Our local co-op had some sort of overhead contraption that they would use to send things whizzing round the store
I remember them. They were very strange. Apparently the shop assistants weren't allowed to handle the money. So they put the money that people gave them into a tin and sent it whizzing around on wires to the office. Then the office staff put the change and receipt in the tin and sent it back to the assistant. What a weird way of going on!
I also remember people having to use plastic tokens to buy milk from the co-op milkman. The co-op seemed to do some strange things then.
Our local co-op had some sort of overhead contraption that they would use to send things whizzing round the store
A pneumatic tube? I remember those. We had one in the telegraph office where I worked - we put the telegrams in envelopes and sent them down the tube to the delivery office downstairs.
I remember them. They were very strange. Apparently the shop assistants weren't allowed to handle the money. So they put the money that people gave them into a tin and sent it whizzing around on wires to the office. Then the office staff put the change and receipt in the tin and sent it back to the assistant. What a weird way of going on!
Foyles bookshop used to be like that, except that the poor customer had to do the running around between the assistant and the cashier!
Proper red telephone boxes (a few still around, not many)
Sets of telephone directories inside the phone-boxes (maybe because I lived near London, there was the entire set, on a swiveling mechanism that stopped you taking them away).
An unanswered ringing tone when calling a business, or an engaged tone, instead of voicemail which instantly (on my phone) costs 25p.
Automatic menu systems on phones instead of being answered by people.
Queuing systems, so that you can spend 30 minutes on hold, on that 25p/minute 0870 number, before spending 2 minutes on your actual conversation.
01 for London (before it became 071/081, then 0171/0181, and finally(?) 0207/208 - or is it just 020?
Calling up the latest weather report on 01 246 8091 (I also remember that Scotland Yard was (Whitehall) 230 1212 - maybe it still is...)
Rotary dialing. (Your landline exchange might still support the signals for this: test it by lifting the handset, and rapidly pressing the receiver-button thing 5 times to dial '5' for example, or 10 times for '0', repeat for the other digits with a pause between each.)
Free directory enquiries by dialing 192 (now it seems to cost about £4 a time).
I remember them. They were very strange. Apparently the shop assistants weren't allowed to handle the money. So they put the money that people gave them into a tin and sent it whizzing around on wires to the office. Then the office staff put the change and receipt in the tin and sent it back to the assistant. What a weird way of going on!
Made sense in a big store - saved running about with money and too many people handling it, and everything could be controlled from one cashier's office.
They still exist - there was a case in the news this week of someone who had got into a store's roofspace and intercepted the tubes for several hours before they sussed it. (sorry - haven't found the link, but here's one they made earlier http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1554632/Thief-stole-90000-from-supermarket-tubes.html)
Long before that you dialled the first 3 letters of the town name or area, then the number. Remember 'Whitehall 1212' - Scotland Yard? There was a radio show well before my time called that, and I'm sure a tv series used to start with it, possibly this http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scotland_Yard_%28TV_series%29
Long before that you dialled the first 3 letters of the town name or area, then the number. Remember 'Whitehall 1212' - Scotland Yard? There was a radio show well before my time called that, and I'm sure a tv series used to start with it, possibly this http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scotland_Yard_%28TV_series%29
Earlier still, there were manual exchanges too. You dialled the first 3 letters of the exchange or some other code, and an operator answered to connect you.Of course if you lived in that area all your calls had to go through an operator.
Comments
I remember both of these!
Our insurance salesman was Mr Parsons☺
I seem to remember someone coming round with football pools and spot the ball (which my mum won several times)
Wiz lollies with lovely caramel centre. Yummy.
I remember them. They were very strange. Apparently the shop assistants weren't allowed to handle the money. So they put the money that people gave them into a tin and sent it whizzing around on wires to the office. Then the office staff put the change and receipt in the tin and sent it back to the assistant. What a weird way of going on!
I also remember people having to use plastic tokens to buy milk from the co-op milkman. The co-op seemed to do some strange things then.
A pneumatic tube? I remember those. We had one in the telegraph office where I worked - we put the telegrams in envelopes and sent them down the tube to the delivery office downstairs.
Just on phones:
Proper red telephone boxes (a few still around, not many)
Sets of telephone directories inside the phone-boxes (maybe because I lived near London, there was the entire set, on a swiveling mechanism that stopped you taking them away).
An unanswered ringing tone when calling a business, or an engaged tone, instead of voicemail which instantly (on my phone) costs 25p.
Automatic menu systems on phones instead of being answered by people.
Queuing systems, so that you can spend 30 minutes on hold, on that 25p/minute 0870 number, before spending 2 minutes on your actual conversation.
01 for London (before it became 071/081, then 0171/0181, and finally(?) 0207/208 - or is it just 020?
Calling up the latest weather report on 01 246 8091 (I also remember that Scotland Yard was (Whitehall) 230 1212 - maybe it still is...)
Rotary dialing. (Your landline exchange might still support the signals for this: test it by lifting the handset, and rapidly pressing the receiver-button thing 5 times to dial '5' for example, or 10 times for '0', repeat for the other digits with a pause between each.)
Free directory enquiries by dialing 192 (now it seems to cost about £4 a time).
Just 020. There's a lot of confusion about that!
There's still one in Quorn, near me in Loughborough, here in Leicestershire.
They looked much nicer than the ones today.
They still exist - there was a case in the news this week of someone who had got into a store's roofspace and intercepted the tubes for several hours before they sussed it. (sorry - haven't found the link, but here's one they made earlier http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1554632/Thief-stole-90000-from-supermarket-tubes.html)
Earlier still, there were manual exchanges too. You dialled the first 3 letters of the exchange or some other code, and an operator answered to connect you.Of course if you lived in that area all your calls had to go through an operator.
Still see/hear him when we visit my Mom in the Black Country!
Eh? Plenty of us have them round here
Love it :cool:
Can you get coal deliveries?
Also remember dial a disk 😀
Now we just have people going down your skip to see if there is any metal in it and making a mess.