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| PSC Ref : 2014/E/Q4/16847/abtt |
Another contribution to the on-line archives of the People's Scanning Collective (PSC). This time it is a receipt for 26 teas which were provided by the Great Horton Industrial Society to my late uncle, Frank Fieldhouse. If you think that £4.19.6 (four pounds nineteen shillings and sixpence) was a lot of money for 26 cups of tea, I suspect what we are talking about here is "high tea" or more specifically a funeral tea. We can perhaps assume that three of the guests decided to have the cheaper menu, although - given the wartime date - I suspect that decent food was hard to come by whatever the price. The Great Horton Industrial Society was the local Co-operative retail society which was situated in the Great Horton suburb of Bradford, Yorkshire. A fine historical detail is how the receipt has been signed by the cafe manager over a twopenny stamp : a procedure which I can still remember taking place when I was young.
Wow the stamp makes it really official doesn't it?
ReplyDeleteSo interesting. Never heard of the stamp procedure - prevented dipping into the till I suppose.
ReplyDeleteAlan, what did the stamp signify? A tax paid or something else? If a tax, was everything taxed or only some things -- all food, food eaten in a restaurant, food delivered from a restaurant? In the US we use stamps to mail letters but I can't remember stamps being used for anything else.
ReplyDeleteHowever, when I was a child some items purchased in stores were taxed. After the purchase was complete, the store clerk tore small printed slips of paper from a stapled tablet indicating the amount of sales tax paid.
Similar?
It appears that it was a receipt tax. The stamp was proof that the tax had been paid as well as the way in which the tax was collected. The stamp actually contains the words "postage" and "revenue" indicating that it could be used both for postage and a way of collecting official revenue. The tax was eventually withdrawm in the late fifties or early sixties.
DeleteI've always found old receipts fascinating. They are filled with history. The stamp adds to the nostalgia for time and place.
ReplyDeleteWay cool receipt. Have you been to a Funeral Tea?
ReplyDelete