Bill Scott's Blog - Posts Tagged "euphemia-murray"
Memories of a Buttercup Message Girl
This is a short extract from my interview with former Buttercup message girl Euphemia Murray.
'Euphemia Murray started work as a Buttercup message girl, as a fourteen year old, in 1927. Her first job in the morning was to scrub the floors and tiles and clean the brass vents. “We had no hot water in the shop so we had to get it from Forrester’s bake house: it was nearly boiling!”
After she had completed these jobs, Euphemia then went out with the orders to “all the large fancy houses and hotels” and took baskets of goods - butter, margarine, eggs, tea and cartons of fresh cream - around the houses in Granton. All Buttercup orders were wrapped up in brown paper and tied up with string. Most of the deliveries were made on foot although sometimes she would get a lift from the Buttercup van drivers, Tommy Hamilton and Jimmy Fraser. Another mode of transport was the tram and if the conductress was in a good mood she might let her off with the two penny fare – it was spent on ice cream!'The Buttercup: The Remarkable Story of Andrew Ewing and the Buttercup Dairy Company
'Euphemia Murray started work as a Buttercup message girl, as a fourteen year old, in 1927. Her first job in the morning was to scrub the floors and tiles and clean the brass vents. “We had no hot water in the shop so we had to get it from Forrester’s bake house: it was nearly boiling!”
After she had completed these jobs, Euphemia then went out with the orders to “all the large fancy houses and hotels” and took baskets of goods - butter, margarine, eggs, tea and cartons of fresh cream - around the houses in Granton. All Buttercup orders were wrapped up in brown paper and tied up with string. Most of the deliveries were made on foot although sometimes she would get a lift from the Buttercup van drivers, Tommy Hamilton and Jimmy Fraser. Another mode of transport was the tram and if the conductress was in a good mood she might let her off with the two penny fare – it was spent on ice cream!'The Buttercup: The Remarkable Story of Andrew Ewing and the Buttercup Dairy Company
Euphemia and me
One of the joys of writing 'The Buttercup' was meeting some wonderful old ladies who worked for the company as far back as the 1920s. The oldest was Euphemia Murray, who was 96 when I interviewed her in 2009.Unfortunately,I broke my ankle a couple of weeks before our meeting, so I arrived at her home on crutches sporting a big blue plaster cast. Euphemia, by contrast, was the picture of health!
Although I had never met Euphemia before, it felt like going home and there was an immediate affinity between us. The forty years age difference made no difference - we had both grown up at the Buttercup and understood the 'magic' that was hard to share with others.
Euphemia enthusiastically related many tales of her time as a Buttercup message girl, where she started work in 1926, as a fourteen year old. Although it was hard work, she was happy there - she also instantly recognised the picture of Andrew Ewing I had brought with me.
Two years after I met Euphemia I paid a surprise visit to her nursing home, with her family, to give her a signed copy of my newly published book. The staff gathered round to watch the presentation and treated her like a celebrity. She was so pleased to receive the book that it brought tears to my eyes.
Up to that point I had mainly been thinking of book sales, but that experience made me realise that there was more to life than commercial success - something that was well understood by Andrew Ewing! The Buttercup: The Remarkable Story of Andrew Ewing and the Buttercup Dairy Company
Although I had never met Euphemia before, it felt like going home and there was an immediate affinity between us. The forty years age difference made no difference - we had both grown up at the Buttercup and understood the 'magic' that was hard to share with others.
Euphemia enthusiastically related many tales of her time as a Buttercup message girl, where she started work in 1926, as a fourteen year old. Although it was hard work, she was happy there - she also instantly recognised the picture of Andrew Ewing I had brought with me.
Two years after I met Euphemia I paid a surprise visit to her nursing home, with her family, to give her a signed copy of my newly published book. The staff gathered round to watch the presentation and treated her like a celebrity. She was so pleased to receive the book that it brought tears to my eyes.
Up to that point I had mainly been thinking of book sales, but that experience made me realise that there was more to life than commercial success - something that was well understood by Andrew Ewing! The Buttercup: The Remarkable Story of Andrew Ewing and the Buttercup Dairy Company
