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Co.Op.number.

My mums was 50908 mine a very much later one, I was one of many that punched away those numbers in the co-op office, we all hated butchery department books as the smell of meat was always on those books
 
The division numerous went on the little slip for the milkman or baker with the amount spent. There was carbon paper so there was a record and you could get the divi.

So Janice, how did they work out how much each person would have in their divi?
 
When I worked on Council House repairs, you would oftern see the number written in pencil by the front doors
 
The carbon copy books went to the punch card room ,the numbers punched onto cards then moved onto a tabulator, all the info was then sorted into you particular number, once a year( I think ,) then your divi, was added to you co-op number for you to withdraw money from your book , my mums neighbour saved it and paid for the deposit on her house, , back in the 30’s lol
 
Believe it or not I typed "divi number" not "division numerous" :D :D The slip had number and amount. I assume the carbon copy went to the office and the girls as in #159 entered the details.
 
Jeannie mentions punch cards and how dividends were formulated. I presume this method applied to the larger Co-Op Societies, such as BCS and TASCOS in Birmingham's case. I also think that a more manual and laborious method must have been in operation before forms of computerisation took over. Smaller Co-Ops had other methods - I know of one where till receipts had to be kept in order to qualify for dividend. Loose your receipts, loose your divi! The receipts had to be taken to their head office on a quarterly basis, posters were put in their shops advising when.
The Co-Operative Movement started in Rochdale in 1844 and most wons large and small had their own local named Co-Op, however as the 'big is beautiful' (what a joke) ethos took hold in the latter part of the 20th. century many small Co-Ops were absorbed or merged into larger ones. Eventually this saw closure of many of the shops. Some areas of the UK have thriving Co-Ops still where you can buy lots more than just groceries, others not so.
 
This is a bit of a long shot, but going back to 29th June 2006 a guest member ( Rob) added a photo of Girls in the co- op Ofice punching out the cards, is there anyway I can now many years later get to see this photo? #25 I was one of those girls thanks in advance
 
The carbon copy books went to the punch card room ,the numbers punched onto cards then moved onto a tabulator, all the info was then sorted into you particular number, once a year( I think ,) then your divi, was added to you co-op number for you to withdraw money from your book , my mums neighbour saved it and paid for the deposit on her house, , back in the 30’s lol

Hi Jeannie, thanks for that. Do you know how did the tabulator worked?
 
Hi Jeannie, thanks for that. Do you know how did the tabulator worked?
Not sure now,but maybe the cards went through a sorting machine first,then the cards were stacked and printed on the tabulator with reams of paper printed with all divvi numbers and amounts, perhaps there is another member that worked these machines, must be a few as there were about 60 of us punch carding, a perc to the job and shhhhh keep this under your hat, but we used the punch card bits for wedding confetti and if there wasn’t a number on the slip of paper we were punching we added our own lol
Jeannie
 
397771 was my grandmothers number and the only reason I know it was because I was the one who nearly always answered the front door on a Saturday when the Co-op milkman came knocking for his money. It was written on a tag pinned to the inside of the front door at the end of the hall.
 
When I was young I remember seeing a number scratched into a brick in the wall right next to our back door after reading this thread I know now it was our co OP number as our milkman always came up our alley to the back door to get paid.he also had the famous brown leather bag with all his money in over his shoulder.we also had the provident lady come to the front of our house to get paid ,she was a German lady and if we seen her coming we had to tell our mum because sometimes when our mum had no money we had to tell the provident lady our mum was not in even though she was behind our door !!!!!!!!!!!
 
Numbers...

:D My mom shopped at the Co-Op on Gt lister St and under no circumstances would she ever tell anyone except the manager of the shop her number, as I've said befor she trusted no one, but no one. Think she thought someone would try and pinch her 'Divvy' if they ever got hold of the number.
My brother-in-law worked at the Co-Op Funeral directers on the corner of Vauxhall Rd, or there-abouts for a number years,(he has some stories to tell about that if only I could get him on 'The Site'). :lol:

Postscript
Kandor can tell you what I say about my mom and her trusting no one with anything that is ' hers '. She can be really possessive of her property even at 85yrs. :lol:
I well remember Mom's Co-op number. I used to rush to the back door when the milkman called to be paid. Dad had written it on the wall by the door, but I always wanted to show that I could remember it and tell him! I won't t say what it was because if I am ever asked for a six digit number ( as one can be for confidentiality) it is the ONLY number I never forget!!
 
I think that maybe quite a few people who remember their mother's Co-op number use it for their passwords as I do.
 
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