Sexual equality has come a long way in 51 years, so it is no surprise that the identity of the group who scared off “mail van thugs” was spelt out bluntly.
It was “fifteen housewives,” stated the Tele on Monday December 13 1965, who “foiled a bid by three thugs to hold up a mail van”.
It is unlikely that each of the Glasgow 15 was asked if they did work beyond cooking, cleaning and (perhaps) child-caring at home, but this was a time before most women were empowered to forge their own career, so the assumption was probably a good one.
It is a great shame that mobile phone video recording equipment did not exist in 1965 because the scene would have gone viral.
The Tele reported: “The women ran to the rescue of a young postal worker in answer to a warning siren touched off inside the van.
“When the thugs—all young men — saw the housewives charging towards them — they dashed to a getaway car near the Post Office in Carntyne Road, Carntyne.
“The hold-up bid took place minutes after driver Willam Andrew (52), of 20 Stroan Road, Cranhill, had stopped outside the post office to deliver a bagful of remittances worth several hundred pounds.
“As the driver’s mate climbed from the van the bag of money in his hand, the thugs pounced.
“One threw pepper in his eyes. The second struck him over the head with a cosh. The third tried to grab the bag.
“Driver Andrew saw what was happening and pressed an emergency button on the dashboard.
“This stopped the van’s engine, closed and locked its doors automatically and sounded a piercing siren on the roof of the vehicle.
“Inside the post office the women heard the siren and seconds later the street was thick with people.”
Quite a sight, one imagines.
Lost jobs
It is not only the sex of worker that has evolved in the past 51 years.
So has the type of work that is carried out.
As the Tele reported on Monday December 13 1965: “There was a hitch in today’s anticipated return to work of the 116 welders, apprentice welders, caulkers and burners who have been on strike at the Caledon Shipyard, Dundee, since last Wednesday weekend.
“Indications were that the strikers would resume work today, when it would also be possible to restart the 29 platers and 22 platers’ helpers who had to be suspended.
“This morning the strikers had not resumed work. They were holding a meeting outside the yard.”
The article explained that the stoppage was over the case of a welder who sought re-employment after more than four years abroad.
“He was told there were no vacancies, and turned a down a job with a steel structural firm, offered through the Ministry of Labour.
“The strikers claimed the man, a shipyard-trained welder, should be employed in preference to riveters retrained as welders, and welders trained outwith the industry.”
The following years would see much more turbulence in the shipyards.
Do you remember the shipyard strike on December 13 1965? Were all women in the mid 1960s housewives? Share your memories in the Comment section below or on our Facebook or Twitter pages.