Tuppence ha'penny? (longer title)

[Rakaia]

My first job at

don't forget the tanner... and the florin.... and the 1/2 crown.....

My first job at the pharmacy paid a half crown per hour, Mum was earning five bob...

 

[Ted01]

no that's wrong ...a threepeny ( thruppenny) is worth 3 old pennies.... there was 4 farthings in a penny.. so it would have taken 12 farthings for a thruppenny bit .....

Thank you for clarifying that... the math wasn't adding up in mind poor 'lil uncoffee'd brain.

 

[hollydolly]

My first job at

My first job at the pharmacy paid a half crown per hour, Mum was earning five bob...

how many hours were you working ?

 

[Rakaia]

@hollydolly
Not many, I used to do more during the school holidays. It's hard to remember 60 years ago...

 

[BJintheUK]

Years ago I was on a course to learn how to use a radio for flying. One of the airfields we had to navigate to and from was called Halfpenny Green. It's a real airfield, and is just a bit South of Birmingham in the West Midlands.

Anyway, we had to simulate the radio calls we'd make as we approached each airfield, and I was surprised when one young bloke called the place 'Half-penny Green!' I've always known it as 'Haypny Green' as that is how we've always pronounced the word halfpenny. Just goes to show how things have changed for the younger generations since we decimalised on Feb 15th, 1971, back when I was still a stripling youngster at a mere 20 years of age.

I'll bet they've never understood the old Tommy Steel musical 'Half a Sixpence' either. And as for tanners and groats, well.....!

Back in the day it was common for cinema usherettes to say things like, "This way to the one and nines!" meaning one shilling and nine penny seats. Or for ladies to buy a new set of stockings at "two and eleven" meaning two shillings and eleven pence. I can also remember that Guineas (£1 1s or twenty one shillings) were still in use for a long time even after we decimalised.

 

[hollydolly]

@hollydolly
Not many, I used to do more during the school holidays. It's hard to remember 60 years ago...

my first job after leaving school was 55 years ago.... but before leaving school I worked from age 12 to 14 as a milk delivery girl... that was 58 years ago....

2/6d per hour was good money for you 60 years ago as a child....

I got paid nothing for the milk delivery.. because my father was the milkman... and he didn't pay me, but I had to get up at 4am and get the milk delivered to the doorsteps before school...

 

[horseless carriage]

This American is clueless

It's just Brit slang for currency, Americans do much the same:
Buck/Bucks: The most common term for a dollar, originating from the 18th-century trade of "buckskins" (deer hides).
Greenbacks: Refers to paper currency, originating during the Civil War when the government issued notes with green ink on the back.
Two Bits: A term for a quarter (25 cents), originating from colonial times when Spanish silver coins ("pieces of eight") were cut into eight "bits".
Nickel: A 5-cent coin. Dime: A 10-cent coin. Quarter: A 25-cent coin

 

[timoc]

It's a long, long time ago, but I used to earn pocket money by dragging dinasaurs back to people's caves.

 

[hollydolly]

It's a long, long time ago, but I used to earn pocket money by dragging dinasaurs back to people's caves.

did they have electricity in the caves when you were young?

 

[BJintheUK]

It's a long, long time ago, but I used to earn pocket money by dragging dinasaurs back to people's caves.

How did you stop them from biting you, or were they dead already?

 

[Sunkist]

It's a long, long time ago, but I used to earn pocket money by dragging dinasaurs back to people's caves.

But back in those days, there were no pockets, right?