Jean Cameron
Born1921/22
NationalityScottish
Occupationpostwoman
Years active1940s
EmployerGeneral Post Office now known as Royal Mail
Known forchanging the uniform for women postal workers to include trousers (named after her as 'Camerons')

Jean Cameron (b. 1921/22[1] – ), was a World War II Scottish rural postwoman who, at the age of 19, successfully challenged and changed the dress-code for postwomen to permit the wearing of trousers. The uniform trousers were known as 'Camerons' in her honour. Films were made on her successful action in 1944 and 2021. She is named in the Royal Mail 500 years archive (2017),[2][3] and in the Kirriemuir town (2021) community art project, Signs of Change.[4]

Background

During World War II, women took on roles previously dominated by men, in the United Kingdom. This included serving what was then called the General Post Office, now Royal Mail. Jean Cameron, the postwoman who served in Glen Clova, a rural area, had asked to wear trousers. In 1941 she had persuaded the management that the official uniform be changed for the first time, to allow postwomen to wear a skirt or trousers.[2] Within two months of the option being available, 500 pairs were ordered, by November 1943, 14,000 pairs of what had become known as 'Camerons' had been issued,[1] then all 16,000 postwomen were sent a pair of the trousers.[5]

Glen Clova - general view

As Glen Clova 'postie', Cameron had a long route and tough terrain to deliver mail, shopping and urgent telegrams, either by bicycle or on foot; she had to cross burns (streams) and stone stiles, as well as walking rough rocky paths or muddy bogs.[6]

A war-time newsreel titled 'Mail and the Female. A Highland Postie Starts a Fashion' showed postbags of trousers being delivered to all 16,000 female posties. It includes scenes of Cameron travelling through snow by bicycle, and then crossing a river on foot, in her trouser uniform. It also showed the postwomen in their 'Camerons', starting their mail round in bomb-damaged London. It included a re-enactment of a phone-call between Cameron and the District Postmaster, when he asks what skirt size she needs for her uniform, Cameron replies that she would 'prefer trousers', in Scots 'breeks'.[5][3]

Another 1944 film, The Coming of the Camerons, directed by amateur, Frank M. Marshall, which told her story, was Highly commended in 1945 by the Institute of Amateur Cinematographers,[7] and highlighted the importance of post in wartime, including a minister whose son was a prisoner of war, or remote farmers relying on the 'postie' for newspaper & shopping.[6]

A section on Cameron's impact on women's rights was included in a 2021 BBC documentary covering the river South Esk.[3]

Reaction

When interviewed for film in 1944, Cameron said that 'thousands of posties' would be dressing like this in future. 'But I was the first, and I shouldn't be a woman if I wasn't pleased to be the first to start a fashion.'[2]

Women wearing trousers in the 1940s was seen as controversial, although they did so in more roles, for practical reasons, as the war went on.[2] Picture Post carried the story and joked 'it is not a question so much, 'should women wear trousers', the answer obviously being yes, but 'when, where and how'.[2]

The design of the 'Camerons' was in line with the red and blue postal uniform[8] and were quickly popular with female staff.[1][9]

Commemoration

In 2016-17, Cameron was celebrated as one of the Scots who 'helped shape the 500-year history of the Royal Mail'.[10][11]

As part of a community art project in Kirriemuir, Cameron was chosen as one of the 'trailblazers' to be commemorated.[4]

In 2021, Cameron was described in a BBC documentary as having 'revolutionised female fashion in the workplace' and having described her ideal uniform requirements for the rough route she travelled in the glen, as 'a sturdy pair of breeks'.[3]

  • The Coming of the Camerons (film 1944) by Frank M. Marshall (amateur cinematographer) from Scotland on Screen shows Cameron cycling in trousers on her rounds, then delivery of her uniform 'Camerons' in rural Glen Clova[6]
  • Worker and War Front magazine (film 1944) by Ministry of Information, Paul Rotha Productions starts at 10:03:16 Mail and the Female. A Highland Postie Starts a Fashion' [5]
  • Royal Mail 500 years (website) People - Jean Cameron (born 1921/22) [1]
  • A BBC documentary about the River North Esk, includes a section describing Cameron's impact. Starts at 7m38s.[3]
  • An image of Jean Cameron in uniform checking an envelope ( NOTE: this is only for commercial sale)[12]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "500 years of Royal Mail". 500years.royalmailgroup.com. Retrieved 9 December 2021.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 "Wearing the Trousers". The Postal Museum. 7 March 2017. Retrieved 9 December 2021.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 Grand Tours of Scotland's Rivers - Series 1: 5. Going the Distance, retrieved 9 December 2021
  4. 1 2 Strachan, Graeme. "From wrestler Bill Dundee to pioneering postie Jean Cameron: Murals celebrate Kirriemuir trailblazers". The Courier. Retrieved 9 December 2021.
  5. 1 2 3 Information, Ministry of (1 September 1944). "WORKER AND WAR-FRONT MAGAZINE ISSUE NO 12 [Main Title]". Imperial War Museums. UKY 812. Retrieved 9 December 2021.
  6. 1 2 3 "The Coming of the Camerons | Scotland on Screen". scotlandonscreen.org.uk. Retrieved 9 December 2021.
  7. ↑ "The Coming of the 'Camerons'". docudays.ua. Retrieved 9 December 2021.
  8. ↑ "The Camerons (c.1943)". 500years.royalmailgroup.com. Retrieved 9 December 2021.
  9. ↑ "Wolverhampton postwomen leaving to start their rounds". photo-archive.expressandstar.co.uk. Retrieved 9 December 2021.
  10. ↑ Morris, Bridget (4 January 2016). "Celebrating great Scots who helped shaped 500-year history of Royal Mail". The National. Retrieved 9 December 2021.
  11. ↑ Price, Mike (5 January 2016). "Royal Mail celebrates 500 years with an online gallery". Liverpool Echo. Retrieved 9 December 2021.
  12. ↑ "Scottish postwoman Jean Cameron checks the address on a letter during..." Getty Images. Retrieved 9 December 2021.
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