Hiya
I went back to England a while back and, to fill time on the way to the hotel, I walked into Hamley's, the toy shop in central London. I used to be taken there with my sister a week before Christmas to point out what I'd fancy for my present. I expect negotiation went on between wish and affordability but all must have turned out well because I associate the place with happy memories.
I also associate it with something else. I associate it with a sort of aerial dispatch system to send money from the sales counters to a central cashier. Was it there, though, or was it somewhere else? I'm sure I saw it in several places, but where?
I'll describe what I'm thinking about and maybe you could follow up with what you remember...
For some reason, there were no tills on the counters. Instead, strategic points had wires running to them like the cables that ran above trolley-bus routes. Some sort of container, like an open-topped tube, ran on or below these wires. The salesman would write a bill, wrap it around the money you gave him, place both into the tube and project it along these wires to a point unseen.
Note: it wasn't a Lamson tube, operated by air with the container unseen. These were probably spring-loaded overhead runways and any happy kid could watch these wire-led missiles whizzing above his head like bullets on a string. Approaching Christmas, my memory is that they had little Sooties or other puppets sitting in them.
Out of sight, to me anyway, I suppose there was a cashier who unloaded the tube, took the money, checked the bill and loaded the right change and the receipted bill. Moments later, Sooty would come flying back with my parents' money gone and a small pile of coins in their place.
I half-remember this happening in several shops, including a butcher's shop somewhere. One of those larger butcher's, like Dewhurst's.
I can't be imagining it all, surely? Please say.
keep holding back the years
Waxy
I went back to England a while back and, to fill time on the way to the hotel, I walked into Hamley's, the toy shop in central London. I used to be taken there with my sister a week before Christmas to point out what I'd fancy for my present. I expect negotiation went on between wish and affordability but all must have turned out well because I associate the place with happy memories.
I also associate it with something else. I associate it with a sort of aerial dispatch system to send money from the sales counters to a central cashier. Was it there, though, or was it somewhere else? I'm sure I saw it in several places, but where?
I'll describe what I'm thinking about and maybe you could follow up with what you remember...
For some reason, there were no tills on the counters. Instead, strategic points had wires running to them like the cables that ran above trolley-bus routes. Some sort of container, like an open-topped tube, ran on or below these wires. The salesman would write a bill, wrap it around the money you gave him, place both into the tube and project it along these wires to a point unseen.
Note: it wasn't a Lamson tube, operated by air with the container unseen. These were probably spring-loaded overhead runways and any happy kid could watch these wire-led missiles whizzing above his head like bullets on a string. Approaching Christmas, my memory is that they had little Sooties or other puppets sitting in them.
Out of sight, to me anyway, I suppose there was a cashier who unloaded the tube, took the money, checked the bill and loaded the right change and the receipted bill. Moments later, Sooty would come flying back with my parents' money gone and a small pile of coins in their place.
I half-remember this happening in several shops, including a butcher's shop somewhere. One of those larger butcher's, like Dewhurst's.
I can't be imagining it all, surely? Please say.
keep holding back the years
Waxy
