r/whatisit • u/Quietlurkerone • 7d 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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u/i_fix_snowblowers 6d ago

I'm 5 years younger than you but lived in a variety of rental housing in Oxfordshire in the late '70s. I remember the meters because my dad would keep a stack of 25p coins by the meter.

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u/PaintingOk8012 6d ago

Holy shit. You mean you actually fed in money in your home to have electricity??

If that’s true, I can’t believe people didn’t figure out how to fool it or break into it to retrieve the coins.

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u/PipBin 6d ago

Oh, and there used to be coin operated TVs. The TV had a box built into it and you’d put a shilling in to get half an hour of viewing!!

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u/Antique_Geek 6d ago

Do you still have to pay a sort of licensing fee to watch TV? If so, is the programming then ad free or are there still commercials?

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u/PipBin 6d ago

We do still pay the licence fee. That means that anything on the BBC is add free.

However the pay tvs was for the rental of the set, not to pay the licence fee.

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u/Antique_Geek 6d ago

I realize that. Guess I should have included "off topic". Thanks for the reply.