Paraffin Measuring Jugs

"The gallon and half gallon measures were from my great-aunt’s hardware shop, and were used for measuring paraffin, which was sold loose, and was dispensed from a five hundred gallon tank in the stores at the back of the shop. Paraffin heaters were a common way of heating the houses in the neighbourhood. As a child, aged nine or ten, it used to be my job during school holidays, to fill customer’s containers with paraffin. My hands were too small to properly manage the manual cash register, and I used to struggle in the pre-decimal era to ring up amounts that involved half pennies, since the keys had to be pressed simultaneously and the halfpenny key was at the extreme right hand side of the register. But where would the world be without child labour? Christmas Eve was always a particularly busy time, since the shop would close at 6.00pm and would remain closed until the New Year."