Working hours

Dora Laing’s work diaries provide invaluable insight into the daily life of TDO members in the 1920s and 1930s. Every day, she logged her tasks: typefaces she worked on, letters she drew, instructions she received from Pierpont or Steltzer, etc. As TDO work was closely monitored, she also recorded the number of hours she spent on each task. Hence we know that in 1929, Laing worked for an average of 8 ½ hours every day, Monday to Friday, as well as 4 ½ hours on Saturdays. She was entitled to a break for Easter, about ten days of summer holiday, as well as five days at Christmas.

A page from Dora Laing's notebook in which she recorded her daily tasks between December 1928 and March 1932. © Monotype archives

A page from Dora Laing's notebook in which she recorded her daily tasks between December 1928 and March 1932. © Monotype archives

A page from Dora Laing's notebook in which she recorded her daily tasks between December 1928 and March 1932. © Monotype archives