Lots of people said they remember how people would pour out of the factory in the afternoon when the whistle went and you wouldn't want to be in town then 'cause it was jam full of people just knocked off from Fletchers going to the bank or doing their shopping, especially on Friday afternoons when people got off work a bit earlier.
"Lots of people would remember that fog horn of a siren that used to go off a couple of times in the mornings (the first was a warning to get to work!) and then at the end of the working day." Gary Kelly
"Fletcher Jones, wow I think everyone in Warrnambool is connected there in some way! When the whistle went at the end of the day it was a stampede to leave the factory, 'specially if you wanted to catch the bus to town." Rhonda Lyn Harrison
"Yes good old Fletcher Jones. My first job ever at 15 years of age. Had two brothers working there. At 15 it was a bit daunting - I met my first boyfriend there - oh the memories and yes that rush when the whistle blew to get out.... I met some amazing friends there." Alana White
The beautiful black and white photos below of women leaving the factory at the end of the working day were taken by photographer and gallery owner Gordon deLisle in the early '60s. A link to his obituary Photographer and a Famboyant Life is below- well worth a read!
