Factory Terminology

The Ronson factory on Forest Road, Newport, had a language of its own. Float girls stepped in wherever the line needed help, flame setters used a fork and chimney to get each flame just right, and every lighter went through the water tank to check for leaks.

This list explains the words you’ll hear in our oral history interviews, along with everyday terms from factory life such as piecework, clocking in and the weekly wage packet. It began as the vocabulary sheet in our free Teachers’ Resource Pack for Key Stage 2, so the explanations suit all ages.

Word	What it means
Production line	A row of workers, each doing one job, so that a product is built step by step.
Conveyor belt	A moving belt that carries things from one worker to the next.
Shell	The outside case of the lighter.
Valve	A small part that lets gas in or out. Workers set the valves so the flame was the right height.
Butane	The gas inside the lighter. It is kept as a liquid under pressure.
Flint and flint wheel	Turning the little wheel against the flint makes a spark that lights the gas.
Flame setter	A worker who tested each lighter and set its flame to the right height.
Fork and chimney	Two tiny tools flame setters used to adjust the valve.
Water tank	Lighters were pushed through water. Bubbles showed a leak.
Rectification	Fixing faulty lighters.
Inspection	Checking that every finished lighter is right.
Float girl	A worker who knew every job on the line. She stepped in when someone needed a break or fell behind.
Training school	A small line beside the main line where new workers learned one job at a time.
Time and motion	Experts who timed each job to see how much faster it could be done.
Piecework	Being paid for how many items you make, not just for the hours you work.
Wage packet	A small brown envelope with your weekly pay inside, in cash.
Canteen	The factory’s own café, where workers bought meals and drinks.
Trade union	A group of workers who join together to ask for fair pay and conditions.
Strike, picket line	A strike is when workers stop working as a protest. A picket line is where strikers stand outside.
Redundancy	Losing your job because the work is no longer needed.
Receivership	When a company cannot pay its debts and someone is brought in to run it or sell it.
Productivity	How much is made in a set time, or by each worker.
Profit	The money a business has left after paying all its costs.
Competition	Other businesses trying to sell similar things to the same customers.
Mainland	Great Britain, across the sea from the Isle of Wight.
Parliament	Where MPs meet to make laws and debate. The House of Commons is part of it.
Source	Anything that tells us about the past: a photo, a newspaper, a memory, a document.
Evidence	Information from sources that helps us answer a question.
Oral history	History collected by recording people talking about their own memories.