Before you started your shift, you had to "clock-on" by punching your timecard through the official timekeeping clock. At the end of your shift you would "clock-out" in the same way, rather like the procedure in any typical factory. Doesn't sound very glamorous, does it?
The shifts were usually 8 hours at a time. During the day that was much the same as any ordinary job. But in the evening, and through the night, working for eight hours could feel quite strange when you first started to do this. After a short while though, you just got used to it and working at any time round the clock eventuallly became your normal, everyday routine.
The 8:00am to 4:00pm slot, and even noon to 8:00pm were pretty okay right from the start. But the shifts that took you through to the early hours of the morning would take quite a bit of getting used to. Some girls, at 2:00 in the morning, might get off work and feel like going straight out to a late-night bar or club. Me, I was usually happy to go home and rest my feet!
But the real nightmare shift was the midnight-to-8:00am stint. This slot was generally known among the girls (and the guys who worked at this time, too) as either "The Graveyard" when it was very quiet and fairly boring, like in the early part of the week, or "The Killer" on a busy weekend, 8-hours right through the night non-stop on those high heels. (Obviously, the guys didn't have the problem with the heels!)
Some compensations for working midnight-to-8 were generous tips from happy and relaxed punters, and the excellent breakfast (on the house) that you could enjoy at the end. Never did bacon and eggs taste so good!