ABSTRACT
The middle class proletariat included certain peripheral groups, such as journalists and entertainers, but its core was made up of that part of the wage-earning population which came into direct contact with the established middle class by working beside them in their offices, by handling their money in the banks, by representing them as commercial travellers, or by serving them in the ‘quality’ shops, together with those who moulded the children of the masses in the elementary schools. A minority of white collar workers-including, most notably, those employed in banks-was securely middle class. The tightly-knit working class neighbourhood disciplined its inhabitants in extreme cases by rough musickings, and more typically by sendings to Coventry, refusals of help or simple rudeness. The formal church-going of most members of the middle and upper classes, together with many of the smaller property owners, was associated in many individual cases with strong personal convictions.
