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17-12-2020, 12:43 AM
11

Re: Does anyone remember?

Originally Posted by Tiffany ->
I can remember being fascinated by the way it whizzed of to the cashier
I don't think I had any notion of where it went. I just knew it came back with the change; I just sort of accepted it without wondering how or why.
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17-12-2020, 01:04 AM
12

Re: Does anyone remember?

Yes!!..I do remember the vacuum tubes with the cylindrical container that contained messages, accounts and other paperwork that would fit when I wasa little kid They used them in the big department stores. THey were about 9 inches long and about 2 inches wide and had a soft pad at each end. You could close the tube at the receiver's end so it would stop at their station. Only one capsule could be in the network at one time. Saved people running up and down stairs. Early version of email ?
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17-12-2020, 01:13 AM
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Re: Does anyone remember?

Originally Posted by keezoy ->
Early version of email ?
Perhaps it was a reckless comparison, now I come to think of it.
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17-12-2020, 01:33 AM
14

Re: Does anyone remember?

Originally Posted by Harbal ->
Perhaps it was a reckless comparison, now I come to think of it.
No I was serious. Exactly the same principle. Probably more reliable as well.
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17-12-2020, 03:08 AM
15

Re: Does anyone remember?

I worked as a "Saturday boy" in a Millets store in the 1960's.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blacks_Outdoor_Retail

Millets/Milletts

In the UK after the first and second world wars there were many retailers trading under the name Milletts or Millets. There are tales that the original Millett family had many daughters and they gave each a dowry of one or more stores that were then run by their sons-in-law under separate company names with qualifiers in brackets after the name such as (1928) Ltd or (Bristol) Ltd etc. They all sold government surplus clothing and equipment including camping and outdoor leisure goods.

A pneumatic tube system was used for receipt of cash/return of change and receipt:



Pneumatic Tubes

http://www.cashrailway.co.uk/pneumatictube.htm

The pneumatic tube was introduced into department stores in the 1880 by John Wanamaker, the Philadelphia retail magnate (Golden book of the Wanamaker stores, 1911, p.68). He had previously installed such a system in the US Post Office while he was postmaster general. The Manufacturer and Builder (Jan. 1881) states that there were two tubes to each counter - one for each direction. Each carrier was of the exact diameter of a silver dollar and could hold 30 such coins (so the tubes must have been quite narrow compared with later systems). "By means of steam engine and exhaust pump in the cellar, with proper attachments leading therefrom, the air is being constantly exhausted at the cashier's end of the tube and the counter end of the tube of each pair." The system ws also claimed to improve the ventilation of the building.
The shop interior looked a lot like this - old, dark and dingy .....

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17-12-2020, 09:14 AM
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Re: Does anyone remember?

Our hospital used the vacuum tubes to send samples to the pathology dept - not sure if it still does.
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17-12-2020, 01:00 PM
17

Re: Does anyone remember?

I remember the cash tube system in shops, but also years ago I worked in a company that sent tubes to another floor and when my floor ran out one of us would call on the intercom ‘tubes please’. Found that fascinating but also wondered if that was preferable to going up and down stairs to pass documents on?!
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17-12-2020, 03:18 PM
18

Re: Does anyone remember?

I'm sure our Tesco's still used those up until a few years ago (SE). I thought it was an excellent way of moving money out of the till and therefore reducing any chance of theft.

Of course, accidents did happen occasionally. I remember one day, as the tube was moving up the pipe, the screws came loose and the pod went flying across the store, hitting an elderly man in the cobblers. He was ok though, just having a new heel put on his shoe.
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17-12-2020, 03:20 PM
19

Re: Does anyone remember?

Originally Posted by keezoy ->
No I was serious. Exactly the same principle. Probably more reliable as well.

Yep. Packets!
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17-12-2020, 03:22 PM
20

Re: Does anyone remember?

Originally Posted by Mups ->
Gosh, there's a name I haven't heard for years too, Tiff.
They had a tub of broken biscuits by the counter too & Mum would sometimes buy them. Certainly not hygienic now.
 
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