Remember ' The Menage' ?, Merged Topic Options

[Brenda]

Dae ye mind yer mammy runnin' a menage? . All the neighbours would come tae oor hoose and write their names on a wee bit o paper , pit them in a big glass bowl, then take turns at drawing oot tae see whit week they would get their money. Naebody wanted the first week.... Then for weeks aifter I had tae go roon the womens hooses collectin their money for ma mother.

[Riddrieperson]

Dae ye mind yer mammy runnin'  a menage? .  All the neighbours would come tae oor hoose and write their names on a wee bit o paper , pit them in a big glass bowl, then take turns at drawing oot tae see whit week they would get their money. Naebody wanted the first week.... Then for weeks aifter I had tae go roon the womens hooses collectin their money for ma mother.

Menage,menage,so good you posted it twice .Yes I remember the menages.They are still on the go.You see a lot of wee local shops running them as well now.If you drew the first week,you did`nt get much as you say,but if the menage survived,the next time it was your turn,the kitty had built up.A famous old Scots expression derives form the menage,"Ach you could`nt run a menage"

[Brenda]

OOPS! The gremlins must have been in my computer..Didn't mean to post it twice

[Mary Doll]

Yes, Riddriep. When I saw "menage" that saying popped right into my head. I always thought it was a daft thing to say, that "She couldnae run a menage" ( pronounced menodge). From what I could see it was quite a hard thing to do, especially trying to get the money off the punters. Being the first was not popular because depending on the number of people in the menodge, you would be paying for months and it would be ages before you could join a new one. And being last would mean you paid up front for the whole period before you could buy anything. Does anyone know what happened to defaulters?

[lizeeloo]

Yes, I remember these well.
On leaving school I started working in the the "Counting House" of Dallas's in the Cowcaddens ( is it still there) and part of my job was to write up the menage form and pay out to the customer when her turn came.
Also had to mark off sales on Caledonia and Provident checks (cheques) in the tube room when the bullet came hurtling down the tubes from each department for change.
Sure are changed days what with credit and debit cards.

lizeeloo

[Brenda]

Ma mammie used tae go to Goldbergs and stock up for Christmas then in January when the bill came in she would start a menage tae pay fur it!

[Rab-oldname]

My mammy would!
http://gdl.cdlr.strath.ac.uk/springburn/spring093.htm

[Crewsy Fixer]

Without clicking the link, I remember the Menage would be yer ma and aunties and friends chipping in some dosh each week and one of them would get to have a wee bit of retail therapy, then someone else would get a wee shot the next week.

[mlconnelly]

My granny used to run 1 and called it the tiddly. Mary

[TeeHeeHee]

Mrs Ferguson across the road ran one for our neighbourhood. The old lady would get her curtains and bedclothes from it.
The whole street was involved in it.

[GG]

From Glasgow Story:

In three days time it will be the May Day Holiday. Our local (English) town is advertising in the paper quite a big market, with lots of special events, including political speeches and a big procession. I remarked that my grandfather always used to take me to see the May Day procession in Glasgow, and that I always wore the new clothes I had been bought for the first Sunday in May. My husband was amazed. He came from the east coast, and had not been aware of such an event.

My mother always tried to kit us out in new clothes at this time, usually the only time of the year, even if it meant "tick".

One way of doing it was to shop at a place like "Bridget's" on Dumbarton Road in Whiteinch, where you could pay a small sum weekly until the bill was totally paid, plus a bit extra. Bridget's was a fascinating shop. One side was devoted to the sale of items of regalia for the Orange Lodge. Hanging up were colourful sashes with orange silk fringes, and gloves - or were they just cuffs? - again colourful and fringed. People would be getting ready for the next big parade, on the twelfth of July.

Another way to space out your expenditure was to take a turn in a menage. (That word is pronounced "men-odge" It was several years before I related it to the French!). Now, I've heard it said in an insulting way, "Her! She couldnae run a menage!" But I reckon it's not that easy.

First, you need twenty people to each take a turn. Then they draw lots to work out the order of the turns. It might be a "money" ménage, or be for textiles like curtains or bedding or clothes, associated with a particular supplier, such as Terley's in Partick. Every week you pay a twentieth of the total, but you pay it for twenty one weeks. The extra is the organiser's fee. When it's your turn, you get the money, or get the curtains. Some people like to have a late turn, so that they have virtually paid in advance. Some people like, or need, to have an early turn. There is a good deal of negotiation going on, and swapping of turns. It is quite a worry and responsibility for the organiser, occasionally having to chase up those who are trying to avoid you because they can't afford to pay that week.

I once asked a group of women down here if anybody ever ran a ménage. They looked at me blankly, but when I explained what I meant, a glimmer of recognition appeared. "You mean a hair club!", they exclaimed. They used the same system for saving up for a perm.

I don't think people get dressed up to go and watch a parade these days. In any case, there are many more ways of getting "tick".

http://www.ourglasgowstory.com/story.php?sid=196

GG.

[Dunvegan]

Dae ye mind yer mammy runnin' a menage? . All the neighbours would come tae oor hoose and write their names on a wee bit o paper , pit them in a big glass bowl, then take turns at drawing oot tae see whit week they would get their money. Naebody wanted the first week.... Then for weeks aifter I had tae go roon the womens hooses collectin their money for ma mother.

Wis you brought up in the same hoose as a' wis......A' weel mind o' the menage, frae the French "a family of" a' mind o the glass jor, but by this its a vague memory. Somehow it wis important back then.

[Elma]

I had never heard of a menage but my daughter belonged for a while to a 'clothing club' here. Everyone paid into it each month and one person got all the money collected at that time, there was no hold over. Would this be the same as a menage?

[bilbo.s]

Wis you brought up in the same hoose as a' wis......A' weel mind o' the menage, frae the French "a family of" a' mind o the glass jor, but by this its a vague memory. Somehow it wis important back then.

A more accurate translation would be "household".

[mlconnelly]

I worked as a sewing machinist for years and there was always some one running a menage. It was great if you got a late turn near Xmas. Mary