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Punching the Bundy
In 1888, Williard LeGrand Bundy patented the first employee time clock. A year later, he and his brother founded the Bundy Manufacturing Company, which was to become part of the computing giant International Business Machines, or IBM.
The early Bundy clocks were mechanical, and employees in early industrial history used cards that were punched by the machine to record their working hours, or to 'bundy' on.
But in the Interknit hosiery factory in Clunes the expression used was 'punching the bundy'.
The Clunes mill was established in the 1920s, in a decommissioned state school building. In 1939, it was bought by Ballarat company Interknit, and became the Clunes Interknit Mill.
The Interknit Hosiery Company employed many locals. Initially a socks manufacturer, and commonly known as 'Interknit Sox', by 1981 Interknit had begun to manufacture jumpers.
Representing a time when industry was more local to its markets, Interknit supplied socks to Victorian Football League, and then the Australian Football League, teams and later jumpers well. Interknit also supplied socks to cricket teams and the Australian armed forces.
The Bundy clock held at the Clunes Museum was the original time clock from the Interknit factory.
In this story, former workers recall working at the Interknit mill, and especially using the time clock or 'Punching the Bundy'.
Film - Sally Miller and Stephen Oakes, 'Punching the Bundy'
Courtesy of Sally Miller and Stephen Oakes
Film - Sally Miller and Stephen Oakes, 'Punching the Bundy'
[Lindsay Torney in front of building]
[Lindsay Torney]
I'd ride the bike in, come over here, put it up against the wall, along with a few other bikes that were there. Away we go, inside. Same old story.
[Lindsay Torney walks alongside building]
[Lindsay Torney]
Back in for another day's hard work or a night, whatever that happened.
[Lindsay Torney enters building]
[Lindsay Torney]
Ah, well, I'd better punch the bundy.
[Lindsay Torney pretends to punch the bundy, images of a Bundy clock]
[Lindsay Torney]
Push her in, bang she'd go, time clock.
[Punching the Bundy - Memories of the Interknit Hosiery Company Clunes Victoria]
[Images of the Bundy clock, mechanism rolling]
[The first time clock was invented in 1888 by Willard Bundy, a jeweler in Auburn, New York. Bundy Manufacturing, along with two other time equipment businesses, was consolidated into IBM. Interknit's clock is now in The Clunes Museum]
[Black-and-white photograph of Port Philip Mining Company, Clunes late 1800s]
[Pat Cook]
Goldmining wasn't going to last forever.
[Pat Cook, Curator - Clunes Museum]
[Pat Cook]
And as years went by and the mines declined and the workforce declined, so the population declined, and it became a town of women and children, as the miners went to Kalgoorlie and to New Zealand.
[Black-and-white photograph of a ghost town]
[Pat Cook]
And virtually the town came to a standstill, leaving this very small population of women, children and perhaps young adults starting to grow up who would need some sort of occupation.
[Black-and-white photograph of a group of young adults]
[Pat Cook]
The borough of Clunes decided they would have to get some sort of industry to come to Clunes. And with that in mind, they went to Melbourne and looked at several sorts of options but eventually they settled on bringing knitting mills to Clunes. They wanted an industry that employed a lot of people.
Well, I began there in September 1949 and I was there until October 1956.
[Black-and-white photograph of young Maureen along with three other persons]
[Maureen Harris]
Yes, you had to go in every morning, clock on, out at lunch time, clock out, back in at one o'clock, and, yes, four times a day.
[Images of the Bundy clock]
[Maureen Harris]
Apart from using it every day, we used it each week to make up the wages.
[Pay slip for week ending 11 May 1955, Interknit Hosiery Co. Ltd. Clunes]
[Lindsay Torney]
Away we go, inside.
[Inside the Clunes Bottle Museum, Formerly the Interknit Hosiery Mill]
[Lindsay Torney]
G'day, Bill. How you going? That was the packer. Look around. Put the hat up on the peg.
[Old man pretends to put his hat up]
[Lindsay Torney]
Ah, well, what's going today? Hmm...
[Lindsay Torney, Interknit Hosiery Employee]
[Lindsay Torney]
I worked in this knitting mill for 37 years.
[Black-and-white photograph of a group of employees]
[Lindsay Torney]
Started in 1939 - January '39 - and left in 1973. We produced these socks for the services and for all services, and... right throughout the war years.
[Images of the building nowadays]
[Lindsay Torney]
And I wasn't allowed to go to the war because I was in an essential industry. The boss's office. Few funny things there, I was just thinking. Inside there, the boss used to go down the street to pick up the mail.
[Black-and-white photograph of woman in front of knitting machine]
[Lindsay Torney]
He'd be gone about nine o'clock. Some of the girls that were on the knitting machines, we'd get together and have a good old dance in the machine room while they were there, learning the different dances. So we'd be doing that there. Ah...
[Close-up on the Bundy clock]
[Lindsay Torney]
One chap that came here, he didn't do too much, I can tell you that. Anyway... then come Friday, he'd clock off, he'd go down to the pub, and then about, oh, seven o'clock or so's, he'd come up and clock in again and get back down to the pub. 11 o'clock, and he'd come up and clock off. He was getting paid overtime for that. Nobody knew too much about that, though.
[Barbara Adam, Interknit Hosiery Employee]
[Barbara Adam]
I was born here and, you know, everything revolved around Interknit, around the mill. And that was the main employment here. And when that closed and when it moved out, it was really sad for the town.
[Interknit Hosiery operated its mill in Clunes from 1938 until 1985]
[Interknit made socks for the services, the AFL, the NRL, the American Basketball League, Tennis, and the local country league]
[They also made jumpers for the AFL, Cricket, The Federal Police, the Army and various schools]
[Images of Clunes today]
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This media item is licensed under "All rights reserved". You cannot share (i.e. copy, distribute, transmit) or rework (i.e. alter, transform, build upon) this item, or use it for commercial purposes without the permission of the copyright owner. However, an exception can be made if your intended use meets the "fair dealing" criteria. Uses that meet this criteria include research or study; criticism or review; parody or satire; reporting news; enabling a person with a disability to access material; or professional advice by a lawyer, patent attorney, or trademark attorney.
Attribution
Please acknowledge the item’s source, creator and title (where known)
In this story, former workers recall working at the Interknit mill, and especially using the time clock or 'punching the bundy'.
The Clunes mill was established in the 1920s, in a decommissioned state school building. In 1939, it was bought by Ballarat company Interknit, and became the Clunes Interknit Mill.
The Interknit Hosiery Company employed many locals. Initially a socks manufacturer, and commonly known as Interknit Sox, by 1981 Interknit had begun to manufacture jumpers.
Representing a time when industry was more local to its markets, Interknit supplied socks to Victorian Football League, and then the Australian Football League, teams and later jumpers well. Interknit also supplied socks to cricket teams and the Australian armed forces.
Equipment - Time Recorder Ribbon Box, International Business Machines Pty. Ltd., Clunes Museum
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Can you reuse this media without permission?No (with exceptions, see below)
Conditions of use
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This is the instruction sheet that accompanied the Interknit Hosiery Company’s time clock. It was manufactured by the International Business Machines Corporation, which would become the intenrational computing firm we now know as IBM.
Sign - Interknit hosiery office sign, Clunes Museum
Courtesy of Clunes Museum
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The Clunes’ Interknit Mill produced socks for not only the armed forces but also secured contracts for the VFL (later AFL) and cricket teams.
Administrative Record - Interknit Hosiery Company Balance Sheet, 1939, Clunes Museum
Courtesy of Clunes Museum
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This Interknit Hosiery Company balance sheet was presented in the director’s first report. It was prepared by Mr. G. Keller, company secretary at the time. Although the balance sheet showed a loss of £129/4/3 it was the view of the directors that, in light of the company having just been established, it could be considered a satisfactory result.
Functional Object - Interknit Label Stamp, Clunes Museum
Courtesy of Clunes Museum
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Interknit labels were printed on both the sock as well as the packaging. This object is the stamp face used to create the imprints.
Victorian Collections acknowledges the Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander
peoples as the first inhabitants of the nation and the traditional custodians of the lands
where we live, learn and work.
