It took Paisley to Broadway and has had Hollywood heavyweights including Sean Penn, Robbie Coltrane and Kevin Bacon playing its much-loved characters.
Now, some of the original Slab Boys and Girls who worked with renowned Scottish playwright John Byrne as teenagers in a carpet factory have been reunited to talk about how their experiences helped inspire a masterpiece.
The Slab Boys Trilogy is a set of three plays by Byrne which tell the story of a group of young, working-class Scots during the period from 1957-1972 in the slab room of a fictional carpet manufacturer in Paisley.
The company was inspired by Stoddard’s carpet factory in Elderslie, near Paisley, where Byrne worked as both a slab boy and later as a designer following his graduation from art school.
The slab room is a small, paint-mixing room where young apprentices grind colours together for the designers.
Byrne described his time in the factory as a "technicolour hell hole".
Friend Jim Rafferty, who worked alongside Byrne at Stoddard’s, said: “The play has been such a worldwide success and the thing about it is its universality – you can recognise yourself or someone you know in it – and that’s what John tapped in to.”
Mr Rafferty recently reunited with other former Stoddard's colleagues at Paisley’s Secret Collection museum.
READ MORE: Did Tutti Frutti pass the test of time? - review
Memorabilia, including carpets designed by Stoddard’s, a design of the play’s original set and a painting, Paisley Sunset, by Byrne, will go on display when the museum reopens next year following a £45 million refurbishment.
Another of the slab boys, Bill Brown, added: “John was a one-off. John Byrne could have been born anywhere and still been the same. His talent was amazing.
"He took characters and exaggerated them a bit and produced an amazing work of comedy. He’s a credit to Paisley.”
The work in the factory could be tedious, which is where the humour associated with the plays came from.
Slab girl, Jean Scaglione said: “I just think it was the character of the people in the factory.
"We were all full of ideas, heads bursting with jokes and it just so happened that we all got together and it became something else, something special.”
Byrne was raised in Ferguslie Park, not far from the factory.
Unlike the main character in the play, Phil McCann - whose application to go to art school is turned down - Byrne was accepted to Glasgow School of Art in 1958.
His former colleague, George Johnston remembers him well.
READ MORE: Designer makes Milan debut with ode to John Byrne
He said: “He always seemed a bit of a tricky chap, and he used to turn up for work in safari boots with no socks and massive coats.
"He looked eccentric and he was quite unusual, but really funny as well. He was a very imaginative man and I always enjoyed his company.”
The Slab Boys premiered at the Traverse Theatre in Edinburgh on April 6 1978, before going on to be staged in Broadway in 1983 with a star-studded cast.
A film version was released in 1997, starring Anna Massey, Tom Watson and Julie Wilson Nimmo.
Byrne later wrote hits including Tutti Frutti, as well as his large body of iconic art work, some of which will also be featured in the revamped museum.
In recognition of the part played by the group – who refer to themselves as the Slabbies or the Stoddardistas – an anonymous donation was made to support the work as part of the museum’s fundraising appeal.
The group, who live across the world, still write to each other by email, conversing in Scots and keeping the memories and laughs alive.
Fellow slab boy Alex Holmes recalled how the Stoddard’s staff once took turns rolling a barrel of scrumpy cider through Glasgow city centre after a night out.
With his parents away on holiday, Holmes invited his colleagues back to his for a party.
READ MORE: A director's life with John Byrne's comedy
He said: “We eventually rolled it up to my house there and we had a weekend long party.
"It was so good that John and a few others took the Monday off to continue the party and had to explain to the bosses when we went in the next day.
"We were lucky we weren’t fired!”
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here