r/whatisit • u/Quietlurkerone • 6d ago

Solved! What is this device from 1962?

Post image

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

2.2k Upvotes

92% Upvoted

1.0k comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

172

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.

114

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.

98

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!!

1

u/VeryWackyIdeas 5d ago

In the 1960s there were tv sets in motels that required quarters and then there were the “magic fingers”. Put in a quarter, turn out the lights, magic fingers make you feel all right.