Photograph from the 1955 Bonus Dance

Every year up until the mid-1970s, John Player & Sons gave its employees a money bonus in March. To mark this, a dance was thrown at the Astoria dancehall in Nottingham (this later became the Sherwood Rooms and is now Ocean nightclub).

This photograph is from the 1955 bonus dance and features, amongst others, Leslie and Sybil Briggs (née Simmonds). Leslie worked in No. 3 factory and Sybil worked in the offices. Sybil remembers that the female employees would talk about what they were going to wear to the dance for months in advance, and she would often buy a new dress for the occasion which she would have to pay off in monthly instalments.

Yvonne Dawson

1955