Comment on Coin operated domestic gas meter
Years before I was born, my grandfather's and great-grandfather's families manufactured and installed Foxall Gas Meters. In the 1930s, we lived in Aston, Birmingham. Our home was a terraced house with small rooms, two up and two down, plus a scullery. Inside was quite dingy and draughty and lit by gas at night. It was there that I grew up in the glow of the gas mantle. The mantle was a delicate, fabric cap that caused the gas to burn brightly at the end of the pipe. Long before television, my Dad used to entertain us with shadow pictures on the walls. He used his hands to create animal-shaped shadows cast by the hissing gas lamp and made up stories to bring the pictures to life. The gas-mantle was very fragile. If it failed or broke and there was not a spare in the house, we spent that evening in the dark or, if we could afford it, in candlelight. Darkness was also the price to be paid if there was no small change in the house to feed the gas meter when the light went out. The mood was worse if dinner was being cooked at the time. Next to the coin-operated meter, there was an old jam jar into which my parents used to toss coins for use in case of an emergency. Whenever something went wrong with the gaslight in the house, my mother complained that it was all due to our not having a Foxall meter. I have always loved the smell of coal-gas, despite its hazardous quality. It still evokes memories of my grandfather and of my mother cooking rabbit pie and stacks of delicious pancakes sprinkled with sugar and lemon juice. The heavy coal-gas odour also reminds me that life was not always happy and pleasant for everyone. We occasionally heard of people ending their lives by putting their head in the gas oven. I wondered, with childish simplicity, just how much money would have to be inserted in the meter to do something like that? I remember the demise of the gaslight era, and I recall that it ended the need for a very low-tech device found near the hearth in most homes, the folded paper spill box. Instead of matches, we used paper spills to transfer flame from the fire to the gas mantle or the stove. We used to cut newspapers into squares and fold them neatly into tapers about half an inch wide. Making new spill boxes was a common school ritual at Christmas. For some years after electricity was installed, a full spill box remained on our hearth, like a tribute to a departed family member. Apart from the coin-operated meter being the device that brought light and heat to thousands of domestic consumers, and apart from all the advances in technology that followed, the gas meter holds much more than a few shillings' worth of small change. That old, metal box contains real treasure, colourful memories and strong emotions that shed a special light on the way life was lived nearly eighty years ago.
Comment on Coin operated domestic gas meter posted 2007-01-30 by Geoffrey Hodder from Canada
Comment on Coin operated domestic gas meter
I am living in a shared accomodation in East London (Chadwick Road, Leytonstone) and the landlord has set up a dozen of these meters. They suck a lot of money though and I am not sure who sets the tarriff and who takes the money out. I think it is the landlord who is running this scam by robbing us of extra money to pay for his own bills. Does anyone know of any gas /electricity company that still operates such meters?
Comment on Coin operated domestic gas meter posted 2006-10-30 by A Khatri from Leytonstone, London
Comment on Coin operated domestic gas meter
I have 3 coin meters - have they any value?
Comment on Coin operated domestic gas meter posted 2008-07-25 by Gordon from Edinburgh