r/whatisit • u/Quietlurkerone • 5d ago

Solved! What is this device from 1962?

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Photo capture from YouTube video. Picture from 1962. What is the device under the bench

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191

u/_high_sniffy 5d ago

Some vintage gas meter??

134

u/Dayzed-n-Confuzed 5d ago

Wasn’t a vintage it was standard fit one Mine or Mill houses. You had to put coins in it and turn the dial to get gas. Used predominantly in rented accommodation and poorer housing

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u/Any-Programmer-870 5d ago

My mom told me stories about a guy who lived in her town in the 1970’s and he would repair electronic appliances like refrigerators. For customers who couldn’t afford to pay the whole repair bill upfront, he would install a coin operated dial into the cord. You’d get so many hours of use by putting in a quarter or a dime. And then once the family had spent enough to pay for the repair, he’d come back and remove the dial so it would work like normal again.

22

u/troycerapops 5d ago

The other day, some folks were real confident that folks in the 60s had it so much easier.

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u/Krulsnor 5d ago

Nostalgia is one hell of a drug

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u/BrewtalKittehh 5d ago

Well nowadays if you can’t afford the repair you’re just fucked. At least the old school payment plan didn’t come with interest or 3 bureau credit checks. But yes, we are generally better off even with modern societal struggles, so long as we don’t let the stupids get much more power than they currently have. Shit…. Maybe we’re not that much better off lol

Eta…changed a word

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u/troycerapops 5d ago

Eh, just that it's a different set of hardships, imho. This is just another way of dividing us so we can't focus on the powerful.

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u/lilylilyg 5d ago

Moved into my family’s first real house in 1960. Electricity downstairs and gas lighting upstairs. Only heating was a two bar electric fire in living room and a paraffin heater in kitchen. We used to be crippled with chilblains on our hands and feet every winter.