CWS

In the forties and fifties, our equivalent of a supermarket was the Coop, or, in full, the Cooperative Wholesale Society (CWS). It was just across the road from our house, and my mum used to go there once a week for her staple groceries. A bonus for her was the "divi", a percentage of the cost of sales given back to the customer at regular intervals. That divi bought for me, for example, my first grammar school blazer.
I often went with my mum to the Co op, partly to help carry the stuff home, but mostly to enjoy the "Cash Railway System", a mechanical marvel, suspended from the ceiling. It worked (I think) like this: the customer's money was put into the container, the shop assistant pulled the handle and the container shot along the rail and out of sight through a hole in the wall. Moments later it came back again with the customer's change.
Not only was it a spectacular piece of kit, the sort of mechanical gizmo that made a boy want to upgrade his Meccano set, but it also made a most satisfying whirring noise. My fascination with the cash railway machine (now, alas, long gone) was eventually replaced by a fascination with girls (now, alas, equally long gone). At least girls are still around, and if you know how to pull the chain, you can still get a result (they tell me). Look at this picture. Did you ever see anything quite so sexy?