h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

helen,,you sounded just like billy then!!!!before he had his heart attack his sister used to bring him a mars bar every saturday(chocolates a no-no now),and he always said how could they charge twelve bob for a mars bar.i must admit i still convert to the old money sometimes,,why did everything seem to double in price as sooon as we went decimal????

i do that as well, think pre decimal at the price of sweets.... lol...

I'm glad it isn't just me....i sometimes wonder at the price of things,and why everything is so expensive now.we'd never have paid a whole 12/- for a mars bar!!!!It makes me wonder what else our wonderful government has conned us with ,decimal currency,the poll tax....can anyone think of anythng else.???

Hi all

I do that as well,bus fares,70p for a short hop...wow 14 shillings,think its about time they abolished the TV licence as well.

xxSan

afternoon everyone.


i reckon the biggest con ever going is when they charge 99p.
e.g. £25.99p

why not make it the round pound?.
eveyone thinks that its cheaper, but its only by a penny.

I reckon the biggest CON was when they made us join the Common Market!
and as for the change of money well I was overseas at the time, busy convreting Honk Kong dollars and Bahrain Dinars into sterling,

Whan I got back two years later and was charged 49p for a pint! I went that was about three times what it was when we laft

Then the price of petrol My first gallon on National (never see that these days) was One shilling & Nine pence!! for my 250cc BSA motorbike, I was sixteen
Smudger.

i agree about the 99p thing, so does my hubby..... no cheaper, just end up with a purse/pocket full of coppers...
and wot's with the size of the 5p now... them buggers get stuck in the corners and i can't get at 'em....
i mean, there was nowt wrong with the old penny piece, i could see them.... bring back the ten bob note.....

P/Moon, I reckon the old Ten- bob Note, is the same as todays "Fiver"

I remember getting a Ten-Bob note in my birthday cards from my Gran when I was wee That was a lot of money in those days

As I used to get paid £1 a week for doing my paper round 6 mornings a week!
You dont see so many paper boys (or girls) these days
Smudger.

just like the milkman he is slowly becoming a thing of the past if he is'ent already in some parts?

P.S. still see the coalman around here tho but for how much longer is anyones guess?

hi.


so when do you hit the big 50???

Can I just creep in and put in my two pennyworth? Your observations on items being 99p stems from way back and has never been modified, although systems have changed now, receipts are issued and the following reason does not apply. But....

In the old money, items were priced at, say, 4/11d, much the same as being charged 99p, but the idea was that it made the cashier access the till and give you change. Most people would proffer 5 shillings for such an item, and the girl had to go to the till and get change, reducing the chances of her quietly slipping 5 shillings into her pocket on the pretext of "I'll just finish doing this, and then I will put this in the till". It was the employers way of keeping tabs on petty theft by the staff.

With the advent of receipts etc. this practise is not so necessary, but the tradition continues. I think Marks and Spencers have now rounded everything up, and I am sure other High Street stores will not be long in doing the same.

And yes, unfortunately, I am old enough to know this is true, having had it carefully explained to me by my section leader when I obtained a Saturday job way back in the middle of the last century!!

Sorry, will creep away now and leave you all in peace

Take care, UG

evening everyone.....i'll tell you helen..doris is 50 on 16th may!!!!
as for the coal man,i haven't seen one for years,we're all smokeless here.i got one of those fires that looks like coal,and i can turn it on to flicker,it's lovely in the winter,and i missed the old coal fires!!We don't have a milkman anymore,and i think the window cleaner is hanging on by the skin of his teeth!!!My daughter says he must have worked on a ship when he trained!!!.The only shop where i never pay something,and 99p is littlewoods,it's usualy a straight pound in there...maybe they charge the extra penny for the extra material i have to have!!!xxx

evening folks.....

smudger.... i think you're right about the ten bob note luv..... i remember also getting them in birthday/christmas cards...... thought i was really well to do.....
i remember my first fiver.... mw gran won £100 on the bingo, way back in the 60's it was like a couple of thou'...... she said if i could pull the middle fiver out of the bundle i could keep it..... i thought she was joking.... it was like i was a millionaire or summat....


universal granny....
well i never knew that luv.... very interesting.... hope you are keeping well and in good spirits luv.....

to all.......xxxx

ooops, forgot to say, we still have a milkman, lovely fella..... and i see the coalman's cart passing periodicaly, we have a gas fire and central heating.... i know they're a dying breed.......

hi sheryl.....a whole fiver!!!when we got married in 1967 billy got about £10 a week wage!!!!
UG.it is lovely to hear from you,hope you're okay,and the family.You have reminded me of a new lady we got at work when i was 18.She was always well dressed,and always wore blouses with turn up cuffs!!!and it was for exactly the reason you said.i worked in a large department store,and it didn't take them long to cotton on to her,but the cuffs were very handy to tuck in the odd fiver!!!Now that's something i'd forgotten all about!!!xxxx

Hi all *waves*

Nice to see UG pop up here!

mornin everyone.

welcome come back UG. nice to see your comments. its explains things about the odd penny

as you all say, a lot of shops have dropped that custom and seem to have now replaced it with the offers.
an example being....buy 1 for £10 or 2 for £17. anything to get our money

going back to wages..
my first wage in 1971 was £7, less 48p national insurance. being young and innocent, i didnt know about having to work a week in hand. i was gutted for not being paid after my first week.

snap i did'ent know about that week in hand thing too i was scared to go home that friday and tell my mum i had no wage packet finally plucked up the nerve and mum and dad burst out laughing while poor old me was sobbing me heart out . hi sal u still remeber my birthday!it was my daughter ali that put that extra bit on i have'ent got a clue how to do it she thought it was funny that's teenages for you! xd

Hi Everyone, Does any one remember having an "Eight Track" in their car

They were great!! you could get hours of play with just one tape

Then along came the cassette and the old Eight Track was gone for ever

That was way back in the days when carpeting in a car was an optional extra, as was a heater (if it was a Ford)and if you had a radio in your motor, you were for the birds
Smudger.