Join Early Retirement Today
Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
A Charge Plate
Old 01-26-2014, 10:04 PM   #1
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso)
Give me a forum ...
easysurfer's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2008
Posts: 13,132
A Charge Plate

So, I watched this old episode of "Mr Ed" (a horse is a horse, of course, of course) and in the episode, Wilbur's neighbor, Rodger refers to a "charge plate" and in one scene, Rodger's wife has to hand over the "charge plate" to Rodger.

This is the first time I heard of such a thing as a "charge plate", but reasoned, they were precursors to the plastic credit cards.

I like watching old shows to see how things were back then

link to a sample charge plate...

Industrial Trust Charge Plate 1950s (name blurred) | Flickr - Photo Sharing!
__________________
Have you ever seen a headstone with these words
"If only I had spent more time at work" ... from "Busy Man" sung by Billy Ray Cyrus
easysurfer is offline   Reply With Quote
Join the #1 Early Retirement and Financial Independence Forum Today - It's Totally Free!

Are you planning to be financially independent as early as possible so you can live life on your own terms? Discuss successful investing strategies, asset allocation models, tax strategies and other related topics in our online forum community. Our members range from young folks just starting their journey to financial independence, military retirees and even multimillionaires. No matter where you fit in you'll find that Early-Retirement.org is a great community to join. Best of all it's totally FREE!

You are currently viewing our boards as a guest so you have limited access to our community. Please take the time to register and you will gain a lot of great new features including; the ability to participate in discussions, network with our members, see fewer ads, upload photographs, create a retirement blog, send private messages and so much, much more!

Old 01-26-2014, 10:29 PM   #2
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
 
Join Date: Mar 2010
Location: Kerrville,Tx
Posts: 3,361
I recall charge plates which were part metal which was embossed, and part cardboard with the logo in the 1950s. Of course then the stores also had a pneumatic tube system, where the slip was sent to the credit office and approved, and then your copy returned. Also back then you had 12 drawer cash registers one for each clerk in a department.
So since back then computers were still humans you had to send the transaction to the "computer" just like today except it was a human computer.
meierlde is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-26-2014, 10:32 PM   #3
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
 
Join Date: Apr 2005
Location: Midwest
Posts: 2,963
On I Love Lucy she calls it a "Charge-a-plate" I remember my parents using that term.

Did you see Leno's interview on 60 Minutes? He was talking about getting older and no longer being hip enough to keep up with all the pop culture trends and he said:

I think after a while, you know, I'm not gonna be that up on the latest Justin Bieber record when you're 64
razztazz is online now   Reply With Quote
Old 01-26-2014, 10:41 PM   #4
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
 
Join Date: Mar 2010
Location: Kerrville,Tx
Posts: 3,361
I did a bit of googling and found out that chargea plate was a trademark of Farrington Manufacturing company and is described early in this wikipedia article:
Credit card - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia these were used from the 1930s to the 1950s.
meierlde is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-26-2014, 11:20 PM   #5
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso)
Give me a forum ...
easysurfer's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2008
Posts: 13,132
Quote:
Originally Posted by razztazz View Post
On I Love Lucy she calls it a "Charge-a-plate" I remember my parents using that term.

Did you see Leno's interview on 60 Minutes? He was talking about getting older and no longer being hip enough to keep up with all the pop culture trends and he said:

I think after a while, you know, I'm not gonna be that up on the latest Justin Bieber record when you're 64
I did watch the Leno interview. He's gonna sort of pass the baton to Jimmy Fallon tomorrow as they'll both appear together in an interview on "The Today Show". Can't believe he's 63.

How time goes by. Somewhere I got a vhs tape of his first "Tonight Show" when he took over for Johnny.
__________________
Have you ever seen a headstone with these words
"If only I had spent more time at work" ... from "Busy Man" sung by Billy Ray Cyrus
easysurfer is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-26-2014, 11:30 PM   #6
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
 
Join Date: Apr 2005
Location: Midwest
Posts: 2,963
Quote:
Originally Posted by easysurfer View Post

How time goes by. Somewhere I got a vhs tape of his first "Tonight Show" when he took over for Johnny.
I have a VHS with Carson's final show followed by Leno's first. I was in Europe at the time and had my brother tape them for me as some sort of culturally significant event. I might rummage through all that crap in the back room tomorrow and see if I can find it.
razztazz is online now   Reply With Quote
Old 01-27-2014, 04:50 AM   #7
Moderator
Walt34's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: Eastern WV Panhandle
Posts: 25,302
Quote:
Originally Posted by razztazz View Post
....I remember my parents using that term.
Same here, they had one from Montgomery Ward. They got into a bit of debt with it and it took years for them to dig out. Sort of a celebration when it was paid off when I was in HS.

That was when I developed an aversion to cc debt.
__________________
When I was a kid I wanted to be older. This is not what I expected.
Walt34 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-28-2014, 04:28 PM   #8
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Rustward's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2006
Posts: 1,684
I remember hearing charge-a-plate in the lyrics to Harvey and Sheila by Allan Sherman.
Allan Sherman:Harvey And Sheila Lyrics - Lyric Wiki - song lyrics, music lyrics

One of the local stations is currently running Highway Patrol, with Broderick Crawford -- from the 1950's. Interesting to see the old cars, and what Southern California looked like at the time -- dry and dusty. Trivia about Crawford: he drank heavily when working. The crew had to shoot scenes with dialog in the morning because by afternoon Crawford usually was not in condition for dialog. He had a couple of DUI's that caused his own driver's license to be suspended, so in a lot of episodes he is not seen driving on public roads, and you can see that in the shows, with many on long driveways, ranches, and in orchards . . . and he was the Chief of the Highway Patrol! 10-4. One line you can count on hearing in every episode is "Operator, get me the Highway Patrol." Crawford spoke very rapidly, like some radio professionals do. It is not uncommon for him to just throw out a long string of digits in his dialog all without taking a breath. Something like: "2150 to headquarters: The 459 suspect is headed north on highway 56 in a white over tan 4 door doing about 60 miles per hour. Unit 2334 take 85 east five miles to the intersection of 85 and 56. 2123 meet me on 56 8 miles south of 56 and 63."

Sorry for the tangent.
Rustward is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-28-2014, 06:46 PM   #9
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso)
Give me a forum ...
Chuckanut's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2011
Location: West of the Mississippi
Posts: 17,173
Quote:
Originally Posted by razztazz View Post

I think after a while, you know, I'm not gonna be that up on the latest Justin Bieber record when you're 64
Well, if they want Bieber believers as their main audience, then I guess it is time for him to go. Frankly, I think Falon is much more interesting regardless of age or who sang what hit.
__________________
Comparison is the thief of joy

The worst decisions are usually made in times of anger and impatience.
Chuckanut is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-28-2014, 06:52 PM   #10
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso)
Give me a forum ...
samclem's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2004
Location: SW Ohio
Posts: 14,404
Quote:
Originally Posted by Walt34 View Post
Same here, they had one from Montgomery Ward. They got into a bit of debt with it and it took years for them to dig out. Sort of a celebration when it was paid off when I was in HS.
I remember the long lines that always existed at the Sears credit desk in every Sears store. My mom and dad had some sort of trouble with their Sears charge card when they were first married and Dad would never miss an opportunity to knock the "%*@$!*itches at that place."

RE the Tonight Show: I miss Johnny. A class act. I don't think his approach is what the networks are after today.
samclem is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply


Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)
 
Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are Off
Pingbacks are Off
Refbacks are Off


Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
Baseball Banning Home Plate Collisions easysurfer Other topics 78 12-13-2013 12:01 PM
Attaching license plate to new bumper TromboneAl Other topics 11 06-08-2009 06:56 PM
Doctors now charge for copies of medical records boots Health and Early Retirement 18 12-04-2006 08:47 AM
Real Interest Rates Charge Ahead haha FIRE and Money 7 07-08-2006 08:48 AM
Possible to dispute a car booting charge on my CC? soupcxan Other topics 20 12-15-2005 06:29 AM

» Quick Links

 
All times are GMT -6. The time now is 07:51 AM.
 
Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.8 Beta 1
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.