Joe is a local man who must be about sixty something considering he remembers the days when radios were powered by large batteries that had to be charged and only had a very short playing time til the next recharge. He is very technically minded and gave me a detailed description, of the workings of the old transistor radios.
not only this but an an account of what life was like back in his day. They could only listen to the news in his house once a day and that was it. Their neighbours had a slightly more advanced radio and once a week the whole neighbourhood would cram into their kitchen and watch a football match. This was the highlight of their week. The rest of the time he spent running such errands such as collecting kindle for the fire, on which his mother cooked the bread.
He told a story of how when a landlord wanted to evict a tenant for not paying the rent on time, instead of bringing them to court like they might today, they sent bailifs around to physically turf the families out. Sometimes a family would barricade themselves in. So the bailifs would put a torch to the thatched roof and set the whole thing alight. Not very pleasant. This is one of the reasons the Irish hated the English so vehemently. The Landlords were settlers sent by the King (or Queen) to occupy the land. I had heard stories like that before.
This was as dark as he got. Most of the stories were funnier and the more he talked the more animated he became. A true entertainer in spirit.
Here is the first one as I remember it.:
The Money-Maker
Joe told me that his uncle used to make money. I raised my eye-brows. "ok..."
"No, he really used to make money."
This is how he did it.
He photographed two sides of five or ten pound notes, but not fifties, because he didn't have any.
He would do this on special paper from a lady who worked in the chemist down the town. She would be getting her share. Then he cut them out and glued the two sides together with a certain glue which was made of rubber. I remember this glue from my childhood. It was the only glue available at the time. I don't think it is made any more.
There was one problem. He got caught and here's how.
In the old days the shops had a particular system for payment. There was a large long wooded counter in the front of the shop and at the end of this there was a dark corner, where there was a hatch. In this hatch stood a lady who took the money and wrote everything into a notebook in pencil. Those were the days when people were given credit and could pay their bill on the Friday. In the hatch there were holes where the notes would be stored. First the notes were scrunched up into a ball, I suppose for quicker access when needed, then placed in the holes. Joe's uncle went in to make a purchase. It might have been a new frying pan his grand- mother needed or something similar. His five pound note was sent down to the hatch-lady. When she dropped it into the hole, it bounced back up. That's how she knew it was a fake note. Joe's uncle was sent to prison. When he got there he found out where he had gone wrong. He was told by another inmate that he should have used egg-white to stick the two sides of the note together. Rubber glue bounces. Fortunately he wasn't in for very long as it was a minor crime. He passed on a couple of years ago, so I won't be getting him into any kind of trouble by writing this.
Though I do wonder of he is not the originator of the expression 'to bounce a cheque (check)'. If he had made cheques using rubber glue that might well have been the story.
stay tuned for part two of the Tales of Joe the Plumber...
not only this but an an account of what life was like back in his day. They could only listen to the news in his house once a day and that was it. Their neighbours had a slightly more advanced radio and once a week the whole neighbourhood would cram into their kitchen and watch a football match. This was the highlight of their week. The rest of the time he spent running such errands such as collecting kindle for the fire, on which his mother cooked the bread.
He told a story of how when a landlord wanted to evict a tenant for not paying the rent on time, instead of bringing them to court like they might today, they sent bailifs around to physically turf the families out. Sometimes a family would barricade themselves in. So the bailifs would put a torch to the thatched roof and set the whole thing alight. Not very pleasant. This is one of the reasons the Irish hated the English so vehemently. The Landlords were settlers sent by the King (or Queen) to occupy the land. I had heard stories like that before.
This was as dark as he got. Most of the stories were funnier and the more he talked the more animated he became. A true entertainer in spirit.
Here is the first one as I remember it.:
The Money-Maker
Joe told me that his uncle used to make money. I raised my eye-brows. "ok..."
"No, he really used to make money."
This is how he did it.
He photographed two sides of five or ten pound notes, but not fifties, because he didn't have any.
He would do this on special paper from a lady who worked in the chemist down the town. She would be getting her share. Then he cut them out and glued the two sides together with a certain glue which was made of rubber. I remember this glue from my childhood. It was the only glue available at the time. I don't think it is made any more.
There was one problem. He got caught and here's how.
In the old days the shops had a particular system for payment. There was a large long wooded counter in the front of the shop and at the end of this there was a dark corner, where there was a hatch. In this hatch stood a lady who took the money and wrote everything into a notebook in pencil. Those were the days when people were given credit and could pay their bill on the Friday. In the hatch there were holes where the notes would be stored. First the notes were scrunched up into a ball, I suppose for quicker access when needed, then placed in the holes. Joe's uncle went in to make a purchase. It might have been a new frying pan his grand- mother needed or something similar. His five pound note was sent down to the hatch-lady. When she dropped it into the hole, it bounced back up. That's how she knew it was a fake note. Joe's uncle was sent to prison. When he got there he found out where he had gone wrong. He was told by another inmate that he should have used egg-white to stick the two sides of the note together. Rubber glue bounces. Fortunately he wasn't in for very long as it was a minor crime. He passed on a couple of years ago, so I won't be getting him into any kind of trouble by writing this.
Though I do wonder of he is not the originator of the expression 'to bounce a cheque (check)'. If he had made cheques using rubber glue that might well have been the story.
stay tuned for part two of the Tales of Joe the Plumber...
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