An Unusual Money Box
In the days before pay packets and electronic payment systems like BACS, this tin box was used by Patons & Baldwins to pay their employees at Kilncraigs Mill.
A number was soldered onto a brass plate on the lid of the box. Everyone queued up in front of a little brick kiosk with a small window. As they moved past the window, each person called out their number and was given the box with the correct number on it. They took their wages out (usually complaining that there was not enough!), then they filed past an old laundry basket into which they threw the empty box, ready to be used again the next week.
The boxes were made by a tin smith called Cameron, known locally as Cammy. He lived in old Erskine Street near Orlandi's ice cream shop. He gave this box to the donor, James McQueen, in the 1950s. The employee’s number has been removed from the lid.
Mus Accn No 902 483
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