THE FLATLEY DRYER

[Stanley]

Sorry but I can't agree with slagging Liverpool off. They have no more dishonest councillors than anywhere else. If you don't believe me read Rotten Boroughs in Private Eye every fortnight.
"All power corrupts....." I'm afraid it happens at all levels and locations.

[Stanley]

Peter drew our attention to the Dark Skies movement and it dawned on me that we had the biggest Dark Skies initiative ever during WW2 with the Black Out. Pity nobody pointed out the advantages then, it would have made the air raids more bearable!

[Stanley]

I remember when Janet went to visit New Zealand she reported that in many ways it was like the world of her childhood because the shops sold the same things she could remember getting . Was one of them 'Angel Delight'?
This came to mind this morning when I was thinking back to the days when I was on the tramp and had no control over where my next destination was. At times when I arrived it was like passing through a time warp. You had definitely stepped back into Flatley Dryer country.
I had a load of roofing products one day for an estate up in the North East. I have tried to remember where many a time but it has slipped me. What struck me was that the estate village I was directed to had no streets and evidently no regular wheeled traffic because the ways between the houses were grass covered form stony paths. This can only have been because someone was actively holding up progress. I know that at least one of the houses had an old fashioned bucket toilet and suspect the others were the same.
Occasionally you came across the same time warp when you got right up in the Highlands of Scotland. In 1960 if you went to Lairg up on the East coast and took the road to Skaig Bridge on the west coast you found yourself on a single track stone road with passing places which in itself was a step back in time but it got more surreal about eight miles from Lairg when you rounded a bend and found yourself confronted with a an enormous Victorian Railway hotel that looked as though it had been transported from some major city. This was the Altnacealgach hotel, built in Victorian times as a hunting lodge for wealthy Southerners. That in itself was Flatley Dryer territory.
I am sure places like this will still exist but you'll have to search hard to find them.

[Stanley]

I came across this image on the web. I can remember watching demonstrations of these on Stockport market. Darning was common then of course, I suspect very little is done now. So if you are still using one of these gadgets you are definitely in Flatley Dryer country! (And your Speedweve machine is worth quite a lot of money....)

[Stanley]

They tell me that the days of the large printed catalogues that were so common 50 years ago are over, they have all moved online. In its day it was a very successful way of selling and the holder of the catalogue got a small commission and so acted as agent for the firm amongst their friends or work mates.



The last Argos catalogue.

[Tizer]

I'll bet the trees breathed a sigh of relief!

[Cathy]

IKEA have said they will be stopping their catalogue after being in print for 70 years.
Next year , in autumn, will be the last one.
In 2021 they plan a homage to their catalogue in the form of a book.

[Stanley]

It used to be a way of life....

[Big Kev]

I believe the Argos catalogue is different to the likes of Littlewoods, Kay's, Very etc. The buyer orders directly from Argos (website or physically going into an outlet) whereas the others used an agent who would earn commission on whatever their customers ordered through them. My children regularly got new coats from P's commission back in the 1980s.
I did notice that Sainsbury's now own Argos and a lot of their collection points are in their supermarkets.

[Wendyf]

I remember from childhood the excitement of the local Christmas Catalogue arriving, looking at all the toys and choosing the ones we would like. I dont think Mum and Dad ever ordered anything from it though!

[plaques]

My mole tells me that Argos Colne the standalone outlet near ASDA will be moving into Sainsbury's Colne in the coming year. It will take place when the lease on the Argos shop runs out.

[Stanley]

Can you remember the days when Hire Purchase was one way of getting major items. I think we got our first washing machine on The Drip System.

[Big Kev]

My mole tells me that Argos Colne the standalone outlet near ASDA will be moving into Sainsbury's Colne in the coming year. It will take place when the lease on the Argos shop runs out.

Makes economical sense to me, I would imagine Burnley Argos will be the same.

[PanBiker]

I think we got our first washing machine on The Drip System.

When we were first married we had an open fire in the back room of York Street. Gable ended house and it was cold, we had to use that reconstituted hexagonal smokeless rubbish as well that took an hour to light. Our second Winter we reneged on our browtin's up and capitulated and got a Canon Gas Miser fire installed on 12 months HP. Didn't sit well with Sally's thrift so she worked over to pay it off in 6 Months.

[plaques]

Long ago a manager acquaintance of mine in one of the first Burnley furniture shops introduced an pay by installments with no added interest. Payment was made at the shop counter. Asked how they could justify such a move when others were charging X%. He said every time thy come into the shop they would look round and it would be an opportunity to sell them something else.

[Big Kev]

Not so long ago (2years) I bought a TV from Harry Garlics. I was asked if I wanted 6 month's interest free credit. Why not I thought, I was given a small payment book which they marked off as I made payments, how quaint is that?

[chinatyke]

I was asked if I wanted 6 month's interest free credit. Why not I thought...

Reminds me of a story from one of my college lecturers. He lived in Barrowford, are they squeaky tight there? He said he always left his electric bill until he got the red demand bill and then on the last day he paid it, figuring the money was better in his bank than the electric board's account. One time he forgot to pay, and a workman from the electric company turned up on his doorstep to cut off his supply. This worker said he could accept payment but he would still have to go through the motions and disconnect/ reconnect him. He immediately paid and the worker disconnected his supply. Then said it would cost him 2 (?) quid for the reconnection!

[Stanley]

I'm told I am silly with money because I always pay as soon as I can. I can see the argument but simply don't like owing money, I suspect Sally would say the same thing.
I always remember something I was told once about payment. Funny thing is I can't remember who told me. He said there are two sorts of bad payers, the ones who don't pay you and the ones who pay in advance before you have earned the money. I asked what was wrong with that and he said because it feels like working for nothing.

[chinatyke]

... the ones who pay in advance before you have earned the money. I asked what was wrong with that and he said because it feels like working for nothing.

At my last job we got new contracts of employment, a good increase in our salary, and pay in advance for 100 hours of overtime work, a regular inclusion in a lot of contract of employments to guarantee cover from essential workers if required. I refused the advance payment element but was told I couldn't cherry pick and couldn't refuse. This meant we owed them 8 shifts a year - talk about feeling that you were working for nothing! There was no way they were going to let us benefit and I did one stint supervising work at Esholt Sewerage works over Easter. By the time I left I owed them no time! Most people would say grab the money up-front, but the trouble is you spend it as soon as you get it.

[Stanley]

[Tripps]

The correct procedure is to wait for the red bill, then pay the blue one. It was a far more public thing then - cash or cheque at the showroom, and Hyacinth might be next in the queue.

Here's the connoisseur of debt, and coping with it. Bobby Thompson - The Little Waster. Skip the first minute or so - then a masterclass.

[Stanley]

David, you've reminded me of those marvellous accounting machines that magically printed a receipt with all the correct information on it. Enormous and impressive machines that made all the right noises. You knew you had paid properly when you heard that sound.

[Stanley]

Most people will simply give you a blank look if you mentioned the Lamson cash carrier system. (LINK)



Here's a wire carrier like the one I remember in Lekerman's shop in Underbank Stockport when I was a lad. The sales lady screwed the wooden pot off, inserted the money and sales slip, screwed it back in and pulled the handle which fired the pot and its carrier along a wire to an elevated kiosk in the corner of the shop where the cashier sat. She opened the pot and put in the change and the receipt which she fired back to your sales lady. I remember it fascinated me to see the pots whizzing back and forth.
Later I saw the pneumatic systems in the major stores in Manchester but they were nowhere near as exciting.

[Stanley]

I saw this in Private Eye yesterday. A good joke but unfortunately not funny when it happens! I had frequent instances of drivers mistaking the trailer for a complete wagon and starting an overtaking manoeuvre aiming to slot in in front of the 'vehicle' they were overtaking before they were in trouble. Thankfully it never caused an accident but one or two drivers got a severe fright and burned a lot of rubber off their tyres!

[Tripps]

Now this really is spooky ++ Never heard of Lamson Tubes until yesterday - then twice in two days.

Just got my ENIGMA GCHQ book. Opened at random to have a quick look - its the chapter on 'Konfrontasi'. That's good because I was there for most of it, Quickly learned more in ten minutes than I did in the years I was there. Mildly spooky - since its probably the only subject I know a little about.

Then I spot this - Mid 1960's

" Its few administrators minuted incoming messages by hand with ballpoint pen and passed them to others with advice or queries, to streamline and speed up decisions. Pneumatic Lamson tubes move information by paper within GCHQ in seconds, not much slower than the speed of email."