided by gauge, keeps steam at desired pressure by regulating steam valves; stokes boiler fires; sometimes has other duties, e.g. to watch and keep running plant, such as margarine refrigerator, controlling valves to regulate water flow, and starting and stopping plant by pulley lever; reports any defects to fitter.

vatman (vinegar)

see mash house man (vinegar).

washer, bacon

washes parts of cured or smoked bacon in water, before packing.

washer, bag (sugar refineries) ; bag tank man, wash-house man

places bags in centrifugal washing machine; starts machine; injects hot water twice, i.e. makes two hot water washings; injects cold water; stops machine; removes bags; opens valves to run off sweet water, to recover sugar therefrom; cf. scum mixer attendant.

washer, filter cloth

as for washer, bag.

washer (fish curing)

washes herrings after splitting, either by shaking them in baskets under a stream of water, or by passing them through a washing machine; sometimes done by fish gutter (448) but usually by river (437) q.v.; for machine washing, puts herrings into mouth of a cylinder through which fish passes, being cleaned by action of water and revolving brushes and falling into delivery troughs or baskets; starts or stops machines, as necessary, by pulley lever, and regulates flow of water.

washer, fruit (jam making and fruit preserving)

(i) washes apples, plums, etc., by hand;

(ii) washes gooseberries in a "topping and tailing" machine; cf. fruit picker.

washer, meat

see cleaner, meat.

washer, orange

throws oranges into machine in which they are automatically washed with running water, and brushed by a revolving brush, as they fall one by one down a spiral, into a delivery box; controls machine by moving a lever; removes filled delivery boxes and replaces empty boxes.

washer, press cloth (sugar refining)

washes by hand, in open vats or in revolving cylinder, operated by loose pulley lever, coarse flannel cloths in which dried pulp of beetroot is wrapped when being squeezed by hydraulic press; does other unskilled jobs, as required.

washer and chiller, fat (fat extracting and refining)

washes by hand, in open vats, flesh, etc., from which edible fats are to be extracted, to cool it and to remove blood, etc., examines fat and cuts out blood tissues when found; lays out fat to dry.

washer's attendant (sugar refining)

places bags in washing machines, and takes them out when washed; stacks w^ret bags and places wet filter cloths in baskets, under supervision of washhouse man or bag washer q.v.

washer-up (sugar refining)

treats certain kinds of sugar, after it has left centrifugal machine, by exposing to spray of air and water until sugar is completely conditioned; regulates force of spray by valve; shovels sugar beneath spray or pushes trays of sugar thereunder; or regulates speed of endless band conveying sugar.

wash-house man (sugar refining)

see washer, bag.

washing tank attendant (margarine)

runs hot water, soda and margarine oils into tank; allows mixture to settle and runs off the oil for margarine from top of the mixture; runs off, as waste, the water solution containing soaps and fatty acids removed from the margarine oils.

wash-up boy

see sample boy.

water boy (sugar refining)

keeps water in liquor cooling tank at correct level by watching gauge and adjusting water cocks.

weigher (bakery)

(i) (hand) scaleman (bakery); cuts off and weighs pieces of dough according to size and weight of loaf required; roughly shapes piece of dough and passes on to moulder (433) q.v.;

(ii) (machine) cuts piece of dough, and throws it into hopper of machine, which cuts it to required size for loaves; picks dough, thus cut, from delivery van of machine and passes it to table hands (433) q.v. for moulding; weighs samples from time to time and adjusts cutters of machine, if necessary, by means of a screw device; work is sometimes divided between two operatives.

weigher (biscuit making)

(i) see mixing room worker

(ii) checks weight of filled tins of biscuits after packing; records weight on a label or slip, initials it, and passes on tin; returns tins that are under or over weight to operatives filling tins.

weigher (grain milling)

see packer (grain milling).

weigher (sausage)

receives filled casings from sausage filler (448) q.v. and cuts them into lib. lengths; checks weight on scale and breaks off "overweight" lengths.

weigher, starch

weighs out quantities of finished starch before packing into boxes or packets; is often done by starch box hand (949) q.v.

weigher (sweets) ; checker (sweets)

(i) checks and weighs quantities of sweets made by piece workers;

(ii) keeps a record of number and weight of boxes packed.

winnower, cocoa bean ; winnowing machine minder (cocoa)

(i) see nibber;

(ii) feeds hopper of winnowing machine (which separates husk from crushed bean) with kibbled cocoa beans (see kibbler); regulates air blast attaches bags for winnowed nibs and also for receipt of husk; attends a number of such machines; sometimes does work of kibbler q.v.

winnower, mustard

feeds by hand, with a shovel, hoppers of three or four winnowing machines, to remove husks from mustard seed; occasionally inspects to see that machines, which are power-driven, do not become choked, and are not brought to a stoppage; bags seeds and waste; on rare occasions, adjusts grinding rollers by hand, wheel, or other device, or stops machine by pulley lever and clears stoppage by hand.

winnowing machine minder (cocoa)

see winnower, cocoa bean.

wrapper, starch

wraps in paper small cubical blocks of partly evaporated starch preparatory to placing in hot-air stoves for further evaporation and crystallisation.

From: A Dictionary of Occupational Terms Based on the Classification of Occupations used in the Census of Population, 1921,
Ministry of Labour, 1927. Digitised by Peter Christian, August, 2016. This text is in the Public Domain.

ORDER XIV.—MAKERS OF FOODS, DRINKS AND TOBACCO

Sub-order 1.—Makers of Foods

449.—Other Workers