Topliss Drapers 1882 1975

A Memory of Louth.

I wonder if anyone remembers Topliss, 16 Mercer Row? It was there until 1975 when it was taken over by Boyes. It was probably the last shop in Britain to have a "cash railway" for taking customers' payments to the cashier and returning the change. The money travelled in a hollow wooden ball, like a croquet ball cut in half. There is a photo on The Cash Railway Website. Cash ball systems were generally superseded by overhead wire or pneumatic tube systems.