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Gas man Electric collector Gas attendant Gas mantle man

postie

postie

Gone but not forgotten. R.I.P.
Remember the exitement when the electric man was due. :D
He would sit at the kitchen table and tip all the money out of the collecting box.
Not all of it was legal tender either, there were allways afew washers or foreign coins included. :shock: :oops:

He would work out how much the electric cost and then work out how much rebate was due. Iused to get a shilling off my mom if Ipromised not to tell my dad that the man had been. :wink:
Idon't think mom got a great amount back, but it helped to feed and clothe us at times. :roll:
 
Electric/Gas Money

, you brought back memories for me of when the gas man came to empty our gas meter, this was located in the cellar, how I hated having to
go down there to feed the large old pennies into it, carrying a candle which
flickered and threw all sorts of shadows on the wall, dodging cobwebs and
any creepy crawlies. It must have been heavy work for the gas man carrying all those coppers around in his large leather bag, something like a doctor's bag. He counted all the pennies into piles of 12 = one old shilling, there was usually a rebate of a few coppers and I was usually lucky enough to be given 3d or 6d for a comic or sweets.
 
Hello - Can anyone tell me the responsiblities of a Gas Man. My GGGG grandfather worked near Swan Village 1830 - 1838.

Any information would be appreciated.

Dave
 
I believe there used to be a gas works at Swan Village, so is it possible he worked there? Is there anyone on the forum who knows that area well?
 
Hello there mtnclmr

Dont know if this helps.

My grandad was a Gas Attendant. He was what we sould call a gas man. In the days when everyone had a pay meter he would go round, read the meter and check the cash in it tallied. This often involved extracting the blanks, foreign coins etc adjusting the reading and politely returning the scrap to the householder. Did it from 1912 to when he retired, apart from a spell in the trenches.

His 'beat' was in Balsall Heath where he lived so he knew all the families for generations.
 
They did that for years Robert and Mom used to wait to see if she had any Cash back and and us because it usually meant we had a treat:)

Happy days
 
Hi all
we have just recieved our gas bill. Having recovered from the shock it set me thinking about the old days.
We always kept a small pile of old one penny pieces on top of the meter ,ready to feed it when the gas
ran low.Every few weeks the gas man called to empty the meter. Having counting the coins he would
put them into little blue bags.Ithink about 1£ in each. There was always more in to cover the cost of
gas used. We waited to see how much was returned as my sister and iwere given some of the rebate
to spend on sweets. Happy days.
KEN
 
I remember that oh so well Ken. He had this sturdy leather satchell thingy to carry all the pennies in.

Barrie
 
My memory of the gas man was going down into the cellar and watching him empty the meter ",the smell of the 1 shilling pieces he collected ,and he always found the Irish ? one that he gave back to use again.Funny how a smell lingers in ones memory
 
I do not even get my meters read now, every quarter Brit Gas send me an email asking me to give my meter readings for both Gas and Electric on line, and the day after I have complied with that I get another email saying 'your bill is ready for viewing' on line !!! (I pay all my bills on line plus taxing my car). Eric
 
That happens most times for me as well John, but every couple of years someone does get away from his coffee and comes round , presumably so his pay doesn't get stopped
 
hi guys; what about the old gas mantlers men whom came up your back yard or court or entry ;
what eveyou wanted to call them where you lived even in your street ;at that certain time of day or night or early morningsto either light up the lamps
in your back yard or even the stret lamp [ gas mantles whom came around on his bike and done the bussines ;
do you recall them ? .with his litle ladder and snubber out the lights or even light them up ;
astonian;
 
Its hard to believe how much more easy life was then, we never owed any money as far as I can remember for gas, electric, or water, no dept, no worry's of any kind over our utility bills so different to to-days society were we write off some 3000 elderly deaths each winter as so much chaff.
 
Astonian said:
hi guys; what about the old gas mantlers men whom came up your back yard or court or entry ;
what eveyou wanted to call them where you lived even in your street ;at that certain time of day or night or early morningsto either light up the lamps
in your back yard or even the stret lamp [ gas mantles whom came around on his bike and done the bussines ;
do you recall them ? .with his litle ladder and snubber out the lights or even light them up ;
astonian;
Click to expand...

I recall the mantel man, he would come round on a bike, with two big pannier bags each side, and ride it with one arm; the ladder on his shoulder.

He would wind up the time clock, replace any broken mantels and clean the glass, working his way along the street.

I quite miss the old gas lamps, that pool of warm light they gave off; we would go gas lamp spotting, there was a six mantel gas lamp by the Gaumont cinema
 
I was amazed to see so much money ( in pennies of course ) and to get cash back was just like a win on the lottery.
 
do you remember changing the gas mantles in the house, they were so delicate, you could easily put your fingers through them (and sometimes did !!!) Eric
 
I remember the old gas men coming to empty the meter, we always had a rebate too. I dread to think how heavy the old leather bag would have been at the end of the day. Must had had strong arms.

I also remember the lamp man, we had a lamp on the corner of our cul-de-sac, Copeley/Burlington streets, I seem to recall it was a daily thing, am I right?
 
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