ALAN WHALLEY'S WORLD

JOBS were two a penny when the Dirty Dozen happily risked getting 'the black spot.'

The gang in question was a motley crew of Monday morning layabouts press-ganged into temporary labouring jobs on pain of having their dole stopped. The black spot was the name given to the method by which they were sacked on the spot for not pulling their weight.

A long-memoried customer of this column (wishing to be identified only as Thomas the Tank Repairer) supplies the reminiscences.

The Labour exchange would regularly send a batch of long-standing claimants ((better known as 'dole wallers') to a local glassworks contractor. Factory tanks were under constant repair and that's where that dirty dozen came in - town characters, cowboys, dole wallers, practical jokers and a sprinkling of fellows who had spent short spells behind bars.

"Most knew each other and it was like a Mafia gathering with all the hand-shaking and non-stop laughter," recalls Thomas. "The factory gaffer dished out the jobs, then beat a hasty retreat as the blokes paired off. Some just carried on chatting while others ('star workers') went mad with pick and spade, trying to make an impression."

But every one of 'em had to have a 'hair of the dog' by lunch time, spilling into the Cuerdley or Hawk and Buck pubs to repair their weekend hangovers.

Little changed until Thursdays when a smart youth appeared to dish out his bunch of brown envelopes, all bearing indvidual names. "Leo the Lion was the first character to get one as the rest shouted: 'It's the black spot!'" This was the signal for gales of taproom laughter and hilarious shouting, stamping and Indian warpath dancing.

The 'star workers' imagined they were immune. "But," explains our informant, "everyone got the black spot in turn, to make way for a fresh Monday-morning batch."

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