Re: Would You Know What I meant, If I said, ‘Put It On The Book’?

When I was a young child we lived on the outskirts of the city and we only had half a dozen shops within walking distance.
I was about 6 at the time (very few cars on the road in those days) and my mum used to send me to the grocers on my own with a small list and a bunch of flowers freshly cut from the garden. I gave the lady in the shop the list and flowers and waited while she got the goods and finally bent down to take a packet of cigarettes from ‘under the counter’.

It wasn’t until years later I asked mum why I always had to take flowers to the shop every time and she told me the cigarettes were rationed in those days and you were only allowed one packet a week. So the flowers were used as a bribe! 😊🤫

Getting back to the subject, as far as I remember we always paid for everything, never had anything on the ‘slate’.
If we couldn’t afford anything we went without.
A hard time in those days but a lesson well learnt, to this day if we can’t afford anything, we go without ...... when we can afford it we appreciate it more.

Re: Would You Know What I meant, If I said, ‘Put It On The Book’?

Anyone remember the sign comprising of a picture of a clock face with "No tick here" printed beneath it?

Re: Would You Know What I meant, If I said, ‘Put It On The Book’?

No, but I remember:

"Do not ask for credit as a punch in the face usually offends"

Re: Would You Know What I meant, If I said, ‘Put It On The Book’?

Maybe, but accounts were usually settled on pay day.

I remember one butcher who used to write the names of those who hadn't paid on his shop window. The resultant shame normally made them cough up. That was outlawed some years ago but I doubt that if it was still in existence that it would work. A lot of people have no morals or shame.

Re: Would You Know What I meant, If I said, ‘Put It On The Book’?

Not quite the same.
I well remember a lady , Mrs Timmins, coming around one evening of the week to take our order for George Mason.
She would sit in a dining chair and watch Emergency Ward 10.
Lord help us kids if we spoke while it was on.

Re: Would You Know What I meant, If I said, ‘Put It On The Book’?

I remember my Mum's co-op number to, but it was longer than your Mum's. Ours was 1168650.

It wasn't called 'on the book' where I came from, it was known as 'on the slate.'

Re: Would You Know What I meant, If I said, ‘Put It On The Book’?

Yes I remember the co op , mum going every day for groceries. put on the book..no fridge to keep anything fresh....or freezers...when my dad came home on a friday from work ,my mum would go to the co op and pay the bill. I remember the book and the money were put in a little container and it whizzed on a sort of wire across the shop to the cash desk,

Re: Would You Know What I meant, If I said, ‘Put It On The Book’?

Same here Mups, my Mum's co-op number was 55280, which we had to tell them every time we were sent there on an errand.