THIS year is Pilkington's bicentenary, with the glass giant having been founded in 1826 as the St Helens Crown Glass Company, writes Stephen Wainwright.
Pilks' present-day presence in the town is, of course, a shadow of its heyday in the 1950s and ‘60s.
Then there were 14,000 Pilkington employees in St Helens working across five factories and, along with bottle makers UGB and Rockware, Pilks was earning St Helens the deserved epithet of "glass town".
During their long history, Pilkington's have often been well ahead of their time in providing benefits for its workforce.
During the 19th century pay was seen as a direct swap for workers' labour with employers granting very little else.
But Pilks began a Recreation Club for their workforce as early as 1847 run by the Pilkington's Workmen's Recreation Society and this planted the seeds for the future Ruskin Drive leisure development.
Lectures and musical events took place in the club and the venue also hosted a small library and reading room where newspapers could be read.
During the 19th century a "soiree" of Pilkington's workers was also held each year in the Volunteer Hall in St Helens.
And Pilks' child workers were not forgotten.
By the 1870s there were 350 boys working for Pilkington's and schools were attached to their works so that the lads could have a few hours education each week.
The boys also enjoyed an annual treat involving sports, entertainment and a tea.
In commenting on the 1869 event, the St Helens Newspaper wrote: "At ten o’clock the boys returned home, highly gratified with the first-rate treat provided for them by their kind-hearted employers."
In the early years of the 20th century, a boys' hostel was built at Ravenhead to accommodate and supervise 150 to 200 young Pilkington workers.
Many of the lads were orphans or came from troubled backgrounds and some had been in reformatories.
The hostel contained superb facilities, including a gym, baths and recreational rooms, including billiards.
The company also introduced sickness benefits and a free medical service for its employees well before the first national scheme was introduced in 1911.
Seven years later, holidays with pay, a works council and a pension fund were all brought in.
In the early 1930s the firm introduced a shorter working week and found that it led to a 15 per cent increase in output.
And in 1932 to help employees temporarily laid off through the depression, unemployed male workers were granted payments of 10 shillings a week if married and 6 shillings a week if single.
But probably Pilks' greatest innovation for its staff occurred in 1938 when family allowances were introduced.
These generated national newspaper headlines as they were implemented eight years before the government brought in its own family allowance scheme.
St Helens then had the largest percentage of children in families in the country, with the average family consisting of just under five youngsters.
This generated much poverty and overcrowding and the Pilkington allowance became a boon for many poor parents.
The Daily Mirror described how the scheme worked on January 5, 1938: "Every married employee with a family of more than three children of school age will receive 5s. a week extra for each child.
"Some men will receive £1 a week increase.
"In some homes in St. Helens, the bonus plan will turn poverty into comfort."
But it wasn't just male workers that could benefit.
The Daily Express described how widow Hannah Green was an office cleaner at Pilkington's with five children.
The extra 10 shillings on top of her 45 shillings a week wage would, she explained, make all the difference: "On Sundays I've had to keep the children indoors.
"Why?
"Because I couldn't bear to see them having to mix with playmates in nice Sunday clothes.
"I couldn't afford nice clothes for them."
An unnamed director of the firm explained to the Express how it was an expensive scheme to run but one that would be worthwhile: "It will cost us a four-figure sum each year.
"But it will improve the conditions of our workpeople, and it is for the welfare of their children."
Stephen Wainwright's books The Hidden History Of St Helens Vols 1 to 5 are available from the St Helens Book Stop and The World of Glass and online from Amazon and eBay with free delivery. Price £12 each.
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