Celebrating the age of cash

Andrew Rae’s fascination with cash registers began at an early age. He tells Kate Chapman about how he built his extensive collection, some of which has appeared on film and TV.

After developing a boyhood interest in cash registers, Andrew Rae has spent years amassing one of the largest collections in the country – comprising around 190 historic machines.

He was 14 when he got his first till in 1986, and now he has so many they fill almost every room of the house he shares with partner Martin, near Spilsby.

The collectables, which the pair spend hours painstakingly restoring, include some of the earliest models manufactured dating back to the 1900s, as well as modern day electronic machines.

The collection has also featured in film and TV programmes, and it’s Andrew’s hope they will one day go on public display.

“I’m not sure what it is about cash registers, but I’ve always had an interest in them – they all have their own history,” he explains.

“If we don’t save them, they’ll disappear, which would be a real shame as they are a big part of British life.

“Britain is known as a nation of shopkeepers after all. Such a lot of changes have taken place over the years, and the designs have evolved – especially with decimalisation in 1971, when there was a massive urgency for shops to change their registers over.

“A lot of the tills we have, you can see where shops couldn’t afford to upgrade them – on the flags, instead of two shillings they’ve changed it to 10p.

“We’ve got an original sales agreement from 1967, when a new till cost £327. I ran that through an inflation calculator – it’s £4,500 in today’s money. Some places needed several – what little shops could afford to pay something like that?”

Nostalgic collection
Andrew developed his fascination with cash registers while working part-time in a pub, after the landlady let him put some money in one of the tills.

“That was a real honour, they were all-singing, all-dancing ones! I wrote to the company which supplied the one in the pub and asked if I could have one. I was brought up with the motto ‘if you don’t ask, you don’t get!’” recalls Andrew, who is depot manager at PC Coaches in Louth.

“Alan Turner, of Notts & Derby Cash Registers, wrote a lovely letter back, saying if they had one, with no financial value to them, I could have it. I’ve still got the letter and the till – they both meant so much to me.

“When the pub threw another old Gross till out, I asked if I could have it too and the landlady agreed. I kept them in my bedroom and kept my money in them.”

When he left home, Andrew’s cash registers were moved to his mum’s loft where they remained for 15 years, until he was asked to clear his things out. Being reunited with his belongings spurred him on to collect more and now he’s amassed almost 200, keeping them in every room in his house – apart from the bathroom and kitchen, although he confesses the latter sometimes doubles as a workshop.

“When I got my tills back I thought, they look really nice – I can build on that and I started collecting more from places like Facebook, eBay and people who were throwing them out,” says Andrew.

“Another family found us – a man was moving house and had around 30 tills he wanted to get rid of, so I went over and collected those.

“I’ve got all sorts, dating from the 1900s right up to the modern day. People often think the oldest ones are the rarest, but that’s not necessarily the case. Some of the early electrical models have all gone to landfill or are broken and you can’t get hold of them.”

Classic brands
Cash registers were first used in Britain at the refreshment stands at the International Exposition, in Liverpool, in 1886 and from then went on to become a firm fixture in shops nationwide.

Andrew’s collection includes models from companies such as Hugin, Universal, GH Gledhill and Sons, Gross Cash Registers and The National Cash Register Company.

There are some dual powered ones – both mechanical and work with an electric supply. These were lifelines during the 1970s power cuts, enabling shoppers to continue buying their groceries by candlelight and paying at cash registers operated by two shop assistants – one to wind the machine’s handle, while the other rang in the items.

Thanks to his varied collection and expertise, Andrew has also become a go-to for production companies seeking authentic props to appear in their film and television programmes.

“A lot of companies contact us about what they’re working on. A few weeks ago, I had a request for a cash register to feature in a 1970s Norwegian fishmongers. I had to find something to fit the period,” explains Andrew. “I went through my collection, picked out ones that may be suitable and sent some information and videos of different options.

“We’ve been involved in big productions for Marvel and supplied a cash register for Loki and a couple of other films including Ghostbusters.

“Sometimes we get a little fleeting glance of them in the background and other times they can be on the screen for much longer. We’ve got a few machines like Arkwright’s till, made famous in Open All Hours.

The first one I had was like that!

“Louth Playgoers Society did a production of Open All Hours, and we supplied a cash register for it – it was the star of the show!”

Restoration work
Andrew gives group talks on his collection and because of the interest it has garnered, he hopes to put on an open day or team up with a museum to display some of his cash registers, so more people can learn about the industry behind them.

He also hopes to acquire more, including a Hugin 45 and an NCR class 24, which he says are both quite rare.

“I’ve been restoring one over the past couple of weeks, the first Gross/Chubb, one of the first electrical ones. I’d say you would struggle to find another – it was made in 1978, when electrical ones weren’t readily available.

“We’re always happy to take in donations and give something a new home – even if it’s broken, as we can always use the parts to get something else working,” he adds.

“We’re not selling any of them, we’re not doing this for profit, it’s purely for the history and the important social history that they represent.”

To contact Andrew about donating a cash register to his collection, or if you have a guest speaker enquiry, please email: andrew.rae1971@outlook.com

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