Mr. Selfridge -Cheque Books And Other Things....

[Retrochic]

I've noticed various references on Mr. Selfridge TV programme based in the the early 1900's to women coming into the shop with their husbands 'and their cheque books'. I thought cheque books were fairly recent -1960's? WEre personal cheque books available in the 1920's or is this a really bad research gaff on the part of the programme. ? Also wold people refer to 'sleeping together' in reference to having sex? I thought this was a fairly recent analogy? Would they not refer to it as 'having relations? or some other Edwardian expression?

[SlackAlice]

Cheques in their current form began in about the 17th Century, with the pre-printed stereotype in 1717. Scroll down to 'Modern Era' in the link below

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cheque

I can remember my parents using a cheque book from about 1953 because I got in a lot of trouble for scribbling all over their cheque book with a crayon!!

However, you couldn't just walk into a shop, pay by cheque and walk off with the 'goods'. With no guarantee cards you had to wait until the cheque cleared before you were allowed to collect the goods. Using cheques was rare and cash was still King.

Sorry, cannot answer the second part of your question.

[Jackdaw33]

When I worked in a shop in the mid 60s the few people who paid by cheque were required to write their address on the back, then they could take the goods.

[237SJ]

There`s a bit about it in the last paragraph http://www.chequeandcredit.co.uk/cheque_and_credit_clearing/history_of_the_cheque/standardisation/

[Retrochic]

So perhaps they went into the Store in 1920's paid by cheque and the goods were parceled up ready for delivery when the cheque cleared? I thought many people had accounts at shops in those days and ladies would go in,buy stuff then the bill was sent to their house.I'm sure there was a scene a few episodes back where Lord Loxley got a huge invoice for clothes purchased from the store by his wife and he stopped her credit.

[Retrochic]

I remember writing my address on the back of cheques, and you had to make two lines on the front and write 'Payee only' if I remember correctly.

[hc4361]

Many people did have accounts at stores and some chose to pay by cheque as they shopped, others chose to pay monthly or quarterly. No need to wait for the cheque to clear when the customer has an account.

[Jackdaw33]

Retro you're talking about a 'crossed' cheque where you would draw two diagonal lines and write between them 'A/C Payee Only'. This meant that it had to be paid into someone's account and couldn't be cashed. Eventually all cheques were printed with this feature. Before ATMs if you wanted to cash a cheque you would write 'pay self' or 'pay cash' on the first line to 'open' the cheque.