Photograph of Duncan's Chocolate Factory, 1918

Category

Museums & Galleries Item

Item no

52267

Title

Sepia photograph of bookkeepers' office at Duncan's Chocolate factory, c.1918

Description

One sepia photograph mounted on card (unmarked) of the office at Duncan's chocolate factory on Beaverhall Road, Edinburgh in about 1918. The image shows the factory's main accountancy office, with a group of female bookkeepers working on various ledgers at a long bench.

Accession number

HH5230/2/90

W. & M. Duncan originally started trading in Dundee, but moved to Edinburgh in the 1880s, and had their factory at the Regent Confectionary Works on Beaverhall Road. Their lasting legacy is the walnut whip, now owned by Nestle. By the 1980s, Duncans had been bought by various other businesses and had moved away from Edinburgh. It specialised in making chocolates for use in the armed forces. The name Duncan"s of Edinburgh was revived for a short while for the Ministry of Defence during the First Gulf War.
In contrast to the male-dominated printing profession, the images here show how many women worked in Duncan"s warehouses, packing rooms and accountancy offices.

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Photograph of Duncan's chocolate factory, 1918