Things in living memory which seem very anachronistic now

[The exile]

Until the last five or ten years, many parish councils still insisted on on their cheques being returned to them as an antifraud measure.

Presumably because , in the case of something going awry, there was no other way of showing how the cheque had been made out in the first place.

 

[GordonT]

Do many grocery shops still use "traditional" scales for weighing items? Many I recollect from years ago were manufactured by Avery, comprising a V-shaped screen with a large pointer displaying the weight of items inserted into a large metal receptacle below the screen.

 

[Mr. SW]

A quarter of mint imperials, please.

 

[Buzby]

Don’t believe so - due the the introduction of prepackaged product. Of the ‘grocers’ I’ve used recently the digital scale is linked to the till so any over/under weight can be charged accordingly. Probably tallies with the reduction in council Weights & Measure staff to check them!

 

[GordonT]

Probably tallies with the reduction in council Weights & Measure staff to check them!

And perhaps also a greater emphasis on food hygiene issues than formerly was the case.

 

[Ediswan]

Do many grocery shops still use "traditional" scales for weighing items? Many I recollect from years ago were manufactured by Avery, comprising a V-shaped screen with a large pointer displaying the weight of items inserted into a large metal receptacle below the screen.

I have not seen one for years. The triangular scale showed price for multiple price-per-weight values. If I recall correctly, keeping those scales updated with inflation was a pain. The advent of cheap calculators led to them being used for the weight scale only.

 

[Trackman]

Do many grocery shops still use "traditional" scales for weighing items? Many I recollect from years ago were manufactured by Avery, comprising a V-shaped screen with a large pointer displaying the weight of items inserted into a large metal receptacle below the screen.

One of these bad boys, worth a tidy sum these days.

AI description:
This is a vintage Avery mechanical weighing scale, the kind that would have been used on a shop or market counter.


Imagine a small, heavy, white-painted metal machine, roughly the size of a large household toaster but taller. It sits on four short metal feet.


At the front and center is a large, roughly triangular-shaped display housing. It has rounded corners and a thick, glossy white rim. Inside is a large cream-colored dial with black and red numbers arranged in an arc across the top. The scale is marked “AVERY” in the middle. There are also small printed instructions on the dial.


At the top of the dial, a black pointer or indicator moves along the numbered scale to show the weight. The graduations appear to measure ounces and pounds, with the scale going up to about 14 pounds.


There are two weighing surfaces. On the left, behind the main body, is a round, shallow silver-colored metal pan. In front and to the right is a rectangular stainless-steel platform with a raised, curved edge. These are the surfaces on which an item would be placed for weighing.


The main body is white enamelled metal, with some visible scratches, marks, and signs of age. A small black adjustment knob protrudes from the lower front-right portion of the base.


The overall appearance is industrial and distinctly mid-20th-century, with a substantial, sturdy construction. It is sitting on a dark wooden tabletop, surrounded by other old tools and machinery, which gives the photograph an antique workshop or vintage shop setting.


In short: a substantial, vintage white Avery shop scale, with a large triangular analog dial, metal weighing pans, and a mechanical adjustment knob.

 

[najaB]

Do many grocery shops still use "traditional" scales for weighing items? Many I recollect from years ago were manufactured by Avery, comprising a V-shaped screen with a large pointer displaying the weight of items inserted into a large metal receptacle below the screen.

Not in the UK but many street/market vendors at home in Barbados still use either those or beam balance scales.

 

[D6130]

Not in the UK but many street/market vendors at home in Barbados still use either those or beam balance scales.

Also many shops and market traders in Italy still use the metric versions.

 

[meld3]

Miles per Gallon anyone !!

 

[Killingworth]

Miles per Gallon anyone !!

Yup, still take on the mental arithmetic challenge every top up

 

[Richardr]

Do many grocery shops still use "traditional" scales for weighing items? Many I recollect from years ago were manufactured by Avery, comprising a V-shaped screen with a large pointer displaying the weight of items inserted into a large metal receptacle below the screen.

Not traditional scales, but M&S until recently weighed bananas but have now changed to counting them, the same as other supermarkets I've used. Beyond that, I haven't paid for anything by weight for some years.

 

[Trackman]

Carrying on with scales:
Scales in the men's pub toilets.
Always baffled me this one.

 

[GordonT]

I can also faintly remember shop scales where the weight of goods was calculated using physical brass weights of fixed amounts shaped rather like very large chess pieces which enabled the scales to be balanced to the desired weight of the goods.

 

[Buzby]

Always baffled me this one.

The supplier was on a collected revenue share with the location from the scales owner - no doubt the same for the adjacent Condom dispenser

 

[najaB]

I can also faintly remember shop scales where the weight of goods was calculated using physical brass weights of fixed amounts shaped rather like very large chess pieces which enabled the scales to be balanced to the desired weight of the goods.

Those would be the beam balance scales that I mentioned up-thread are still commonly used.

 

[DelW]

Not traditional scales, but M&S until recently weighed bananas but have now changed to counting them, the same as other supermarkets I've used. Beyond that, I haven't paid for anything by weight for some years.

My local Sainsbury's still sells bananas by weight - 90p/kg last week, so my bunch of five cost about 13p each. Quite a lot of their loose fruit and veg is sold by weight.

 

[Bald Rick]

My local Sainsbury's still sells bananas by weight - 90p/kg last week, so my bunch of five cost about 13p each. Quite a lot of their loose fruit and veg is sold by weight.

Indeed, and is usually very much better value than pre packed / unit priced.

 

[D6130]

My local Sainsbury's still sells bananas by weight - 90p/kg last week, so my bunch of five cost about 13p each. Quite a lot of their loose fruit and veg is sold by weight.

So does the Co-op and our local Nisha store....although nowadays the items are weighed electronically with a direct connection to the till.

 

[Mcr Warrior]

Not traditional scales, but M&S until recently weighed bananas but have now changed to counting them

Just me, or does anyone now only select the largest bananas?

 

[Brightonboy]

My local large Tesco still sells bananas by weight but the Extra sells them (considerably more expensively) priced each. I think the same is true of other supermarkets.

 

[najaB]

My local large Tesco still sells bananas by weight but the Extra sells them (considerably more expensively) priced each. I think the same is true of other supermarkets.

Tesco Metro probably belongs in this thread. Prices were generally the same or only very slightly higher than Tesco Extra. Now they're all either closed or replaced by Tesco Express with a smaller range and considerably higher prices.

 

[Brightonboy]

Tesco Metro probably belongs in this thread. Prices were generally the same or only very slightly higher than Tesco Extra. Now they're all either closed or replaced by Tesco Express with a smaller range and considerably higher prices.

Indeed, it was my mistake - I put Extra when I meant Express.... Doh!

 

[contrex]

Not traditional scales, but M&S until recently weighed bananas but have now changed to counting them, the same as other supermarkets I've used. Beyond that, I haven't paid for anything by weight for some years.

Tesco Extra still weigh them (or they did the day before yesterday). £0.90 / kg

 

[philjo]

My local Sainsbury's still sells bananas by weight - 90p/kg last week, so my bunch of five cost about 13p each. Quite a lot of their loose fruit and veg is sold by weight.

Our large Sainsbury‘s store sells bananas by weight as does Morrisons. the Sainsbury’s local sells them per banana and tend to be much smaller !

 

[Ediswan]

Back on cheques, I have just been doing my accounts. For bank accounts, GnuCash still has a 'Num' column. This was originally used to record cheque numbers. Now it just has transaction types: BP, VIS, DD, ))).

 

[GordonT]

Workarounds in the days when there was less electronic gadgetry. One I heard two ladies discussing this morning was ironing their hair before going out on a date or whatever before the option of hair straighteners became available.