Office culture underwent a profound transformation throughout the 1960s as post-war business expansion, changing fashions, and early technological innovations reshaped professional workspaces. Massive open-plan floors filled with metal desks, rotary dial telephones, and manual typewriters defined daily operations, while paper files were stacked high in inbox trays. Employees adhered to polished dress codes, with men in tailored suits or crisp white shirts and ties, and women sporting beehive hairstyles, pencil skirts, and sharp professional attire.
Walking into a sixties office meant navigating a unique blend of formal corporate structure and casual human interaction. Executives huddled around large conference tables reviewing blueprints, secretaries managed endless calls on rotary sets, and clerks operated early computer terminals with boxy monitors. From quick chat breaks between typing sessions to intense strategy meetings, these archival photographs capture the daily rhythms, evolving technology, and distinct visual character of mid-century corporate environments. Here are twenty-one vintage photos that offer a fascinating look at work culture during the 1960s.
1. Secretaries in the office of Topps Chewing Gum Factory in Brooklyn, blowing bubbles as they work.
2. The editorial floor of the Evening Standard newspaper office in London, 1966.
3. Men at work in a typical 1960’s office.
4. Executives gathered around the table with the secretary taking notes.
5. Working with a teletype machine and an IBM 729II computer tape storage system.
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6. Two men technicians working in the IBM 360 mainframe computer room.
7. The Administration office at Huntsman House in Leeds.
8. Businesswomen working in the office.
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9. A lorry driver reports to the enquiries window whilst his lorry sits on the weighbridge outside.
10. Two women sit at a reception desk, wearing headsets and connecting customer calls at the Western Electric company offices.
11. A rep poses at her desk in the Longworth House Office Building.
12. A typing pool at Shell Mex House on the Strand, London.
13. Because of an epidemic of foot-and-mouth disease and the ban on all racing, the office of one of the biggest bookmakers in London was very, very quiet.
14. A young woman typing at a teleprinter unit at a GPO computerised telecommunications time share station.
15. Women working at desks in an accounting office.
16. Women office workers from British Steel try out the latest in Rank Xerox copiers.
17. A general view of a typical working office in the 60s.
18. A typing pool workstation, with a desk chair, an electric typewriter, and a telephone.Â
19. “Do you know where the file is?”
20. A classic office scene, with an executive at a desk and a secretary typing.
21. A group of office workers using telephone headsets and computers in 1965.
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These mid-century corporate environments offer a captivating perspective on how dramatically daily work life and technology have evolved over the decades. The blend of sleek mid-century decor, early computing machinery, and distinct professional style captured in these photos provides a rich window into the past. If you enjoy exploring historical photo archives and retro cultural trends, be sure to check out these 16 White-Collar Jobs That Changed Forever After Computers, or these 15 High-Paying Jobs from 1975 That No Longer Exist. You may also like these 15 Strange 1930s Jobs Born During the Great Depression.
