Installed at the store in the 1940s, the Lamson cash transfer machine remained in use until the store closed in 2013 and was the last operating system of its kind.
A customer's cash and ticket stating the items purchased would be placed in a capsule by the sales assistant, the capsule would be delivered via the pneumatic pipe network to the cash office, the receipt and change would then be returned to the customer in another capsule.
The system was maintained over the years at Jacksons store by Robin Adcroft and in 2014 together with ex Jacksons employee and archivist Thomas Macey, they aquired it at auction and are now planning to get it up and running again.

Jacksons was an English department store chain. It was founded by Edward Jackson in September 1875. Its flagship branch was located in central Reading, Berkshire, occupying a prominent site, Jacksons Corner, on Kings Road, just south of the Market Place. It expanded and at its peak operated from seven locations. It closed its remaining original store in Reading in December 2013. Throughout its history, the company was owned by its founding family.

Sources and more information

• Wikipedia - Jacksons (department store)

The photo is a screenshot of the video at YouTube.

Video filmed and edited by Mike Taylor
© Catchlight 2014