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A comment on TV detector van. Parent comment

Re:TV detector van by coldtea on Thursday August 08, 2019 @05:01PM (#20648711)
Not sure about emptying them, but the TVs with coin slots where a thing in the UK:

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/imageserver/image/methode%2Ftimes...

Not for the BBC license though: it was when TVs where expensive (in the 60s and 70s) and so some people could just rent one.

Probably sounds alien to US people, but UK was much poorer country, especially in workers areas...

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Re:TV detector van by NeedMoreTea on Thursday August 08, 2019 @05:05PM (#20648761)
They were originally a US innovation that were imported and duplicated in the UK!

See my sibling link. First thought of by the US International Telemeter Corporation in the late 40s or very early 50s.

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Re:TV detector van by nmstoker on Thursday August 08, 2019 @09:25PM (#20650553)
You're right to highlight the point about the UK's former lack of wealth (as it's not obvious), but I was amused by the reference to "workers areas" - presumably "working class areas" as people have worked in pretty much all populated areas of the country since time immemorial.
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Re:TV detector van by coldtea on Friday August 09, 2019 @09:43AM (#20654219)
Yes, working class, or worker as opposed to executive, office employee, etc...
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