Basic tech of the 90's, that was cutting edge stuff for us, even the 70's were mind blowing - oh how I miss those log tables.
A Shilling for the Meter
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Level 4415-10-22
Basic tech of the 90's, that was cutting edge stuff for us, even the 70's were mind blowing - oh how I miss those log tables. -
Level 9115-10-22I'm an Eon Next dual fuel customer with no particular expertise but have some time on my hands that I am using to try and help out a bit.
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Community Team15-10-22@JoeSoap this brings back memories of my childhood too. It's crazy to think these meters were still around as late as the 80's/90's. I was born in 86 and we still had to pop 50p in the meter and turn the little handle like the old sweetie machines at the seaside 😂
I was reminiscing with @Anasa_EONNext about the £1 in the telly and the pop man (or skoosh man as I used to call him) I always remember we would get money back when we returned our glass bottles (or glass cheque's as my Nana would call them) it was always the best day when the skoosh man came as it meant ice cream floats for us!! -
Level 9115-10-22@DebF_EONNext
I've never heard skoosh before. In Wales we called it pop and in Scotland we called it ginger. I've been around a bit 😉 -
Community Team15-10-22@JoeSoap I'm in Scotland and it's always been skoosh to me but to be fair my family are a bit odd 😂 You are right though we do often call it ginger too although I think that's maybe more common on the west coast 😊"Green is the prime colour of the world and that from which it's loveliness arises"-Pedro Calderon De La Barca 🌳
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Level 9215-10-22My Granny had an electric meter under the stairs that took shillings and a gas meter on a shelf above the pantry door that took florins (2 shilling coins).
After decimalisation, the 'new' 5p replaced the shilling and the 10p coin replaced the florin.
But here's nostalgia for you....
5p in the 'leccy would last all day, except Mondays when it was laundry day and Granny had to put the electric copper on to heat up water for the twin tub. Laundry day cost an extra 5p.
10p in the gas meter would run the gas fire in the front room, and the cooker, for about three days. We're talking mid 70s here.
My job was to feed the meters when I stayed. Grandad had a pot next to his armchair with coins in it and if the lights went out or the fire went off, he'd hand me the coins and say 'go feed the meter, lad'.
Both my Grandparents are long gone now, as are the days of those sorts of energy prices!
Fortunately, so are the days of plugging the non-earthed iron with a BS22 bayonet connector into the 'Y' adapter on the kitchen light....and I still have those fittings in my collection.
Last edited by retrotecchie; 15-10-22 at 10:09.
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GuestTommysgirl15-10-22@retrotecchie
I remember my grandma plugging the iron into the light fitting with the Y adapter too. The local hairdressers did the same with hairdryers!
The pop man used to call once a week, plus greengrocers and bakers vans twice a week. We also had a forerunner of online grocery shopping- a staff member from the local Co-op would come to the house with a pre-printed list of items and prices in a carbon-papered book which they would tick what you wanted. They would then tear off the top copy and give it to you which was your receipt, and take the carbon copies back to the shop. The groceries would then be delivered later in the week. Everything was always available, and there were no daft substitutions either. Happy days! -
Level 9215-10-22About four years ago, we moved to a rented property in rural Wales. It belonged to the grandparents of our landlady and she had pretty much grown up there as a young child. As it was a former smallholding that had not seen much gardening in a few years, I started tackling the overgrowth and discovered several dustbins buried in a hedge.
One of the bins was full of glass pop bottles which had the lids on stating 10p deposit on the bottle. When I mentioned this to my landlady she rather sheepishly told me that it was her secret stash. They got the pop along with milk from the local milk round, and all the empties were supposed to go back for a refund. As a 14 year Old girl, she used to spirit the occasional bottle away and hide it in a bin, and when she had enough, she'd put them in a rucksack and cycle down to the dairy to cash them in for extra pocket money.
The company in question, the local Welsh equivalent of Corona, bought several of the bottles from me at a fiver a go to put in their office reception area as a historical display. I would have been more than happy to just get the 10p's back.Last edited by retrotecchie; 15-10-22 at 11:31.
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Level 9115-10-22@retrotecchie
my local “Moon” pub had copies of adverts for homes for sale in the area from the 1930’s. one of them boasted of electric lighting @ 4d per unit. No mention of power sockets - there were no appliances in those days. I did some calculations to convert to contemporary prices and concluded it was very expensive. With recent increases I’m not so sure. Also the recent increase in gas pricing has out stripped that of electricity, the latter is now only 3.5 times that of gas - a while ago it was nearer 5 times.Last edited by meldrewreborn; 15-10-22 at 14:44.
Current Eon Next and EDF customer, ex Zog and Symbio. Don't think dual fuel saves money and don't like smart meters. Chronologically Gifted. If I offend let me know by private message, but I’ll continue to express my opinions nonetheless.
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