A story which has been doing the rounds on mainstream media was drawn to our attention recently. It features Andrew Rae, a Transport Manager with PC Coaches of Lincoln, and his collecting. We’re used to seeing collections of bus-related ephemera, and objects such as ticket machines are common pieces of social history that can be found in many transport enthusiasts’ collections. Andrew, however, goes a step further, and indeed a step larger, with his collection of cash registers.
“Some people collect stamps, others model buses,” said Andrew. “As a child I was always fascinated by all the different types of cash registers that were around. I could tell you what supermarket used what till, etc.
“When I was 14, I was a cheeky child and wrote to Notts and Derby Cash Registers to ask if they had a cash register I could have, and a lovely man called Alan Turner, who owned the company, wrote back to me and said I was welcome to go along on a Friday afternoon, and if it was of no financial value I could have it, and he gave me an NCR 126 (like the one used on the TV series ‘Open All Hours’), and so it began!
“I now have a collection of over 185 vintage and modern cash registers dating from about 1910 to current day. I have some very rare models and I understand it to be the largest private collection of cash registers in the country. I keep them at home and my bungalow is pretty full but there is always room for some more.”
However, the registers are more than just a hobby, Andrew explained, and like classic buses, still have an important use: “We lend them out to film and TV companies and they have been used in all sorts of productions,” he said.
“I have a Facebook page – the Cash Register Museum – and there is a link on there to an interview I did with the BBC. Interest is growing and I am now getting media enquiries nationally – I am somewhat shocked that people love the tills as much as I do!”
