Shilling gas meters

steeljack · 18-05-2006, 19:21

In the old days when Gas chap used to come round and empty the meter why did he allways leave a pile of shillings on the sideboard ,was this a rebate of some sort ?
Does anyone ever remember a Gas chap being mugged and how much weight must he have been carrying around at the end of his route .

thanks John

ossy kid · 18-05-2006, 20:07

That,s what it was John, your rebate or what was left over after your bill was paid. I can remember having to run to the selly for a shilling, after the gas had run out, many a time. Don,t recall any problem with the meter readers being robbed and I think they had drop off points for the takings.

MITZY · 18-05-2006, 20:10

Ah gas meters taught my kids to save up using a gas meter. they used to put half their spending money in then, share the rebate, they thought it was brilliant.

WillowTheWhisp · 18-05-2006, 20:11

My Dad used to call the chap who did University Challenge "Bamber Bob" and I never understood until he explained that a "bob" or shilling was a "gas coin".

cashman · 18-05-2006, 20:32

me mam used to look forward to the gas rebate, if she could snaffle it before me dad.lol

grannyclaret · 18-05-2006, 22:09

How old am i then ,i remember the old pennies in the meters...
.they were put in an empty sto mike coffee tin...we looked forward to rebate day too...

pendy · 19-05-2006, 13:02

I can remember penny gas meters, too. I suffered from that - my maiden name was Pendergast, and I used to get "put a penny in the gas" at school. The rebate was good, though, because I usually got a few pennies for myself. When you think of the price of gas these days .........

Margaret Pilkington · 19-05-2006, 13:13

Like Granny and Pendy......I can remember the penny meters and the shilling ones. My Mum used to look forward to the gas man coming....it meant that there was some spare cash......we even got sweets if the rebate was particularly generous....but mainly it went on boring things like school shoes and grub....well, I know they weren't boring.....they were essentials, but kids don't look at the world from a sensible view.

jimmi5bellies · 20-05-2006, 07:45

I used to have a 50p gas and electric meter back in the early 90's. And a tv from telebank , you got 8 hours for £1.

ANNE · 20-05-2006, 22:58

I can remember the shilling meters and Mam n Dad looking forward to the rebate.
We have always had gas and electric meters. We also had a TV from telebank.