All that now remained to be done was to get the bakery into working order, and ten days sufficed to have this work completed. Meantime, however, the committee were not idle. Vans had to be procured and other details of the work inside and outside seen to, and bakers had to be employed. The committee met on 23rd January, and appointed a Mr Currie as foreman baker, while on 6th February they decided to purchase a second van at a cost of £18 and a horse for a similar sum. A vanman was also engaged at a wage of 20/ a week.
These little details are all in the minutes, but no mention of the situation of the bakery appears therein, nor is there any mention made of the date of beginning business. These old-time Co-operators were so engrossed in the work they were doing that they had no thought for the people who would come after them, eager for information about what they had done and how they had done it. It would appear from the minute book itself that it was written up at a date later than the beginning of the Society, probably from notes made by Mr Borrowman at the time, and this may account for the omission of any mention of the date of beginning business or of the location of the bakery.
We know, however, that the bakery was situated in South Coburg Street, a street which connected Bedford Street with Norfolk Street, parallel with and immediately behind Eglinton Street. The buildings in this street are evidently much older than those of Eglinton Street. The site of the first premises of the U.C.B.S. is now covered by a part of the Coliseum theatre. Here, in this small place, the modest beginning was made on the morning of 26th January 1869. One is curious as to the quantity turned out in this first baking, but that is a matter on which all records are silent. Occasionally we are told of the purchase of flour and of the price which was paid for it, but for some time no mention is made of the quantity baked into bread. At that time the secretary was a very busy man. Not only was he during these first few months virtual manager of the bakery, but he was also the manager of the S.C.W.S., and he had his hands full of work.
Although the minutes are silent on some phases of the work of the committee, however, they are prolix enough on others. The wages of the vanman are given, and at the same meeting—that of 6th February—we are told that the wages of the foreman baker were fixed at 34/ a week. It was also agreed at the same meeting that the bread be sold at current retail price and that a discount of 10 per cent. be given. Three weeks later the need for a larger van was being discussed, and at the next meeting, held a week later, it was decided that a Parkhead van-builder be given the order to build a van large enough to contain fifty dozen loaves; and that another horse be purchased. A shop in connection with the bakery had now been opened, and it was decided that the shop hours should be from eight a.m. until seven p.m. The question of a weekly half-holiday, presumably for the girl in the bread shop, was also considered, but allowed to lie over. From the next minute it becomes evident that the committee’s idea of the class of horse which was required for the work of the Society had undergone some change during their month’s experience, for whereas the first horse which they purchased cost £18, they paid £40 for the next one.
At the beginning of the month the hours of the shop girl had been fixed at from eight to seven, but on the 27th of the same month an alteration was made, and it was agreed that the shop should open at 7·30 in the morning and remain open until 7·30 at night. On Mondays it was to be shut at 5 p.m. and on Saturdays to remain open until 9 p.m., while the price of bread was fixed at 5½d. The committee were now finding that they required stable and van room more than they had available, and agreed to advertise for it. Evidently the shop girl found the 7.30 a.m. start too early for her, for at a meeting of the committee held a fortnight after the earlier opening of the shop had been decided on, the minute records that she should “be spoken to about attending at her hour in the morning.”
DIFFICULTIES BEGIN.
By this time the members of the committee were beginning to realise that there were difficulties in running a baking business. Complaints had been made that the bread was sour, and the foreman baker laid the blame on a change of temperature. The explanation was quite likely to be the correct one, although a foreman with an interest in his work might have been expected to take precautions against such difficulties. The committee were not long in discovering that this was just what their foreman did not do. At the next meeting his attention was again called to complaints about the bread. This time it was being sent out to the shops in a dirty condition. He was also informed that the blend of flours which he was using was costing too much, and the committee decided that they should draft a statement of the proportions in which the differently priced flours were to be used. It was also decided to dismiss one of the vanmen on the ground that he was careless about his work and his horse.
In the case of the baker matters went from bad to worse until, an earlier historian[[1]] tells us, he struck work altogether. The committee for some time had been in constant fear that some morning the ovens would be found cold, or else that the bread would be burnt black, and the crisis came when, at 11 p.m. one Thursday toward the end of May, the president was aroused from sleep to receive the intelligence that the Baking Society had given up business. This was serious news; but sure enough, when he had hurriedly dressed himself and made his way with all speed to Coburg Street, he found the bakery in darkness. Mr Borrowman was next awakened, and told the doleful tidings. Both gentlemen hurried to the foreman’s house to discover that happy-go-lucky individual soundly asleep, careless that hungry Co-operators would be breadless in the morning. He was induced to go to work, and next day the committee were hastily summoned, only to discover that the foreman was tired of his job, and had fully made up his mind that he was going to be responsible no longer for supplying Co-operators with the staff of life. The committee were at their wits end, but there was nothing for it but to get another baker. Here the minutes take up the story. The committee at their meeting spoke to the foreman about the loss on the first quarter’s working, which amounted to £37. His reply was to the effect that he never expected to make a profit the first quarter. They then spoke to him of the numerous complaints which were being received with reference to the quality of the bread, and he replied that as he was unable to do better the best thing he could do was to resign. His resignation was accepted, and after very considerable difficulty another man was found to take his place; but he only remained a week or two, and ultimately, in June, another man was procured who was able to do better. No balance-sheet was printed for any of the quarters in the first year, but a written statement, showing the position of the Society, was sent to each member. The first quarterly meeting was held on 29th May, when the rules were adopted. Mr Gabriel Thomson was elected president; Mr John West (St Rollox Society), treasurer; Mr James Borrowman (Anderston Society), secretary; and Messrs James Ferguson (Barrhead), Joseph Gibb (Thornliebank), Alexander Douglas (Anderston), and Weir (Motherwell) as committee. It was also agreed that the secretary be paid £1, 10s. and the treasurer £2 quarterly.
[1]. The United Co-operative Society Year Book, 1896.
With the appointment of a new foreman the bakery was now running more smoothly than during the first quarter, but it was not yet paying its way, for the minute of 29th June records the fact that the loss at that date was £25. The explanation of this position, as given by the secretary, was that a liability of £4, 15s. had not been taken into account at the last balance, some flour which had been bought had not been used when the price fell, and this had entailed a loss of £6, 10s. An encouraging feature, however, was a report given by the new foreman which showed that a profit had been made in each of the two weeks with which it dealt. The sales were also rising, but the committee were not satisfied with the trade the Society was doing, and were desirous that the turnover should be raised to sixty sacks or seventy sacks a week, as they thought that with such a turnover they would have a good profit. As a preliminary step to securing this turnover they determined to send out several of their number as missionaries to societies which had not yet joined, with the object of getting them to do so, or, at least, to purchase their bread from the Society. Amongst other minor difficulties with which the committee were being faced at this time was the lack of suitable stabling for their horses. Their stable was too small, and it was unhealthy. It is true that horses were not very costly, but neither was money too plentiful, and they could not afford to run any risks. One of the horses which they had bought in the beginning of the year was ill, and had to be sold for £6. A decline of £12 in the value of a horse inside a few months was evidence that there was something wrong somewhere, but suitable stabling was difficult to secure.