Would you have thought of...

It’s not exactly the best marketing strategy, but when this advert was published in 1937, the good construction folk of the time can’t have been aware of the atrocities then underway in Russia, or just imminent in Germany. Nevertheless, the advert is a redolent of a far more innocent age.

… themeing a celebratory dinner around a construction project?

That’s what Wimpey chairman Godfrey Mitchell apparently did when he threw a bash to celebrate his first decade at the helm of the company in the late 1920s. The invitation was disguised as a contract, the menu was a specification, and there was a “maintenance period” when guests withdrew for port and cigars.

... emulating that iconic photo of workers on New York’s Rockefeller Centre in 1932?

This character obviously did, although his concession to safety in 1973 was the chain slung around his waist. He was working for contractor Falkner-Wood on the conversion of London’s Henry Wood Hall. But in his heart, he was really a cowboy - note the heeled boots, suede jacket and fetching moustache. All he needs is a 10 gallon Stetson, spurs and a glass of bourbon in his hand to complete the look.

… tapping into the artistic talents of your staff?

This elaborate drawing (below) of the tool room of metal window manufacturer Williams & Williams was apparently the work of one of the company’s employees, John Reynolds. The drawing was published in an advert in the Architectural Review in January 1951.

… serving in a uniformed construction battalion in the Second World War?

If you had worked for a major contractor such as Taylor Woodrow, Laing, or Wimpey in 1939, you may have spent the war in uniform but working alongside colleagues from civilian days. Major contractors each formed uniformed companies that worked under the direction of the Ministry of Works and the War Office, deployed to repair bomb damaged buildings or airfields. Managers become officers, site foremen were NCOs, and the tradesmen were private soldiers. Construction workers were considered too vital to the war effort to be called up to the regular army.