Turn back time

[down south]

It worked very much like loyalty cards do now; whenever you bought anything at the Co-op, you quoted your membership number and it was duly noted, and once a year you could go to the office and collect your dividend, a percentage of what you'd spent. This was a great event for me when I was small, accompanying my mother to the Ardrossan Co-op office off Glasgow Street; you went down an entry ( further down the street from the actual shops ), out into a back yard and up some stairs, and so came to the office, which was very impressive ...all polished wood and gleaming brass.

I actually have the receipt given to my mother when she joined, for the princely sum of 1s 6d ; you'll see it's quite a high membership number, in the 9000s, since she for some reason didn't join till 1957. But I've just realised I can't post it here, because there are no attachments in McBlether's; drat ! But never mind, there's another topic I can post it in, because we did discuss Co-op numbers before, just after I joined Threetowners, so I'll put it there.

Here it is : viewtopic.php?p=57101#p57101

Susan

[Penny Tray]

Susan,

I hate picking you up on anything because I seldom win . However, my recolletion is that the Dividend could be claimed four times a year, thus the popular expression - "CO-QUARTER" - which was always looked forward to by poor families.

[Meg]

Susan,

I hate picking you up on anything because I seldom win . However, my recolletion is that the Dividend could be claimed four times a year, thus the popular expression - "CO-QUARTER" - which was always looked forward to by poor families.

This time you’re right PT - the Co Quarter paid out quarterly - and it brings back sore memories of skint heels - I always got new shoes with the summer ‘divi’.

My gran’s number was three digits and started 8…

[Penny Tray]

It's strange but I associate the "Co-Quarter" with new shoes too - from the Co-op, of course - contained in a box, wrapped in shiny brown paper, and tied securely with string for carrying purposes. Happy days.

[meekan]

Am I wrong in thinking there was a down side of coop membership in that at regular intervals any debts had to be paid. ( or did I just make that up) The reason I say that is as a milk boy (non coop) when collecting the weeks milk money some people would not be in (hiding behind curtains) this I was told at the time was because of something to do with the Coop??

[brian f]

The reason I say that is as a milk boy (non coop) when collecting the weeks milk money some people would not be in (hiding behind curtains)

And the lights would be off and no speaking

[down south]

Thank you for correcting me, PT; I hadn't actually thought about it at all when I casually put down that it was once a year. Of course I wouldn't have been with my mother on every occasion that she visited the office, or only when I was too young to keep track of time.It actually says in the Rule Book that dividends were paid quarterly, if I'd bothered to look.

i see from the Rule Book too that the effective entry fee was a good deal more than 1s 6d; in fact you had to purchase shares to the value of £5, though you could do that on easy terms of 5s a quarter. Then you could buy more shares up to a value of £200, and get interest on them.

Rule 8 is relevant to the debts :

CREDIT TO MEMBERS

Members shall be entitled to receive goods on credit to the extent of their paid up share capital above Five Pounds, on which amount the salesman shall not give credit to any member without consent of Directors. Members shall, once at least every four weeks, hand in their books to the salesman to be made up, and the debt then ascertained to be due by them to the Society shall be forthwith paid; and should any member allow such debt, or any portion thereof, to remain unpaid at the end of six months, the Committee shall have power to have the amount of such debt withdrawn from his share capital.

Susan

[Meg]

It's strange but I associate the "Co-Quarter" with new shoes too - from the Co-op, of course - contained in a box, wrapped in shiny brown paper, and tied securely with string for carrying purposes. Happy days.

Which was carefully unwrapped and the brown paper used to cover my reading book when school started again after the summer.

[bonzo]

Right, I'm too young for aw this co op stuff but I can still remember what brown paper smells like

[Meg]

Some more summer memories -

Writing down registration numbers of the (occasional) passing cars
Sitting on the steps, swapping scraps
Playing “beds” on the pavement

[bonzo]

Talking of smells, Panini football stickers, 1978 world cup. I had the full book except Martin Buchan.

[Penny Tray]

It's strange but I associate the "Co-Quarter" with new shoes too - from the Co-op, of course - contained in a box, wrapped in shiny brown paper, and tied securely with string for carrying purposes. Happy days.

Which was carefully unwrapped and the brown paper used to cover my reading book when school started again after the summer.

And the string, along with a carefully cut tree branch or 1d cane, completed many a bow. The arrow was usally a ha'penny cane.