Family History Part 3

The BBC recently ran a radio series with the help of the British Museum on 100 objects that shaped or contributed to the history of the world. These ranged from statues to coins and from toys to modern technology. I have tried to achieve the same sense of significance but in relation to our family for a few objects lying around the house currently or remembered from growing up.

Part 3- Brass Weigh Scales

In movies depicting major narcotics rings there is always a massive array of cash counting machines churning through the ill gotten gains of illicit business. The hoodlums and their lackies bring in grubby high denomination notes and in the first stage of laundering, call it a pre-wash, these are shovelled into the ticky-clicky machines, totted up and then wrapped in an elastic band in wads of say, £1000. Beyond that process is not always shown but usually involves a small bespectacled man walking away,with a limping gait, with an attache case.

In most supermarkets there sits in the entrance or in the corner near the toilets, a large Coinstar machine into which all ages of customers pour their loose-change for noisy counting followed by an often pleasant smile at how much has been accumulating in the Bells Whisky bottle or oversized pasta jar. The only disappointment is where a small accompanying child participates by pressing the 'Donate' button rather than the 'Collect' one.

On the fairly regular visits to the branch of Lloyds Bank where my father was Manager in the 1970's I would marvel at the swift manual counting skills of the staff. The essential tools to perform this skill were a ribbed rubber thimble and/or a small petrie dish sized glass bowl with a moist sponge. Fingers flashed through the paper notes with great dexterity and mental concentration only briefly interrupted by the need to dip a forefinger in the water in order to lubricate the process.

Just along the counter and for the weighing and bagging process of coins was a magnificent set of brass scales.

This stood about 2 feet high, originally bright and brash but with the metalwork having built up an immunity to the abrasive polishing by Brasso or other treatments over many decades. The colour was now tarnished but faintly gold in hue.  The scales were a tripod in appearance but embellished with mouldings and brazings which added to the majestic status. Chain links were looped at the top over a hook and run down equidistant to a tea plate sized dish on both sides. The central armature could be adjusted to balance out the scales with the fine tuning of a metronome. The two dishes rested just above counter level but could be raised with a pivoted lever to give a visual confirmation of a balance.

Complimentary to the scales was a full set of cast brass weights. These were fascinating to play with. The graduaded weights could be carefully stacked one in another to form a small but dense pyramidal tower. These ranged in our young minds from miniscule polo mint sized through to a hefty Burtons chocolate wagon wheel size. The weights were actually engraved in antique script and imperial measures from half an ounce to 1 ounce , 2 ounce and then at regular increases through 4 and 8 ounces up to the 1 pound, 2 pound and 4 pound weights. The combination of these eight weights could be used to assess the customer assembled contents of small pre-printed coin bags. This rapidly speeded up the counter process and made for happy customers. The set of scales were, in the modern banking age, surplus to requirements but represented a very strong symbol of commerce and banking that gave reassurance to savers and borrowers, investors and shareholders.

My father worked in banking for 40 years at a time when it was a greatly sought after and respected career. I was very conscious of the very high regard in which my father was held in our town and community as Branch Manager. He was trusted by personal and business customers, small and large Corporate concerns and gave good, sound and impartial advice.

Those were the days of banking when the Manager was able to endorse any request for a loan or a mortgage because there was a long term relationship with the customer and an understanding of what was really required and not as today an opportunity to cross sell everything from life insurance to car and health insurance.

Like a set of scales my father was a steady and dependable pair of hands in a fast changing and, unfortunately, an increasingly distrustful world.