The Victorian Tanners Till

The grand old girl of Tanners, this charming till was used at our Bridgnorth branch until Decimalisation in 1971. As we bade a sad farewell to shillings, this grand girl retired here to Wyle Cop, Shrewsbury, where she is admired daily for her great age and very evident beauty. But to her history, well, let’s jump in, firstly, she’s from America, Ohio specifically. The National Cash Register Co – which still exists today – created her in the 1880s, of course, here in the UK she is known as a till, and forms part of the long cultural explosion of late Victorian and Edwardian retail in Britain. She is something of an icon! These tills were not simply tools to tally up but prominent fixtures within the shop interior, positioned in pride of place on the counter, to be observed and admired – as well as liberating you of your pounds, shillings and pence. Many were produced in brass, copper, nickel plate or hardwood and were adorned with decorative detailing that reflected both durability and that iconic Victorian desire for grandeur in display. These Junoesque decorative tills were the epitome of that Victorian and Edwardian retail ideal – the orderly conduct of trade.

Their adoption in Britain corresponds with the aforementioned expansion of retail and the increasing volume of small, frequent transactions in the late nineteenth century, when shopping was transformed. As an aside, the introduction of public loos for men, and eventually for women, at the end of the 19th century meant the severing of the loo leash and the liberation of the shopper, step forward a very new style of shopping! Earlier systems relied on handwritten accounts and mental arithmetic; these tills introduced a new form of faster calculation. Methods were workable but offered limited safeguards against error or internal loss. The introduction of the mechanical cash register provided a more structured alternative, recording each transaction as it occurred. Arguably, making it trickier for shoppers to leave things on tick!

The design was developed in 1879 by the American inventor James Ritty. His rather wonderfully named ‘Incorruptible Cashier’ seems funny to us, but it was a pioneer of change and was intended to give the message of change and bold ideas! The moralistic name was in the pursuit of preventing theft, as it created a visible and audible (the tinging noise is wonderful) record of sales. The concept was rapidly refined and brought to market by the National Cash Register Company under John H. Patterson, whose methods of manufacture and sales distribution ensured its widespread adoption, including in British shops where it eventually became commonplace. In Britain, from grocers to department stores, these tills rang aloud and were above corruption of miscalculation or backhanders (in theory at least!). Many remained in use into the mid-twentieth century, valued for their robustness. There was something of a sadness when the currency change forced their retirement. Their continued survival, as the Tanners till attests so perfectly, reflects the quality of their construction and their central role in everyday commerce. It's a wonder to see her and to fall in love with her!